Mike Youngquist’s Swedish great grandparents homesteaded in the fertile Skagit Valley in 1889, clearing six-foot diameter cedar trees so that they could till the land and grow oats and hay to fuel Seattle’s horse-drawn buggies. Today, Mike and his wife Jean face challenges their ancestors couldn’t have imagined; they have adapted to the increasingly competitive market for small farmers by becoming highly strategic business and political operators. This means they spend less time in the field and more time processing and marketing the strawberries, raspberries, cucumbers, peas, and cauliflower grown on the family land – and making trips to Olympia and Washington DC.

Mike grew up in the dairy business, but he developed allergies to grain dust and grass pollen and made the switch to growing berries. Jean also grew up nearby, and, like Mike, spent her summers working in the fields. Mike and Jean have seen dramatic changes in agriculture in the Skagit Valley in their lifetime, and they talk about those changes the way other people talk about their families. Says Mike, “The glory times of this valley were during the 60s. There were eight or nine processing plants. It was a major frozen green pea growing area in the country. But now that the processors have left, most of the growers have gotten into value added agriculture to stay in business.”

For Mike and Jean, this meant investing in processing equipment for their berries and other crops. It has also meant that they have had to become vertically integrated which means shifting from just growing and delivering a product to processing it, packaging it, planning for continuous cutting and supply and being responsible for all the marketing and account management. “It’s a whole different ball game!” says Jean. ”And the shift takes a large investment in overhead, including cooling facilities and processing equipment.”

Strategic adaptation has allowed Mike and Jean to remain economically viable and carry on their family’s farming tradition. Says Mike, “We started out as a production company; then we went into processing, and it took us ten years to learn how to do that. Now we are into marketing. Each job is specialized, and you go through severe growing pains.”

Consolidation in the food industry has meant that grocery store chains save time by buying from fewer, larger farms. Mike explains, “There is a monopoly on food distribution channels and in the food service industries. Four or five industries serve the US, and, when it comes to grocery store chains, again four or five control the majority of the market.” For Mike and Jean, it is not the price or delivery that is the obstacle to selling to these chains, it is getting them to purchase in smaller quantities. The Youngquists have worked hard to get to know buyers, who often are located halfway across the country.  Although it’s easier for those buyers to connect with large firms supplying a little bit of everything twelve months of the year, Mike and Jean have successfully convinced buyers to purchase on a regional basis. 

Fighting the consolidation and globalization of the food industry is a personal mission for Mike and Jean. Jean has been lobbying for national legislation to require tax-supported institutions, like schools and hospitals, to serve American-grown food products and thereby strengthen the viability of a safe, domestic food source. And a consumer-driven shift also seems to be working in their favor. Mike explains, “Some firms are getting smarter, and are buying locally because consumers are demanding that their fresh produce be grown closer to home. The trend was to buy nationally, but people in this country are beginning to demand food that is local, clean, and safe.”

Mike and Jean have developed innovative channels for selling their produce directly. They do fundraisers with Rotaries, Kiwanis, schools, and even a museum. Groups take orders from members within the community and then buy fresh processed berries from Mike and Jean. With a mark-up, these groups are usually able to earn $10 per pail and still sell under the retail price. With every pail sold, somebody -- kids, seniors or even parks – benefit.

The Youngquists are members of Food Alliance, a non-profit labeling and marketing program that certifies sustainable agricultural operations. Mike explains, “We were looking for a way to niche market and the advantage of going with the Food Alliance is they’re actually making agreements with store chains. It gives us salespeople on the outside and allows us, as a smaller operation, to join with many other products.” Mike adds laughing, “We like the Food Alliance because it’s organic without the religion.”

In the 1980s, changes in child labor laws and the advent of on-farm processing signaled the end of busloads of local kids picking berries and frolicking on the farm during their summer vacation. Mike and Jean are the first generation of Youngquists to rely on seasonal migrant workers. Many of the same migrant families come back to Mike and Jean’s year after year, and some families have been returning, and bringing their relatives, for nearly 30 years. Seven years ago, Mike and Jean created an award-winning daycare and school for the migrant families working in their fields.

“When we started The Berry Good School six years ago, there was no place for the kids to go during the day,” says Mike. “We couldn’t allow the kids to be in the fields if they were under 12. So kids were left alone, unsupervised, and that wasn’t good for anyone. We started this daycare to provide a convenient alternative, and since it’s associated with the workplace, people have more respect for it and feel comfortable leaving their kids there.”

The school serves older as well as young children, and features a state-of-the-art computer learning center. With this jumpstart, Mike and Jean hope that these kids will have more career options than their parents. “We feel that these people are part of our society,” says Mike. “They are going to be productive American citizens and taxpayers, and the quicker we can treat them as equals and give them opportunities, the better off we all are.”

Mike and Jean are family farmers beating the odds by evolving with the marketplace, and lobbying consumers and policymakers for support of domestic food sources. “Consumers in this state have to buy locally even if it costs a little bit more,” Mike says. ”By paying a little more for their food they are also helping to maintain the open space and habitat that farmland provides.” He continues, “If you follow the economic structure of always buying from the lowest priced source, agriculture will leave the United States because our land is too expensive because of our recreation demands, our labor costs, and our environmental regulations. We have the cleanest water and the cleanest food in the world, but it is expensive. Consumers in this state are going to be the ones voting with their pocket books to decide whether we are going to survive or not.”