Innovation for Washington Agriculture in the Age of AI

For generations, Washington farmers have been pioneers and national leaders in agricultural productivity and diversity, with 300+ commodities and a $12.9 billion economy built on ingenuity and resilience. Today, that resilience is being tested: the state lost more than 3,700 farms between 2017 and 2022 (an average of two a day) and in 2024 ranked last in the nation for farm profitability, with operators collectively losing $295 million.

Today’s producers are facing unprecedented and compounding pressures:

• Water is less reliable. Four consecutive drought emergencies since 2023 have cut supplies in key growing regions, particularly the Yakima Basin.
• Margins are inverting. Input costs have risen 50 percent since 2011, while the prices farmers receive for their crops have risen only 21 percent.
• Labor is scarcer and more expensive. Wages for seasonal agricultural workers rose 36 percent between 2018 and 2024 as the farm workforce shrinks.
• Complexity keeps compounding. Farmers navigate requirements from more than a dozen agencies while global competition squeezes already narrow margins.

These pressures are real and urgent. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving, and its effects have the potential to be widely felt in agriculture. This creates a window of opportunity, and Washington is uniquely positioned to lead: the state is home to world-class agricultural expertise and one of the nation’s foremost technology sectors. In agriculture, AI tools have the potential to sharpen decision-making, reduce costs, and help farmers navigate increasingly complex growing conditions and markets. But realizing that potential is not straightforward. AI tools must be designed and deployed thoughtfully, with attention to who benefits, who bears the risk, and what happens when systems fail. This necessitates approaches that maximize benefits while actively reducing harm.