Building an Agricultural Community through Crop Rotation and Land Trading

Skagit’s System

The neat fields that take shape at planting time in Skagit County hide an enormously complex system at work that depends on the cooperation of many people across not just seasons but years. The biological and market requirements for crop rotation and isolation have produced an uncommon system of land trading in the valley that highlights collaboration and adaptability and, usually, promotes good stewardship.

It’s also a complex puzzle, and when any piece disappears it becomes harder to maintain the complete picture.

This distinct system is worth appreciating.

The Importance of Crop Rotation and Isolation

Just under 100,000 acres are farmed in the county. That sounds like a lot, but farmers cannot plant whatever they want on any plot of land. Limits quickly constrain operations.

The longer crops are grown on the same ground, the greater the risk for pests and pathogens. Farmers have long rotated their crops to reduce those risks for declining yields. Each crop follows its own cycle.

The Case of Potatoes

Potatoes require at least a three-year rotation to reduce the risk of common diseases, like silver scurf or black dot disease. A longer rotation almost eliminates those threats, but farmers cannot afford gaps of five or seven years.

According to Washington State University Skagit County Extension data, Skagit farmers planted 12,000 acres in potatoes in 2021. Given the typical three-year rotation, a bare minimum of 36,000 acres is required. Farmers look years ahead to plan how to rotate the crops in between.

The Case of Vegetable Seeds

Vegetable seed crops need rotating just like potatoes, but the period is significantly longer. For spinach, the rotation is 10 years at least. Even that may be too short.

Dr. Lindsey du Toit, a plant pathologist at Washington State University-Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center, has tested more than 600 fields in western Washington in the last 14 years. These soil bioassays have detected the fungus that causes Fusarium wilt in some fields that have been free of spinach for 18 years.

Farmers cannot wait that long.

Cabbage seed production also requires a good five years between crops. Cabbage plants must be in the ground over the winter to be exposed to a long period of cold weather and then warmer spring conditions to make the plants produce flowers, a process called vernalization. That takes a field out of rotation a bit longer, too, forcing farmers to plan over a series of years.

In Skagit Valley, a perfect convergence of climate and geography makes vegetable seed production work like it does in few other places. This is why Skagit farmers produce sizeable proportions of the world’s spinach (8%), cabbage (25%), and beet (25%) seeds. In 2021, Skagit farmers put 2,718 acres into vegetable seed production, which yielded nearly $9 million to producers and sent seeds around the globe.

The Additional Need for Isolation

Vegetable seed production, a heavily regulated practice, requires an even more important consideration: isolation.

Seed companies promise genetic purity and must deliver seeds that have not been cross-pollinated by the wrong varieties. Because wind and insects can carry pollen several miles, fields have to be isolated to prevent this unwanted pollen contamination.

Trading Land

To accommodate these isolation patterns within the larger requirements of crop rotation, growers and seed companies work together and have developed a unique culture of trading land.

Since the 1940s, the pinning process—so-called because of the legacy of putting a pushpin in a map to claim land for a seed crop and to maintain isolation—has been facilitated by WSU’s county extension office. Even today, when the process has become electronic, the seed companies gather in a regular practice that helps build and maintain community.

Don McMoran, the director of Washington State University Skagit County Extension and who grew up on a 2,000-acre diversified potato farm, recalls longtime Skagit farmer Curtis Johnson explaining the system: “Farmers in Skagit Valley trade acre for acre, for better or worse.”

It has not remained quite as simple as an acre for an acre. Sometimes it is a 1.5:1 or 2:1 acreage ratio. Sometimes additional cash is exchanged. And these trades may result in a formal lease with conditions but often involve a handshake and verbal agreements.

The land trading system allows farmers to use their expertise and specialty equipment when their home ground needs to be rotated or isolated.

Making this distinct system work is not simple. The changing face of Skagit agriculture makes it harder. Dairy and potato farmers are frequent partners, but the shrinking number of dairies narrows options. Additionally, whenever farmland is lost, it affects multiple farmers and crops and makes trading more difficult.

Promoting Cooperation and Good Husbandry

Trading also requires an enormous amount of relationship building and trust. That does not necessarily come easily to independent-minded and competitive farmers.

Darrin Morrison of Morrison Farms in Mount Vernon explained that farmers who participate in land trading keep an eye on other parcels.

“We’re looking over their fence a lot and watching how they work their ground,” Morrison said, “what kind of results they get from the crops they grow.”

The opposite is also true. Others notice if someone doesn’t take good care of weeds, allows water to stand for too long, or applies herbicides too liberally. Such practices jeopardize future trades.

In the best cases, though, land trading promotes good husbandry.

Making It Work

Collaboration has become a defining characteristic that allows farmers to grow the crops they specialize in beyond their home ground.

As a pathologist, Dr. du Toit helps farmers minimize risks from pathogens. She said, “When you come to the table and say, ‘Here’s my expertise. I recognize your expertise that I’ll never have. How do we work together to solve the problems?’ That’s when we make progress.”

It is an apt metaphor for Skagit agriculture broadly.

Morrison agreed. “You can’t really afford to be isolated,” he said.

To make Skagit agriculture work requires unusual planning and cooperation.

By Adam Sowards: info@skagitonians.org