Small farmers seek help after years of poor returns, little assistance

GRANDVIEW, Wash. – Grandview farmer Adolfo Alvarez is worried and angry. After three years of poor returns on his crops, he isn’t eligible for more loans, has no more equity to leverage and no government program to come to his rescue.

Alvarez, 55, told the Yakima Herald-Republic that if he doesn’t make a profit on his apple harvest this fall, he will lose everything.

“It’s a disaster,” said Alvarez, who also grows organic cherries, alfalfa and Concord grapes at his 200-acre farm.

“What is the government doing for us? Nothing. In fact, I don’t think they know.”

Private loans for small farmers have become harder to obtain because of new and tougher bank regulations. And while there is federal aid for new farmers and larger operations such as warehouses and processors, it’s harder to get help for small farmers trying to expand or simply hang on.

“My frustration is gone now. I’m angry,” said Alvarez, who has owned his farm nearly 25 years and employs more than 120 people during harvest. “Little towns can have 3 or 4 million (dollars) to fix the streets and freeways, but farmers can have nothing. Congress should put attention in farming and they are not doing it.”

Sunnyside farmer Joe Cervantes, chairman of the Washington State Mexican Fruit Growers Coalition, says the problem is especially critical for Latino farmers, whose numbers have increased dramatically nationally and in Yakima County.

“Look around,” he said. “We’re Latinos. We’re the next statistics.”

The coalition, consisting of nearly 60 members, formed a year ago in response to the financial crisis. Its members employ 4,000 to 5,000 people during peak harvest.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that nationwide, the number of Latino farmers grew by 14 percent in the five years ending in 2007. Yakima County grew 46 percent in that period, from 576 farms to 840.

“These guys have come out of the fields, bought some ground and are farming,” said Kevin Gay, owner of a 1,400-acre fruit orchard in Zillah. “A lot of these guys are first generation. They have citizenship, but they have no support group like other, longtime families.”

Gay is not Latino, but he joined the Mexican Fruit Growers Coalition to support his workers, many of whom are Latino and aspire to own their own farms.

Last week in Yakima, the coalition brought together more than 50 growers, bankers, lawmakers and government agency officials. Organizers emphasized two points: The problem is severe, and help is needed for all small farmers, not just Latinos.

Gay said that without more help, many such farmers will be out of business within a few years.

“They hit a bump in the road and they are gone,” he said. “We want another program to sustain family farms and have people – white or Mexican – be able to farm and go up the ladder. We are just trying to keep the American dream alive.”

Bankers at the forum said they have money to lend but are handcuffed by regulators. The federal Farm Service Agency has loan programs for farmers who can’t get bank financing, but the maximum of $1.1 million is considered insufficient by farmers.

Growers want federal legislation giving them access to the larger loan programs available to fruit warehouses, food processors and dairies.

“You are putting small producers in a box, and they can’t get out,” said Luz Bazan Gutierrez, president of the Yakima-based Rural Community Development Resources, an organization for programs assisting minority-owned farms and businesses. Her group lends money to small businesses, but farms don’t fit this category, at least until the federal Farm Bill is amended, she said. She also favors creating a loan program where banks could pool their money to help farmers.

State Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, chairwoman of the House Committee on Community and Economic Development and Trade, said the state should look at ways to provide assistance and incentives to growers. She noted that agriculture accounts for $38 billion and 160,000 workers in the state’s economy.