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The Small Farms Team works with communities and individuals across Washington to foster a profitable farming system, to promote land and water stewardship, and to ensure that all Washingtonians have unrestricted access to healthy food. On our site you will find resources for farmers and the general public alike. Visit our site regularly to keep up to date with the latest events and news in our farming community, to learn about sustainable community-based food and farm systems, and to see what exciting projects the WSU Small Farms Team is working on right now.
Washington State University Small Farms Team provides research-based information and educational programs for farmers, consumers, decision-makers, and others involved in local food systems. The team is a statewide affiliation of professionals from WSU, state agencies, and non-governmental organizations.
Our primary goals are to:
- Build public support for agriculture
- Preserve Washington farmland for food and fiber production
- Help farmers adopt practices that are sustainable- economically, socially and environmentally
- Unify farmers and consumer in developing local markets and community food access.
The Small Farms Program is in WSU Extension and the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. The program focuses on education resources for farmers, outreach to communities, and team-based research with farmers.
What's New
 NOW AVAILABLE!!
The WA State Farmers Market Manual |
Flood Recovery Information |
As southwestern Washington residents begin the long, hard process of recovering from recent floods, Washington State University Extension has compiled a list of WSU Extension educators and Web sites that offer relevant, timely information to help them with the aftermath of this disaster. Click here for more information.
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WSU Extension Educator Bee Cha Appointed to Governor’s Board. |
 Bee Cha, Hmong Program Coordinator at Washington State University Extension, has been appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire to the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. Click here for more information
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Ostrom Wins Western Regional Excellence in Extension Award |
WSU associate professor Marcia “Marcy” Ostrom has b een named the recipient of the 2007 Western Regional Excellence in Extension Award. Ostrom is the director of the WSU Small Farms Program that she established in 2000 and a member of the Community and Rural Sociology Department.
The honor is one of five regional awards and one national award given annually by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. Ostrom received the award at NASULGC’s annual conference in New York City on Nov. 11.
“In seven years, Marcy has built the WSU Small Farms Program from the ground up into a model for engaging small producers and previously underserved groups,” said Linda Kirk Fox, associate vice president and dean of WSU Extension. “She has brought together a statewide team of campus and county-based faculty, agency representatives and community partners to address issues of small farm viability and community food systems.”
Ostrom’s Small Farms Team includes bi-lingual Hmong and Latino outreach specialists who adapt educational programs for diverse cultures.
Hmong refugees from Laos are a growing immigrant group that relies heavily on income from farmers markets. Latino farm owners constitute the fastest growing sector of new farmers in Washington state.
November 28, 2007 On Solid Ground |
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