WSU Extension’s Regional Small Farms Program
Serving the tri-county area of Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap, this team covers a lot of ground with a tremendous amount of expertise, passion and breadth of resources. Since 2015, the Food & Farms team across Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties has worked closely with farmers and community members to provide a wide array of educational and networking opportunities, to support a profitable agricultural economy, to promote land and water stewardship, and to ensure that members of our community have access to healthy food.
The Mission: Washington State University Regional Small Farms Program provides research-based information and educational programs for farmers, consumers, decision-makers, and others involved in local food systems.
The Regional Small Farms Program has taken it upon themselves to be a clearinghouse, a place where all topics and resources regarding farming in this region are compiled. With a calendar of classes and workshops, an online learning library, and in Kitsap, a farm mentor program, plus being networked with every agriculturally-related organization in the region, this is truly an important hub.
The role of the Regional Small Farms is to be of service to the farms, farmworkers and those involved in food production here in the tri-county area. An ongoing challenge of the RSF program is to meet the farms where they are. Over the years, farmers in the different counties have expressed a variety of needs and a variety of questions have surfaced, feasibility studies have been done and solutions looked at. Year to year needs change, for example since COVID there has been a surge of new farms, so building up the support for beginning farmers is a rising priority to respond to.
The RSF program offers farmers direct access to experts when addressing issues. There is an online form for farmers to fill out, describing their issue, and the Regional Small Farms team will research a response and visit as needed. This team is dedicated to serving our local small farms. If you know farmers, please alert them to this remarkable resource available to them by Washington State University.
Farmer Technical Assistance Request:
Need assistance? Farmers can fill out our technical assistance request form and a Regional Small Farms staff will respond to assist them.
Click here to get to the form.
Let’s Spotlight 3 Areas of the Regional Small Farms Program
- Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M.) and Horticulture
Laurel Moulton recently became a member of the WSU Integrated Pest Management Team, her leadership as an expert to local farmers supports the onsite sleuthing out of pest problems and finding solutions. She has been the Master Gardener Coordinator for the past four years. With her Master’s degree in Horticultural Science and Entomology, she has plenty of knowledge and passion for this new role. As an IPM expert, she presents, along with Kitsap Extension’s Jess Sappington, a webinar series called ‘Dirt Talks’ that centers around farm issues. Learn more about Laurel in her bio, click here.
- Livestock Management
Dan McCarty has been immersed in 4-H and Livestock Management since birth and was raised by parents who were deeply rooted in the same. Dan’s childhood, his school years, his time at the university, studying Animal Science and since consistently weave the same themes of leadership and livestock. The RSF team is delighted to have created a position for a Livestock Specialist in the past year, and Dan started in the position just 2 months ago. The 4-H community and the Regional Small Farms community will both be benefiting from this new position.
Dan is partnering with the RSF team to offer various educational workshops and opportunities that focus on livestock topics. If you raise animals or are interested in doing so, be sure to keep an eye on the RSF newsletter for these upcoming events. You can subscribe here. You can also read more about Dan McCarty in his bio here.
- Cultivating Success
Cultivating Success™ is a program developed in partnership with Washington State University, University of Idaho and Rural Roots that provides educational programs to increase the number and foster the success of sustainable small farms and ranches in Washington and Idaho. The goal of these educational opportunities is to provide beginning and existing farmers with the planning and decision-making tools, production skills, and support necessary to develop a sustainable farm or food business. Cultivating Success™ connects the student with farmers and exposes them to real world situations through a community-based, experiential approach. Our Regional Small Farms Program Coordinator, Kellie Henwood, is an active member of the Cultivating Success Steering Committee along with other small farms staff across the staff to design and implement the curriculum in their respective communities. The current course offerings consist of “Is a Small Farm in Your Future?”, “Whole Farm Planning,” and “Agricultural Entrepreneurship and Farm Business Planning”, ranging from 1-day intensives to 10–12-week courses offered in both English and Spanish. Whole Farm Planning will be offered September – December 2022 for new and beginning farmers who wish to create and implement thoughtful farm planning in their operations. More info can be found here
Our Agricultural Information Clearinghouse
The “Agriculture Resource” page on our website serves as an information clearinghouse for farmers, local food buyers, food organizations, nonprofits, and others interested in our local food system. Though we strive to be as regionally specific as possible, not all resources available will have applications to just Western Washington. Topic areas include: crop production; the business of farming; marketing and selling food; water, weather and drought; access to land; animal agriculture; WSU Research and Extension Centers; Ag Census Data; food safety; pests and plant disease; farmer suicide prevention
Our program partners with many, many outstanding programs in this region, you can look into those resources here.