Press Release
Extension

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Public can celebrate local ranchers on May 12

Kittitas County, WA - 05/05/2018 - The public is invited to help celebrate Kittitas County’s agricultural community on Saturday, May 12 during the Cattleman of the Year Field Day, an annual event that includes a free meal and program honoring a local ranch family.

This year the field day is planned for Western Village at the Kittitas Valley Event Center (fairgrounds) in Ellensburg; the Western Village is on the north side of the rodeo arena. Organizers of the May 12 field day hope the central location will make it easier for the general public to attend and to join in with their neighbors in honoring the county’s cattle ranching and farming families. A free lunch of BBQ beef sandwiches and everyone's favorite side dishes, including homemade pie, will be offered at 1:00pm followed by a short program highlighting the history of Kyler and Judy Beard's ranching operation. The event is supported by the county Cattlemen’s Association and the county CattleWomen, nonprofit organizations working to promote the beef cattle industry and the families it supports.

The agricultural industry is made up of family businesses that are economic engines that generate more than $70 million annually in value to agricultural producers, a conservative estimate from the 2012 federal census of agriculture for Kittitas County. But local farmers are part of a global industry. The production of cattle and calves statewide had an estimated value of more than $858 million in 2015, a 6.5 percent increase over 2014, putting beef cattle third in total value of statewide agricultural products. (National Agricultural Statistics Services). A detailed economic study through Washington State University estimated that the Washington beef cattle industry in 2014 (cow-calf production, feedlots, packing firms) had a production value of nearly $3.64 billion. If related businesses and employment activities associated with beef production in the state are added to the above, the total economic contribution was $5.61 billion in 2014. It’s been estimated that timothy and other hays grown and processed in Kittitas County and destined for export have a farm-gate value of over $50 million annually. When livestock operations are added in, this rises, conservatively, to more than $70 million, according to estimates based on figures from the 2012 federal census of agriculture, the most recent totals available.

Kittitas County, from the Cascades to the Columbia, and online at http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us

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Contact: Tip Hudson, 509-962-7507, hudsont@wsu.edu

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