Budget Information

WSDA funds our agency operations with a combination of appropriations from the state general fund and other state accounts, federal funds, and fees paid by our customers for our services (called local funds). We administer about 150 separate fee-for-service accounts. The chart and table below show the proportion and amounts received from the fund sources for the 2023-25 biennium.
 

Our 2023-2025 biennium operating budget of $383.9 million includes projected estimates of non-appropriated funds from our fee-based services. The budget enables us to carry out our important work, including some new and expanded responsibilities approved during the 2023 legislative session, listed below.
 
2023-2025 Highlights

WSDA completed the 105-day session with significant new and expanded funding for programs grouped into three distinct categories focused on collaborations, equity, and invasive species. Much of this work reflects agency requests from the fall of 2022, and were included in the Governor’s original 23-25 budget.

• Under the equity category, WSDA requested and received funding focused on the We Feed WA food box program, local food systems infrastructure technical assistance and grants, funding for meat and poultry assistance grants, DEI manage funding, PEAR/HEAL Act funding, increased food assistance program funding, and funding for positions working on DEI and with underserved farmers and ranchers.
• Our collaborative work included ongoing funding for technical assistance and support of the ongoing nitrate contamination in lower Yakima Valley groundwater, funding to launch a new groundwater monitoring program in rural areas of the state and expand the existing surface water program, funding for a study on agricultural competitiveness, and additional funding for the Washington State Soil Health Initiative (WaSHI). Additional funding from the legislature is supporting the creation of WSDA’s first Climate Resiliency Plan for agriculture, as well as work in the siting of clean energy, the exploration of a psilocybin program, and decommissioning of an outdated lab space and the move to a shared WSDA/LNI lab completed in 2023.
• The legislature fully funded WSDA work on invasives, including spongy moth, Japanese beetle, spotted Lanternfly, and Northern Giant Hornet.
• Finally, WSDA advanced two agency request bills that were successful – the first creates and staffs an agricultural promotion and brand recognition program. The second adopted federal changes for the certification and training of pesticide applicators.

The table below shows estimated expenditures for the biennium, including fund sources and funded full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) for each agency activity.

Table footnotes:

• Budgeted total for agency operations includes $382,409 million from the 2023-2025 Operating Budget and $1.462 million from the 2023-2025 Transportation Budget.
• The 2023-2025 Capital Budget appropriated $8 million to WSDA for Fairground Health and Safety Projects (not included here).

The Office of Financial Management maintains an inventory of agency activities that make up WSDA’s budget. The list provides brief descriptions of each activity. See Agency Activity Inventory – Department of Agriculture

WSDA submits a request to the Governor’s Office for our biennial operating and capital budgets, as well as odd-year supplemental budgets. These requests support our Strategic Plan, current priorities and performance goals.