In Wenatchee, orchards once stretched from the Columbia River to Saddle Rock. For generations, Wenatchee’s economy has revolved around tree fruit. Flash forward to today, the landscape of the “Apple Capital” looks completely different. Today, farmers are struggling to keep their farms open. They point to high labor costs, government regulations and market pressures, causing some to consolidate operations or sell off land and end production.
Between 2017 and 2022, 15% of farms in Chelan and Douglas counties closed. In the same time frame, about 11% of farms closed in Grant County, according to the Census of Agriculture. Statewide, about 3,700 farms closed within five years.
Wenatchee Valley's past
There’s a long history of agricultural development in the Wenatchee Valley. Chris Rader, a historian and writer for the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, said the valley’s success began with its climate and soil.
“The reason why it grew and thrives was because it was such a great place to grow tree fruit,” she said. “It had wonderful soil, sunny days and cool nights. Perfect climate, perfect soil.”
Orchards sprang up along the valley, helped by irrigation projects and the Great Northern Railway allowed more people to access fruit from the valley.
“The Great Northern Railway had a dedicated car for the Wenatchee Valley,” Rader said. “They would outfit it with the fanciest apples displayed under glass and brochures that read, ‘Where money grows on trees.’”
By the early 20th century, Wenatchee was widely known as the “Apple Capital of the World.” Tree fruit dominated the economy for decades, providing steady employment and shaping the community’s identity.
“Places that I would walk along would be all orchards … now it’s housing, apartments, small houses,” Rader said. “A newcomer to Wenatchee might not even guess that it used to be an orchard.”
Farmers say costs are weighing them down
Blaine Smith, a third-generation grower based in Monitor, described the pressures firsthand. He said the cost of labor has gotten too high, and he struggles to find local domestic workers in the area.
“If I don’t get my fruit picked, I lose $2 million,” Smith said. “Right now, by using the H-2A program, I’m losing $200,000 instead of $2 million. It basically takes any profit I might have and turns it into a negative.”
The federal H-2A guest worker program allows farmers to hire temporary foreign labor.
Smith said growers must provide housing, utilities, transportation, and other benefits while paying workers their hourly wages. 2022 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that Washington is one of the top states that uses the most H-2A labor, following Florida, California and Georgia.
“I have to provide housing for 18 people at about $2,000 per person,” Smith explained. “I’m paying for their insurance, their vehicles, their fuel, their water, power, and garbage, all of it free to them. There’s no other business in the United States required by law to do that.”
The Adverse Effect Wage Rate sets the minimum hourly pay for H-2A workers.
In 2018, the rate in Washington was at $14.12 per hour, and by 2024, it increased to $19.82 per hour, an approximately 40% rise over six years.
This rate is higher than Washington’s minimum wage of $16.66 per hour and the national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Smith, hoping to keep his orchards in the family, has sold parcels of his land in Cashmere to cover debts.
“We’d love to keep farming it, but we need to pay bills,” he said. “We’re selling what’s most convenient for development. That’s the only way we can survive right now.”
According to USDA data from 2022, 23% of U.S farms held debt.
Prepping orchards for the market
Department of Ecology tests former orchard land for arsenic before its used for housing development. Soil sampling is required for all properties that were previously orchards.
The department has these guidelines because arsenic and lead are toxic metals, and exposure can increase the risk of certain health problems, like heart disease and certain cancers.
Before a home is built on former orchard land, either farmers or developers will remediate the property for mitigation. Farmers will either pay for the mitigation or sell the land for less. Smith said that’s another expense farmers may deal with.
“Farmers can’t sell land for what it’s worth because of regulations that make no sense,” he said.
The loss of family farms
Smith’s struggle is echoed across the region. Enrique Gastelum, CEO of the Washington Farm Labor Association, said small farms are disappearing as labor costs and regulatory pressures push the industry toward consolidation.
“We’re losing the family farm,” Gastelum said. “We are now corporate farming, and that’s only going to continue as the cash bleeding continues with our industry and people can’t sustain.”
Gastelum added that overtime rules and other labor policies, while intended to help workers, have unintentionally hurt small farms.
In 2021, Washington state adopted a new law that would allow overtime pay for all agricultural workers who work more than 40 hours under state and federal wage laws. Labor advocates argue that farmworkers should have access to overtime just like any other employee. Gastelum says that agriculture can’t be limited to that timeline.
“Mother Nature doesn’t stop … There’s no ability for the farmer to say, ‘We’ll pick it up a week from now,’” he said.
Farmers like Smith are unable to raise prices to cover costs. He said that since this new law, paying his workers has been difficult.
In Washington, growers often sell their fruit to packing companies. Packing houses grade and set prices for growers.
“Farmers are price takers … They are not an industry that gets to pass any of this on,” Gastelum said. Meanwhile, larger farms have more leverage with retailers and packing houses, squeezing small growers further. “When you’re larger, you have more selling power … Small growers are going out of business.”
Where do orchards remain?
Today, many orchards remain on the outskirts of the valley, but the economic and regulatory environment has made operations expensive for small and medium growers.
Brady Karstetter, a local grower who grows crops including apples, peas, beans and corn in Grant County, said the landscape is shifting fast.
“Our competition is banks and investment funds,” he said. “When a family farm buys ground, they’re trying their hardest to pass it down to the next generation. They care for it like it’s a person. But an investment firm just treats it like an asset, riding it for the tax benefits, flip it when the numbers look good. No one wins there.”
Karstetter said farming is a rewarding lifestyle, but farmers are becoming a dying breed.
He loves being outside, watching the tangible progress of his work each day, and he says Washington growers have a special talent for delivering high-quality produce to local stores. But while consumers are paying more for Washington apples, farmers aren’t seeing that return.
“I know people like cheap — but do you want your food grown in your backyard by someone you can talk to, or by a corporation on the other side of the world?” — Brady Kartstetter
“If you’ve got an option at the grocery store to buy from Chile or buy from Washington, buy the Washington apple,” he says. “I know people like cheap — but do you want your food grown in your backyard by someone you can talk to, or by a corporation on the other side of the world? People are gonna have to decide that, and soon.”
It’s a choice, Karstetter says, that will help determine whether farming in Washington remains a way of life or becomes just another industry run from somewhere far away.
Reneé Diaz may be contacted at Renee.diaz@wenatcheeworld
.com. Collaborative reporting by The Wenatchee World, NWPB and Murrow College of Communication Newsroom Fellowship.
