By promoting our distinctive farm-raised flavors, culture, and heritage to the region and the world, we aim to sustain farming in the Skagit Valley for generations to come.
Skagit Valley agriculture. A genuine heritage.
In 1853 the Skagit Valley saw its first commercial crop of cultivated potatoes planted on March Point. In circa 1870 the first commercial production of oats was sent to markets in Seattle and by 1908 the Skagit Delta was producing more oats and hay per acre than any other place in the United States at the time. Skagit farmland and Skagit farmers have been supplying the region, state and world with nearly every crop imaginable for more than 150 years.
Today the Skagit Valley is supplying nearly 95% of the U.S. supply of table beet seed, 75% of the U.S. supply of spinach seed and approximately 8% of the spinach seed used throughout the world. Skagit Valley farmers are producing approximately 25% of the world’s cabbage seed and 50% of the world’s beet seed. More tulips, daffodils and iris bulbs are produced in the Skagit Valley than in any other county in the United States. Additionally, approximately 50 million cut flowers are grown in greenhouses and fields in the Skagit Valley and approximately 95% of the red potatoes grown in Washington state are from Skagit County.
Our farms also provide environmental services like climate and flood control, water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, open space and an enhanced quality of life. Thousands of Trumpeter and Tundra swans, Snow geese, raptors, and other wild birds rely on Skagit farmland.
Skagit Valley Innovation Partnership Zone
The Skagit Valley is the most important agricultural valley remaining in the Puget Sound region. In 2013, Washington State designated Skagit Valley as an Innovation Partnership Zone to enhance awareness of our unique agricultural character and rural community. The Genuine Skagit Valley program was born through a multi-stakeholder collaboration.
The Genuine Skagit Valley program is designed to increase consumer awareness and consumption of Skagit Valley agricultural related products and services, and Genuine Skagit Valley members are encouraged to utilize the Genuine Skagit Valley Mark in conjunction with associated sales, promotions and support. The Skagit Valley Value‐Added Agriculture Innovation Partnership Zone nurtures partnerships to enhance the local agricultural industry, promoting innovative approaches that combine research and technology producing new jobs and a robust economy centered on the valley’s rich agricultural resources and heritage.
Rediscover Agriculture
Come discover the authentic tastes and experiences unique to this region, where active stewardship by growers old and new cultivates generations of possibility.