MONROE, Wash. — Data from the United States Department of Agriculture shows a significant decline in dairy farms in recent decades as businesses consolidate due to rising costs and lower milk prices.
But family farms in Washington continue to innovate, coming up with new ways to keep their farms afloat and educating the community about how they can be supportive. They say it's critical to buy local, get to know a farmer, and become educated on where your food comes from — and the challenges to producing it.
Chloe Groeneveld will be heading off to college soon. Her strong work ethic formed by a childhood working on her family farm, milking cows and doing all of the other work necessary to keep the farm clean and cows healthy.
"It's just awesome, I love cows and I love where I've grown up. A lot of people ask how I became involved in agriculture and the dairy industry and I just say, I was more humbly thrown in the role," Groeneveld said. "I took a lot of it for granted growing up and now I'm like, this is where I want to be, this is amazing. I want to support these people that make living possible by giving us food."
Chloe's brother Eissen, too, has been shaped by their background, falling in love with the machinery involved to make farms run. Their mother Anna said she loves that the farm is so meaningful to them, but the emotions are complex.
"It's pretty exciting, and it's also scary to watch them come into the next generation because agriculture is challenging," Groeneveld said. "It's a lot of hard work, we don't as a society know where our food comes from anymore so encouraging them to come back in a business that isn't always rewarding and has lots of challenges — both regulations and financial challenges — is a struggle as a parent to say yes, come back."
Farmers face uncertain weather, rising feed prices, changing consumer preferences, economic disasters like pandemics, and the mental health challenges that come with working in such a difficult industry.
"And yet it's a passion that you have; they say it's in your blood, agriculture is — dairy farming is as well," Groeneveld said. "It's something you grow up with. You learn as a child the struggles and for us we've said go away, find yourself and come back. If this is where your passion is, come back- but you can always be an advocate for agriculture."
A report from the USDA showed a growing consolidation of dairy farms. Due to economic challenges, far more cows are needed in order to turn a profit.
Vicki Furrer, a former dairy farmer and advocate for agricultural education, says she believes along with education, it will be important to support the smaller remaining dairies that milk just a handful of cows and bottle their milk to sell locally.
People can visit farmer's markets, join local organizations or simply ask around to find a farmer near them.
They can also visit events like the Evergreen State Fair, which is open through Sept. 2 in Monroe.