Need compost for your farm?
Contact our partner compost companies in Snohomish County! (pdf)
What is the Compost Outreach Project?
The Compost Outreach Project provides Snohomish and King County farmers with an opportunity to see first-hand the benefits of incorporating compost into their cropping systems. Our on-farm research is helping document the value of using compost in local cropping systems, and create a sustainable system for returning urban landscape and food waste energy to local farms.
Compost to Combat Drought
Compost increases organic matter, improving soil moisture retention!
Compost reduces soil bulk density through 2015 on-farm research.
See the 2015 program handout! (pdf) (Dec. 2015)
Incorporating Compost in Specialty Crop Production!
New Presentation! (pdf) (Nov. 2015)
Local farmers are using compost made from food scraps and yard waste!
See Compost in Action
Compost has been used on nearly 73 farms through the Compost Outreach Project. Check out some of the results through the farmer-conducted demonstration trials! Click here- Compost Demo Trials Observations (pdf)

Forty-nine Snohomish and King County farmers participated in the compost trials in 2015!
View a map (website) of our 2015 compost trial farms!
(Mobile browsers may experience challenges with this Google custom map)
Watch our YouTube films! (website/video)
2016 On Farm Compost Demonstration Results (website/video)
Watch this short video that highlights the programs’s results on one participating farm in the WSU agricultural compost research and outreach project.
Program Handouts
- WSU Compost in Agriculture 2013 Handout (pdf)
- 2014 WSU Compost Outreach Project Handout (pdf)
- 2016 WSU Compost Field Guide “Fertilizing with Manure and other Organic Amendments” (pdf)
2014 Compost Research Trials
Information for Farmers:
- WSU Compost Outreach Project: Recommended Compost BMP Guide for Farmers (pdf)– NEW!
- Compost/Manure Spreaders and Techniques for any-sized operation! (website)
- Compost Equipment Sharing Map- New!
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