As Whatcom County faces the challenges of a growing future, the need to maintain a safe, sustainable and economically viable agricultural foundation becomes increasingly clear. As our County grows, though, so do the economic and social challenges of building and maintaining our agricultural foundation. Sustainable Connections and Kulshan Community Land Trust (KulshanCLT) are teaming up to explore the idea of creating a land-based farm incubator project in Whatcom County. A Whatcom Farm Incubator Project (WFIP) has great potential to expand markets and opportunities for local farmers while raising awareness for protection of agricultural lands. This project will strengthen community among farmers and work to raise awareness for food justice and food shed issues. It is time for our community to make more strategic investments in strengthening and diversifying the agricultural economy and the farm community.

Through reviewing the surveys of current and past participants in Sustainable Connections Food to Bank On (FTBO) program and in speaking directly with some of those farmers and others with interests in agriculture it is clear that the most common barriers to success are: 1) Access to affordable and available organic farmland, 2) Access to affordable infrastructure like tractors, greenhouses, irrigation equipment, etc. 3) Opportunity to spend more time in proximity with peers to share ideas and learn production, marketing and other best practices from one another.

The basic structure of a WFIP would address these first three needs. WFIP would be located within Whatcom County. We anticipate the need for a minimum of 100 acres of land. The center would be farmed by several semi-permanent mentor farms with ample land left to be used for new farmer training. By keeping farmers in a more concentrated area the sharing of equipment and ideas becomes much easier. In addition, a more formal support and education program could be operated on-site to allow for additional access to a wider range of resources.

Click here to download our more detailed Phase 1 report of the Whatcom Farm Inc.

We welcome your feedback!  We are seeking input, ideas, tips and referrals from the community. If you have something you would like to share please contact Derek Long at Sustainable Connections (derek@sconnect.org, 360-647-7093) or Ann Russell at KulshanCLT (annrussell@kclt.org, 360-671-5600).