Farmland declined in Clark County from 2007 to ’12

By the numbers

o 74,758: total acres in farm use in Clark County in 2012

o 1,929: total farms in the county in 2012

o 2,101: farms in the county in 2007

o 67: Christmas tree farms in 2012

o 114: Christmas tree farms in 2007

o $50.9 million: market value of county agricultural products sold in 2012

source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The amount of farmland in Clark County continued its long decline in recent years, even as more small operations have sprouted during that time, according to new federal data released Friday.

Figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed 1,022 farms totaling 24,099 acres of harvested cropland in Clark County in 2012, both down slightly from 2007, the last time a detailed county-level snapshot had been compiled.

For total farmland — a number that includes some timberland and conservation areas — the county tallied 1,929 farms totaling 74,758 acres in 2012, according to the data. Those figures also reflected a slight drop from 2007.

The data were part of the USDA’s Census of Agriculture, released once every five years.

“To me, I didn’t see anything that’s really surprising,” said Doug Steinbarger, director of the Washington State University Clark County Extension. “We have had a fair amount of development over time, and that has continued to some extent. So you see some attrition.”

The economic downturn that walloped Clark County and the rest of the nation also likely played a role, Steinbarger said. When the last agricultural census occurred in 2007, the brunt of the Great Recession hadn’t yet hit. By 2012, the region had been through the wringer and was still recovering.

The ripple effect touched nearly every industry, including agriculture, Steinbarger said.

“If you had a marginal operation, regardless of size, it probably squeezed some of those folks out,” he said.

At the same time, Clark County appears to be mirroring the broader shift toward smaller farms. Even as total acreage has declined, the number of farms working 9 acres or less has grown significantly. Clark County had 358 such operations in 2012, up from 242 just five years earlier, according to the data. Nearly every other size of farm saw dwindling numbers during that time, according to the data.

Many small farms have emphasized community-supported agriculture programs, or CSAs, to give participants a regular bounty of vegetables. But most of Clark County’s harvested cropland falls under the “forage” category — land used for hay or grass silage, for example.

Christmas trees decline

Though overall agricultural shifts in Clark County were mostly unspectacular, at least one crop showed a much steeper decline. The county lost more than 40 percent of its Christmas tree farms between 2007 and 2012, and saw the number of Christmas trees cut drop by almost two-thirds, according to the data.

That pattern has been playing out across the region since before 2007, and Washington is no different, said Bryan Ostlund, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association in Salem, Ore.

“We’ve been in a protracted downturn and oversupply of Christmas trees,” Ostlund said.

Several factors are driving the decline, Ostlund said. Some older growers are retiring or transferring land out of tree farm use, he said. The recession had some families looking for cheaper trees. And after huge plantings in the early 2000s, today’s demand hasn’t kept up as those trees mature, he said.

Christmas tree growers may find a new balance as the industry continues to shift, Ostlund said. Many have left a business that requires years of investment with an uncertain payoff.

“It takes a cast-iron stomach to invest that kind of money and hope that the market is there when you’re ready to harvest,” Ostlund said.