Skagit Horticulture’s Ag Division Celebrates First Year

Skagit Horticulture’s Agriculture division celebrates its first full year of operation, successfully propagating and selling hops field transplants to area growers. Located in Mabton, Washington, in the heart of the Yakima Valley, the division is ideally situated for growing hops and grapes, as well as small fruit and nut trees. A tissue culture lab will be completed by year end, allowing potential for the company to diversify its offerings.

Jerrin Victor, general manager of the Mabton facility, is particularly enthusiastic about the addition of the lab. With years of experience and expertise in tissue culture production and plant breeding, Victor is excited about the potential for large-scale agriculture production.

“This new tissue culture lab will allow us to replicate clean stock at a rapid rate, making it possible to quickly scale our production outputs, and reduce the time it takes to get desired genetics to market,” says Victor. The lab will allow for sterile production, as well as virus testing and screening.

Joining Victor in celebrating the anniversary is Debbie Thorne, sales and business development manager for the Ag division. Thorne is making contacts in multiple agricultural segments. “It is rewarding to see the benefits farmers achieve when using disease-free liners,” says Thorne.

She often travels with Arnaldo Pineda, field technician for the Ag division. Pineda will act as a liaison between the team in Mabton and the farmers receiving plants; he will also be directly involved in designing and developing product forms optimized for field planting.

Skagit Horticulture anticipates this is the first of many celebrations for its Agriculture division.