Washington's agriculture industry generates more than $12.8 billion a year.

That's according to the U.S. Department of Ag and more than three quarters of Washington's farms are run by families and small growers.

But, some are facing labor shortages and say the H-2A guest worker program just isn't an option due to the high cost to farmers.

For a special collaborative project in partnership with the Yakima Herald-Republic and El Sol de Yakima, NWPB spoke with some of those small operations around the state about the current struggles in the Northwest ag industry.

Some of the issues stem from immigration policies now in place.

“When you start using words like mass deportation and workplace raids, that starts to create some uneasiness.” That's Enrique Gastelum, the executive director of the Worker and Farmer Labor Association.

Hear more from him, congress members and growers in the first piece of the project at NWPB.org.

The project is titled ‘Harvest at a Crossroads: How Immigration Changes are Reshaping Farming and Communities.

Reporting is funded by the Poynter Institute.

Now we head up north to the home of the Borderites.

That is the high school mascot for the little town of Blaine, Washington.

Aptly named as Blaine sits on the border with Canada and it's usually a hub for Canadian travelers, but not so much this year.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that in June 2025, about a third fewer travelers by car and on foot made trips into Blaine than in June 2024.

Statistics Canada reported similar data in June 2025, about a third fewer Canadians returned from the U.S. by car than in June of last year.

Now, some believe American politics may have something to do with that change.

Here is Bradley Miller.

He's an associate professor in the University of British Columbia's history department.

“Canadians, on the American political spectrum, would be mostly left of center.

So your Republican presidents are less popular here than your Democratic presidents.

But like....

Nothing in my lifetime parallels the vitriol that Canadians now feel about Donald Trump.” The Blaine Chamber of Commerce and local businesses have made a shift.

They're now promoting their town and their businesses in other communities closer to home in Washington.

And a quick reminder NWPB has a news newsletter.

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