Buy Local Food In Kitsap

Farmland is no doubt disappearing. The best farmlands go first. Many people have posted to this blog with their opinions, perceptions and experiences about the matter and we have only just scratched the surface.

One of the big questions seems to be that of succession. A lot of farmers in Kitsap believe that there are a large number of landowners whose land has traditionally been under cultivation that are not farming it now or are worried that it cannot be kept under production. I have met some of them personally and know that this is the case. Scot and Peggy Hall are two people in Kitsap working on something they call the Legacy Project. In particular they are trying to save the 160 acre Peterson Dairy Farm in Silverdale from being sold for development.

What is frustrating is that there is evidence that increasing numbers of educated, ambitious young people are seeking opportunities to farm. Washington Tilth Producers is an organization that provides a connection between farmland owners wishing to pass along their farms to farmers and young people seeking to work on the land. I had a phone interview with Diane Dempster recently, a vice president for the organization, and gained some interesting insight into the greater trends affecting farms and farmers throughout Washington State.

It’s complicated though. Because farms are such low margin businesses and the usual way that farmers are rewarded for a lifetime of risk taking, hard labor and production is to sell their land to the highest bidder. Converting land from agricultural uses to other uses is the best way to maximize their return, usually. The irony is that the very people who have such a love of land as farms and perhaps wish to see it in continued production are the very ones who will most benefit financially from a change to what real estate appraisers call the highest and best use. Without a better retirement funding mechanism, how could farmers do anything else?

Another problem is that very often the children of farmers do not wish to continue in their parents’ footsteps, opting for more exciting and potentially lucrative careers opened up for them through education. It seems that only a few are attracted back to the land, whether it belongs to their family or others, after they have seen the big city. In terms of choices that we all would enjoy, who could blame them.

Nash Huber of the Delta Farm in Sequim has made some progress in this area. He has a hard working group of some 35 younger farmers who work with him as a loose alliance of farm entrepreneurs. Together, they manage to eek out a small profit margin for I have been told is a $1.6mm annual sales farm business. He has set the stage for them to continue on in his place when he is on longer able or willing.

A lot of farmers may be unaware that there is a 500 member organization that provides a “dating” service for interns and farmers. Have a listen to this interview with Diane Dempster….