Farm bill could mean big boost here

A pending federal farm bill could send millions in grant and loan money to agriculture in Western Washington, said U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, who addressed farmers last week during the fourth annual Focus on Farming conference hosted by Snohomish County.

Larsen, D-Lake Stevens, said Western Washington is known for its specialty crops but not for large commodity crops such as corn, cotton and wheat. As a result, it often fared poorly when it came to funding in previous farm bills, the last of which passed in 2002.

But that could change with the current farm bill passed by the U.S. House in July. A separate version with similar programs is under consideration now in the Senate.

Larsen said more money has been included to support specialty-crop growers, and that's good news for this region.