New OT Requirements Make Farmers Think The State Does Not Want Them Around, Newhouse Says

This is the first year of new overtime pay requirements for the farming community in Washington, and while many questions remain, one thing is certain, the agriculture community is concerned about what this will do to the health of the state’s farm economy in the long run. Dan Newhouse, chair of the Western Caucus, is a tree fruit and hop grower in central Washington. He noted many in the farming community are very concerned that the new overtime requirements will exacerbate the already short labor supply. He added workers across the state did not want this law, but Democrats in Olympia decided it was the right course of action.

“And it’s making it very difficult for our producers to get the work done.  You know, there’s short of people already, they can’t work as long of a work week and those that are there are just costing us a lot of money, and lost opportunities.  So, there’s a huge amount of frustration in Ag country over this.”

Newhouse added exemptions to address harvest requirements would have benefited farmers, but those topics fell short during this most recent legislative session.

“Sometimes you think the state of Washington does not want an agricultural industry by putting out these kinds of regulations and rules and laws," Newhouse said. "And it’s very frustrating.  And we have to communicate that we have to do all we can to get these laws into a position that will work for our industry.”

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