Save Family Farming warns of anti-farm agenda that will cripple Washington farms
Oct 3, 2025, 5:01 AM
Advocates argue another new regulation on farming makes the industry even more untenable. (Photo by Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jeff T. Green/Getty Images)
A new Washington State law now requires farms to post public notices for routine seasonal staffing changes. Farmers say this will add to the burdensome regulations already making their industry struggle.
Larry Stap, current board member and past president of Save Family Farming, said the law adds unnecessary stress to farms already struggling to survive. He emphasized that farming is seasonal by nature.
“Not only does this ridiculous new requirement add even more paperwork for family farms suffocating under the weight of government regulations, it creates another opportunity for state fines, lawsuits from profiteering lawyers, false accusations from anti-farm activists and bad press against farms, over nothing more than minor paperwork errors,” Stap said.
Stap said the new law shows that lawmakers don’t understand how farming actually works.
A law that hurts, not helps
Also taking issue with news outlets, Stap complains that they have already misreported these seasonal layoffs as major job losses, creating confusion and fear among the public. He also questioned why construction companies were exempt from this rule, even though they also rely on seasonal work.
“Why were construction employers exempted from this silly requirement, when farms were not? Why did lawmakers ignore the farming community’s plea to be left alone by this burdensome, unnecessary legal structure designed for entirely different types of employment?” he asked in a statement.
In his view, the law benefits lawyers and the government, not the people who actually work on farms. He says the law “in Washington doesn’t benefit workers, and puts farms in the crosshairs of unfair state fines, spurious lawsuits from profiteering lawyers, and bad press fueled by anti-farm activists. This new law is a loss for farmworkers and family farmers, and a win for overbearing big government, the litigation industry, and anti-farm activists.”
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