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Scott Hall – KCAA Director Candidate

Last modified on 2009-10-26 18:15:53 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Making Hay

Why am I member of the KCAA?

I discovered early on that “the whole is greater than the sum of it’s’ parts” when it comes to the membership of the KCAA. Individually, many of us have certain knowledge, skills and abilities useful to our own personal producer/marketer endeavors. I have found that the KCAA recognizes, and draws out those talents in a way that allows each member to benefit from his or her association with the other members.

What do I see as the priorities for KCAA in the coming year?

I would like to see KCAA take an active roll in providing advice to county planners as those planners to identify what “rural” means in Kitsap County. For all their good intentions, planners are all too often disconnected from on-the-ground experience in “rural” issues. I would also like KCAA to continue to host events that draw the wider community into discussions of issues of importance to KCAA members. It might also be a good Idea to develop a schedule of seminars on various production/marketing/outreach topics that can happen at times in addition to the monthly meetings. Develop a traveling display suitable for use at fairs, events, colleges, schools, etc.

What do I have to offer the as a KCAA Director?

I have, with respect to occupation, been many things: I grew up on a small farm in South Kitsap, and while in high school worked summers on a very large diversified farm near the tri-cites in eastern Washington. So following high school, I was…you guessed it….a Nuclear Weapons Specialist in the U.S. Army for 7 years. I inspected, disassembled and re-assembled 7 different types of nuclear warheads, and taught other how to do the same. I have spent decades variously as a Physical Science Technician, an Employee Development Specialist, and a Drug Program Coordinator. Each of these occupations are highly technical, and have manuals, rules, protocol and a chain of command to make sure things go as desired. But always, underneath whatever I was doing, there was a nagging determination to be involved with agriculture as my ultimate occupation. Granted, farming is NOT rocket science. Farming sustainably is, by far, harder to do right! No manual, no rule, no protocol, no chain of command can ever replace the skills, dedication, ethos or integrity needed to be a good farmer. Hopefully, knowing this to be true, from my own personal experiences, makes me worthy to sit on the board of KCAA.

My special passion:
I have seen a great may farms in my lifetime, all over this country. But one day, more than 10 years ago, I visited a farm that latched onto my very soul, and would not let go. It was, and is, a unique property. It is a holdout, refusing to give in to the steady drumbeat of development that has taken almost all the rest of the farms like it. The farm is steeped in history, born from immigrant homesteaders toiling to improve the land so it could become their own.

The farm’s owner, during that first visit, asked me a question: “So, if you had this place, what would you do with it?”. Although I do not recall my exact answer, it must not have been complete gibberish, as I was asked to come back so we could talk some more. I think that farmer, Gerald Petersen, recognized the same look in my eyes as he himself had more than 50 years previous when he first saw the farm.

From then on I made it my mission to do whatever I could to ensure the property would stay as a farm. And thus was born the Legacy Farm Project. I, along with my wife Peggy, have been steadfastly working to ensure the farm survives the farmer, who recently died at 94 years old, and having spent 61 years on the farm. If we succeed, the farm will flourish and diversify, bringing additional agricultural products to the local community. However, the most valuable crop we hope to grow on this farm is new farmers. With 166 acres, good soils, and a prime location we hope to make the Legacy Farm Project a model of agricultural sustainability and education for the following generations. Nobody ever said it would be easy. However, nearly everybody who has seen the farm understands just how truly important this venture is to all of us.