Skagit Valley farm faces aftermath of severe weather and flooding

Skagit Valley ranch hoping for the best as flood waters recede

Skagit River Ranch has been farming in its current location for 25 years. They're worried about the land and most importantly, the animals, during the flood.

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. - The only road that leads to Skagit River Ranch is Utopia Road, and it remained cut off by floodwaters on Tuesday.

Owner Eiko Vojkovich is using her tractor to get herself and others across. Once at the farm, you can see much of the land was still flooded and underwater.

"This field was all flooded up to right below that chicken coop. This was an entire lake here," said Vojkovich. "Those two fields are all underwater, so I’m afraid to look in there. I’m not sure how many chickens survived."

Vojkovich has been farming in the Skagit Valley for 25 years and said previous experiences prepared them. Her daughter and crew moved about 400 chickens and 300 cows to safer ground days in advance.

The Skagit River’s force was undeniable and washed away several feet of the farm property.

"We just built these fences, but all the debris and everything else that comes, the amount of cleanup is just crazy. Probably two weeks of cleanup here and check on the animals to see whether they survived or not. That’s the hardest part," said Vojkovich. "You just don’t want to see the loss of animals. We care about these guys and we take a lot of pride in raising them."

Vojkovich said the Skagit River is a mixed blessing because it provides nutrients and minerals to the land, so she takes the good with the bad and has learned to live with it.

Skagit River Ranch is an organic farm that doesn’t use any chemicals or pesticides, which Vojkovich is feeling good about considering the river washed right through the property.

"My daughter and I farm, and she’s a next generation farmer so I have more to look forward to and so I got to keep on going," said Vojkovich. "Hopefully we don’t have any more floods this year."

Vojkovich estimates that the farm’s loss and damages due to flooding will cost around $30,000.

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