PASCO, Wash. (RFD-TV) — Farmers in the Pacific Northwest have sharply reduced their labor expenses in recent years, with Washington state seeing a major drop in contract labor costs.
Pam Lewison with the Washington Policy Center says farmers are finding ways to handle more work themselves rather than hiring outside help.
“When I say ‘dramatically,’ it’s like it jumped off a cliff. We went from $1 billion in 2024, a billion dollars in those contract expenses, to $109.8 million. It works out to be like an 89% drop. It’s a huge amount that farmers just said, okay, I’m not going to hire my neighbor across the road to harvest my wheat this year. I’m going to spend the fifteen-hundred-bucks in parts to get my combine running again that’s been sitting in the shed, and I’m going to harvest my wheat.”
USDA figures show Washington farmers ranked last in earned income in 2024 before rising to 30th place in 2025.
