King County can be a hard place to break into farming. Land is prohibitively expensive, existing farmers and farm supports are clustered in rural communities, and food businesses have more competition than anywhere else in the state. However, Viva Farms is here to provide help.
Viva Farms began educating farmers in the Skagit Valley in 2009, seeing the need for an accessible pathway to empower aspiring and limited-resource farmers to begin their own organic farm businesses. In 2019, Viva Farms expanded to King County and since has supported dozens of new farmers at their farm in Woodinville.
Aspiring farmers are educated through Viva Farms’ Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture on farming methods, harvesting, marketing, and creating farm business plans. Once farmers have completed the course, they are eligible to apply for farming space on Viva Farms’ incubator farm to kickstart their farm business with infrastructure and land. Currently, 15 farm businesses are operating on the incubator farm, and Viva Farms has plans to expand.
Viva Farms was recently awarded $3 million in King County Conservation Futures funding to purchase additional farmland in the next two years. With this land, they hope to expand the incubator program to allow support to more people beginning their farm businesses.
With CFT funding in hand, Viva Farms’ owners look to expand from their current 10-acre location in Woodinville to a 100-acre site somewhere in King County.
Increasing their land base tenfold gives Viva Farms massive potential to support dozens more beginning farm businesses in King County. Viva Farms also hopes to develop an educational space for the whole community, furthering opportunities for people to learn about organic agriculture in King County. The AgPark setting also means more acreage, longer leases and the ability to scale up production for incubating farmers ready to expand. For some of Viva’s farmers’ business plans, more land and longer leases would greatly increase their farms’ long-term viability.
Additional acreage takes pressure off of the limited space on the student farm and allow students going through the program more confidence that they will be able to access the incubator program and grow their businesses.
Viva Farms is accepting applications for the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture in King County for the sixth season this year. The land based, hands-on course in certified organic production and small farm business management takes place over an entire farming season.
“We’re trying to prepare people to run their own farm businesses and paint a realistic vision of what farming is like,” said Micah Anderson, farm and education manager at Viva Farms King County.
In addition to flexible time farming, the internship includes once weekly evening classes. In the spring, classes focus on production techniques and farming methods. Summertime includes field trips to other farms in the region, plus lectures on harvest and market strategies. The course closes out in the fall with individual business plan development and presentation to fellow students.
“In the student evaluations from last year, everyone felt like the course beat their expectations,” Anderson said. “Our cohort by the end of it feels close, and it’s a very special community. In King County there are a lot more people starting the program at square one, and the community develops naturally because they are developing together.”
While the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture is the primary course for building aspiring farmers into successful farm business owners, non-farmers are welcome to apply as well. Anyone interested in participating in building a more just and sustainable food system – from land trusts to food access advocates – are encouraged to apply.
“Organic holistic agriculture is at risk in a lot of the world, we want to support people who are going to create a more just and resilient food system for the future,” said Elma Burnham, Viva Farms communications manager.
A key goal of the program providing a low-risk space for people interested in farming to explore the profession before committing full-time.
“Even if our students don’t end up farming, we consider it a win,” Anderson said. “They end up more appreciative of their farmers, and people learn about the place of small organic agriculture in our society and different ways to engage and support it.”
The application process in King County is competitive, so make sure to get your application in before the Feb. 16 deadline. Additionally, Anderson and Burnham recommend taking the time to write thoughtful answers to the questions on the application.
“If we can ensure that these farmers are successful – whatever success means for their business – their success will help create a food system that can feed our communities and be resilient into the future,” Burnham said.
Learn more and apply for the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture at vivafarms.org. Email practicum@vivafarms.org with any questions.
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