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INVESTIGATOR: Aguilar, S.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
GREENBANK FARM MANAGEMENT GROUP
765 WONN RD STE A201
GREENBANK, WASHINGTON 98253

FACILITATING SUCCESS FOR BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCHERS IN WASHINGTON`S REMOTE ISLAND COMMUNITIES.

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This project is focused on finding solutions to the unique challenges beginning farmers and ranchers (BFRs) face on Whidbey Island and the San Juan Islands of Northwest Washington State. The islands are geographically isolated, with limited access to regional markets and regional agricultural support services. High real estate values limit access to farmland for BFRs and in spite of an aging farm population, there is no established program in the islands to support BFRs seeking to establish or transition to successful farm enterprises. In essence, it is difficult for BRSs to plan, establish and grow new farm businesses. Providing training, access, and technical support for BFRs is essential to their success as well as key to maintaining and expanding the historic agricultural economy and character of the islands and the region. Most beginning farmers and ranchers (BFRs) need assistance in acquiring the skills, knowledge base and resources they need to create successful farm enterprises and this project will provide education and technical assistance on a range of subjects, and in multiple formats, with the long-term goal of this project to assist BFRs with establishing, growing, and improving successful farm enterprises.This project will accomplish these goals through five activities:Offering training opportunities to BFRs through multiple workshop series;Expanding the curriculum and training capacity of the Organic Farm School;Facilitating BFR access to local farmland;Offering technical assistance on business planning, financial management and marketing;Providing a mentoring program linking regional elder farmers to local BFRsSummaries of each activity is listed below:1) Benefiting all target audiences, WSU Extension in San Juan County will expand current ag-focused education through a series of six workshops on key topics currently not covered by existing curricula. Workshops will cover crop production, livestock and poultry production, food safety, marketing, business planning and financial management Each workshop in the series will be offered on all four islands for a total of 24 workshops.2) For target audiences that can also participate in a full-time program, the Organic Farm School provides an intensive eight-month experiential program focusing on preparing aspiring farmers to start and manage a small farm. This project will expand this program by providing additional staff and contractors that can offer in-depth training on livestock and forage management, mechanics, financial management, and marketing as well as increase the overall training capacity from 8 to 15 students per year. This expansion is based on previous OFS graduate feedback that they are increasingly observing high competition in the local fresh vegetable market while local meat and poultry markets are expanding rapidly. They expressed a desire to acquire the skills to serve these expanding markets while also requesting additional training on mechanical skills and financial management and marketing. As an experiential training program, the OFS will both teach classroom courses on these topics while also expanding the OFS Student Farm to include these aspects so that students will have first-hand experiences with them. The OFS Student Farm will add3) New farmers need affordable access to land, whether leased or purchased, in order to start their own operations and project partners Whidbey Island Conservation District (WICD) and San Juan County Agricultural Resources Committee (ARC) will provide BFRs assistance in identifying and accessing suitable farmlands for long-term use. While there are state and national organizations that offer these services, there is limited access to their services in this region. Access to farmland will be facilitated through outreach that targets BFRs, transitioning farmers, and farmland owners and provides information on innovative land transfer strategies, resources, and tools. Following up with one-on-one meetings will increase success by identifying unique problems, solutions and resources.4) One-on-one technical assistance and mentoring to BFRs will be offered in business planning and marketing by project partner Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC). NABC will support the preparation of comprehensive business feasibility analysis on a one-to-one basis to 6 of most engaged BFRs including market feasibility, financial feasibility, technical feasibility and management feasibility. NABC will also support the preparation of a comprehensive business plan, sourcing of financing and capital (if needed) for the enterprise. Finally, NABC will assist at least 2 clients with beginning development of value added agricultural products.5) Beginning farmers need ongoing support as they launch their farm businesses. After initial training, they often face stumbling blocks, difficulties, and unknowns. Washington State University (WSU) Extension in San Juan County will assemble a small group of farmer mentors who can provide expert one-on-one, on-farm, on-call counseling to BFRs will mitigate some of the risks associated with a new agricultural enterprise. Each mentor will be an experienced farmer who has a background in specific crops, knows the community and has extensive experience with the local food system.These project activities all seek to accomplish two primary goals; assist BFRs in entering farming and establishing successful farm enterprises and assist BFRs in successfully building, managing and improving these enterprises. By assisting the creation of viable small farms, the communities they serve realize numerous social, economic and environmental benefits. Farmland is preserved, the food system is strengthened, the economy is stimulated and a culture of appreciation is developed.This project expects to assist 20+ new farm start-ups and assist 125+ BFRs make beneficial changes as a result of this project.

OBJECTIVES: The long-term goal of this project is to assist beginning farmers and ranchers (BFRs) with establishing, growing, and improving farm enterprises in two neighboring counties composed of isolated islands in Northwest Washington State. This project will accomplish this goal by:Offering training opportunities to BFRs through multiple workshop series;Expanding the curriculum and training capacity of the Organic Farm School;Removed from projectFacilitating BFR access to local farmland;Offering technical assistance on business planning, financial management and marketing;Providing a mentoring program linking regional elder farmers to local BFRs.These five strategies together address key barriers for most BFRs: the need for production training, education and mentoring, access to affordable land and business skills including financial and marketing planning. By offering a collaborative approach that addresses barriers in each of these areas, this project will have a powerful impact on the growth and lasting success of BFRs in our region.This project seeks to accomplish two primary goals:Assist BFRs in entering farming and establishing successful farm enterprises andAssist BFRs in successfully building, managing and improving these enterprises.This project seeks to achieve these goals with the objectives below.Objective 1: Provide BFRs in the San Juan Islands and on Whidbey Island opportunities to increase their knowledge on key topics through a series of workshops.The output of this objective will be a series of six workshops addressing key topics repeated on four islands in San Juan and Island counties for audiences (1), (3) and (4) for a total of 24 total workshop events with 360 attendees annually. The workshops will complement and expand on existing agriculture curricula offered by the WSU Small Farms and Community Food Systems program. Workshops will cover crop production, livestock and poultry production, food safety, marketing, business planning and financial management. This output addresses the difficulty, time, and expense to island BFRs of attending workshops on the mainland; increased regional demand for vegetables, fruit, seed, local meat and poultry products; suitability of island climate, soils, and agricultural practices to forage and animal production; food safety issues; and a need for training in business development, marketing, and financial management. The outcome will be the implementation of beneficial changes in farm production and business practices by at least 70% of BFRs served.Objective 2: Provide BFRs from the West Coast and around the country the opportunity to attend a full-time BFR training program that includes in-depth training on livestock and forage management, mechanics, financial management, and marketing.The primary output of this objective is an expansion of the curricula, staff and student farm at the Organic Farm School for audiences (2), (3) and (4). The impetus for these outputs predominantly originated from the requests of past OFS graduates. While the OFS has previously focused its training primarily on fresh vegetable and seed production, OFS graduates see many local meat and poultry markets expanding rapidly and there is a desire to acquire the skills to serve these expanding markets. Adding livestock, poultry and forage production to both the classroom curriculum as well as the student farm will offer the OFS students the opportunity to thoroughly learn and practice these skills. The other most frequently requested additions to the OFS curriculum by graduates are mechanical skills training and increased training in financial management and marketing. The OFS currently serves 8-9 students per year. This project will increase the OFS capacity to serve 15-16 students per year. To date 80% OFS graduates continue to farm in some capacity and 40% manage farms. The OFS seeks to train 39 aspiring farmers through this project, thus likely creating 16 new BFR farm businesses with 17 additional BFRs working towards farm ownership. The OFS will become one of the very few experiential farmer training programs nationwide to include substantial training on the topics of livestock, mechanics, finances and marketing, and this training could be adapted to, and replicated in, other regions.Objective 3: Removed from projectObjective 4: Promote and assist land access and/or land transfers for BFRs by linking new farmers to retiring farmers and/or absentee farmland owners and assisting with assessment of farmland suitability.The output of this objective is to create a system to identify and assess available farmland and to facilitate BFR access to land through leases, sales, and other strategies, for BFR audiences (1), (3), and (4). The estimated value of land and buildings per farm is $756,469 in San Juan County and $575,839 in Island County (2012 Ag Census). Such land values are prohibitive for most BFRs, yet there are thousands of acres of land that were historically farmed and must be actively farmed to ensure compliance with conservation easements and current-use taxation programs. Through this project, BFRs will be linked to farmland identified as available and suitable. Impetus for this objective comes directly from numerous BFRs, conservation organizations, agricultural strategic action plans, and landowners and is supported by a public desire to maintain the agricultural character and productivity of the islands. This project seeks to link 15 BFRs to farmland. The developed strategies could be used in any rural area with underutilized farmland.Objective 5: Enable Beginning Farmers and Ranchers to develop and implement business and marketing plans for farm and ranch enterprises.For new ag businesses, there is little room for trial and error. Business planning services are available through local Economic Development Councils and Small Business Development Centers, but these resources are often not tailored to farming. USDA Rural Development provides resources but has no physical presence in the islands. Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) has no physical presence in the islands, but strives to support ag business development services in these two counties although on a limited basis. Through this project, NABC will provide one-on-one business development assistance to at least 40 BFRs. NABC will provide in-depth technical assistance in developing a feasibility study and business plan, including sourcing capital, to 6 of these 40 and assistance in value-added product development to 2 of these. Results will be shared regionally and with federal and state representatives.Objective 6: Develop and implement an on-farm mentoring program to provide one-on-one consulting to local BFRs by existing local elder farmers.During the first years of a farm operation, BFRs encounter numerous challenges that an experienced farmer could easily address. This output involves creation of 3 mentor teams of two farmers each with experience in farm production and business management who will mentor up to 6 BFR operations 8 months of the year. As the result, BFRs will save time and money, improve their farming practices, and increase their chances of success. The mentoring concept has been effectively implemented in other parts of the country. This program could expand to other Washington State counties in the future.