Welcome to Cultivating Success Explore Your Farm Dreams, where we’ll support you to explore the development of a small farm enterprise and create a plan of action for achieving your farm dreams. Whether you’re in the planning stages or have already started, this self-paced, online 3hr pilot class is designed to help you:
- Reflect on personal motivations and lifestyle preferences related to farming.
- Identify key resources needed to start or expand a farm.
- Explore different types of farm enterprises and sustainable agriculture practices.
- Assess readiness and develop a personalized action plan for next steps.
Course dates:
Pilot Course Launch: August 2026
Live Zoom Farmer Panel: August 17th 6-7pm
Course Instructors
- Kate Smith WSU Food Systems and Skagit County kate.smith@wsu.edu
- Clare Menard WSU Regional Small Farms clare.menard@wsu.edu
- Tessa Halloran WSU Mason County tessa.halloran@wsu.edu
- Kathryn Hoogheem WSU Stevens County kathryn.hoogheem@wsu.edu
- Rosy Smit WSU Snohomish County rosy.smit@wsu.edu
- Terry Koper WSU Clark County terry.koper@wsu.edu
- Eber Rivera Ortiz WSU Food Systems and Skagit County eber.riveraortiz@wsu.edu
- Kellie Henwood WSU Regional Small Farms kellie.henwood@wsu.edu
Additional Resources:
Organizations supporting small-scale agriculture:
- WSU Extension offices by county
- Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA)
- USDA National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Washington Farmland Trust
- Farm to Farmer (a land access program of Washington Farmland Trust)
- Tilth Alliance
- National Young Farmers Coalition
- Washington Young Farmers Coalition
Farm Planning
- The Green Book: Handbook for Small and Direct Marketing Farms WSDA
- Plan Your Farm / Planifique su Negocio Agrícola Cornell Small Farms Program
- Farm Start Up National Center for Appropriate Technologies (NCAT), Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)
- How to Begin Your Small Farm Dream Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) and New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
- What is Sustainable Agriculture? SARE (disponible en español)
Financing and Business Planning
- Financing Your Farm: Guidance for Beginning Farmers
- Planning for Profit in Sustainable Farming
- Evaluating a Farming Enterprise NCAT ATTRA
Listservs to learn about opportunities
- WSU Food Systems Washington Family Farm Resources (WFFR)
- WSDA Current Farmer Opportunities
- Tilth Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Farmer Forum
Land Access
- Finding Farmland Course National Young Farmers Coalition (disponible en español)
- Acquiring Your Farm (disponible en español, available in other languages) Land for Good
Market Gardening
- Market Gardening: A Start Up Guide
- Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for Continuous Harvest
- Season Extension Techniques for Market Gardeners
- Produce Safety
- Soil Health NCAT ATTRA