Farm bankruptcies surged by 46% in 2025 and are on track to increase substantially in the current year.

– The American Farm Bureau, 2026

Four major companies process 80-85% of the country’s beef.

– Friesla, Washington State Company, n.d.

 

Between 1995-2019 the top 10% of farm subsidy recipients received 78% of the money.

– Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Eastern Washington’s small farms need a voice in Washington DC. As a young girl, I spent summers and vacations working on my aunt & uncle’s farm and she lived in rural Oklahoma a few years as a teen. I have seen the challenges small farms face firsthand. My dedication to serving the people who farm Eastern Washington and beyond is steadfast in creating innovative solutions that increase access to resources for small farms and cut through Bureaucratic Red Tape to ensure that family-owned businesses have equal access to support and a forward thinking investment in our nation’s food supply.

Subsidy policy must prioritize small and sustainable operations. Green and Blue Ammonia Fertilizer needs to funded for regional production all across the nation which will not only reduce toxins, it will keep the price down and create jobs. My bill Hemp! Hemp! Hooray! is designed to produce the multitude of byproducts from hemp including hemp blocks for building affordable, new housing which preserves our forests, creates jobs, and is a sustainable crop-based source for building materials. Grant funding for this type of manufacturing and processing of raw hemp on a regional level is a job creator and a benefit to the environment.

Pass on Plastic is another farm-related bill I have written which not reduces single use plastics, creates grants for plastic recycling and re-use businesses and stimulates businesses in wheat straw packaging, wheat bio-plastic or molded fiber packaging using leftover wheat stocks and husks.

Diversifying animal livestock and creating regional markets is huge investment in community, health and the environment. We need a “kill floor” (large butchering plant) IN the 5th to cut both transportation costs and eliminate some middlemen from the distribution chain. Not traveling for large distances means money saved, a more secure supply chain which reduces bottlenecks and removes us from the market manipulation of BigAg which pays farmers less and less and is driving the pries up.  Eggs and chickens are a great start followed by cattle and sheep and swine. Regional jobs would boom and short haul truckers or rail would aid distribution. The tax base for rural ares would increase filling budget gaps for towns and schools and you would inevitably see other business development.

We need to bring back the sustainability projects cancelled by the GOP and create guardrails and limits on billionaires and foreigners buying up our farmland.

We also must eliminate redundancy and the multi-agency obstacle course for compliance in both the farming and forestry industries and streamline the process. Not only does this benefit the local economy, it increases food quality and cuts a path to be truly farm-to-table.