Cultivating Success: Growing Future Farmers

Submitted by the University of Washington Extention Agency

Interested in farming? Not sure how to begin? Do you dream of beginning or expanding your own small farm? The Cultivating Success™ series of courses combines workshop and farmer-direct learning experiences to help foster the success of new and existing farms. Cultivating Success helps participants explore the unique advantages available to the small and mid-size farms.

First up in the series is Explore Your Farm Dreams, a three-hour workshop designed to help you explore the development of a small farm enterprise and create a plan of action for achieving your small farm dream. This workshop will be offered on Aug. 19 from 6-9 p.m. statewide, online and with Spanish interpretation.

To continue that development, we invite you to participate in our Whole Farm Planning Course focused on Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching that will be held on Mondays, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., September 23 through Nov. 4. Offered statewide, the course will be conducted online using the Zoom platform with in-person field trips available in regions of WA state. In addition, the course will be offered with Spanish language interpretation and facilitation.

Course presentations include local growers, organizations, and agriculture professionals with expertise in direct marketing, value-added processing, production planning, agronomy, livestock production, and more. Cultivating Success courses provide students with the tools necessary to create, develop, or expand a sustainable farm operation.

For more information or to register, visit https://www.cultivatingsuccesswa.org/ or contact Kate Smith 360-395-2363, kate.smith@wsu.edu.

Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Evidence of non-compliance may be reported through your local Extension Office. For reasonable accommodation or language access to participate in the event, please contact Kate Smith, WSU Food Systems Program, at kate.smith@wsu.edu or 360-399-6052 no later than two weeks before the event.