By COOKSON BEECHER

Capital Press

Farmers in King County, Wash., stand to lose an array of programs designed to help them stay viable if cuts in County Executive Kurt Triplett's proposed 2010 budget are approved, agricultural leaders warn.

Under the budget, the county would reduce funding for the Washington State University Extension from just over $670,000 to $109,000, with the stipulation that the $109,000 be used to continue the 4-H program.

Other programs that would lose funding are Puget Sound Fresh, a marketing program coordinated by Cascade Harvest Coalition that connects consumers with farmers; several Agriclture Program staff positions; and the King County Fair.

Agriculture Program staffer Karen Kinney estimated the cuts to the program and other ag-related services at $400,000 to $450,000.

She told Capital Press that the proposed budget would also eliminate all support and consulting services to farmers markets and the program to help immigrant farmers. The cuts would also eliminate county efforts to address basic water and drainage issues in the Green River Valley.

In addition, the cuts would reduce the outreach directed toward helping farmers deal with potential flooding in the Snoqualmie River and Green River valleys and the county's ability to deal with agriculture-related permitting issues.

In an e-mail to the farm community, Mary Embleton, executive director of Cascade Harvest Coalition, said the impacts of the proposed cuts would be far-reaching, not only in King County but for the region and state.

The county is wrestling with an estimated $56 million shortfall in its proposed 2010 general fund budget of $621 million, in large part due to continued declining tax revenues.

The county council plans to pass the final budget on Nov. 23.

King County farmer Wade Bennett said that if the agriculture-support programs are shut down, the effects will be felt for years.

"It took us 15 years to build these programs," he said. "I don't think you'd see the resurrection of farming in King County if it hadn't been for the county's far-sighted programs."

Pointing to the intense development pressure on rural land in the eastern part of the county, Bennett said it's important for the county to have programs that help farmers make viable use of this land. The county has done that, he said, by tackling challenges such as ditch maintenance, flood control, permitting and livestock agriculture.

"That's what the ag programs are all about," he said. "Otherwise, we'll have condos and strip malls on farmland."

More online

The County Council's budget page: www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget.aspx

A public hearing about the proposed budget will begin at 11 a.m., Nov. 9, in the King County Council Chambers, 516 Third Ave., Room 1200, Seattle.

Testimony (300 words or less) can also be submitted online at www.kingcounty.gov/council/budget/Testify_Online.aspx.