Abstract
The fastest growing demographic sectors of Washington agriculture are Latino, Asian, and women farmers. The majority of these farms are small, with over three-fourths of Latino, Hmong, or women-operated farms having fewer than 50 acres and less than $50,000 in sales. Small farms make up 90 percent of all Washington farms, with 35,269 counted in the last census. Unfortunately, most conventional farming education models are not well-suited to farmers with limited access to land, water, and capital, or with limited literacy or limited English proficiency. Meeting the needs of this new generation of farmers will require rethinking many standard approaches to public agricultural research, education, and assistance. This article examines various alternative formats for reaching diverse producers with sustainable farming education that have been piloted by the Washington State University Small Farms Program, including participatory courses, farmer-to-farmer learning strategies, experiential workshops, audiovisual strategies, and simultaneous translation.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundIn the 2007 Census of Agriculture, 90 percent, or 35,269, of Washington’s farms met the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (1998) definition of a small farm, meaning they had total sales of less than $250,000 (USDA, 2007)
In this discussion of the impacts and outcomes of our Cultivating Success program for immigrant farmers, we report on the findings from the evaluations that were conducted at the end of each individual educational activity, as well as interviews that were held with past participants one to five years after participating in a program
The relationships of trust formed between the project leaders and the farmers provided a participatory environment for guiding program development
Summary
In the 2007 Census of Agriculture, 90 percent, or 35,269, of Washington’s farms met the USDA (1998) definition of a small farm, meaning they had total sales of less than $250,000 (USDA, 2007). Just as in the country as a whole, immigrant and women farmers are the fastest-growing demographic sector of the state’s agriculture. In Washington, the number of Latino, Asian, and women farm operators increased by 43 percent, 36 percent, and 44 percent, respectively, between 2002 and 2007. The 2007 Agricultural Census counted 2,605 Latino, 669 Asian, and 8,090 women producers in the state. While there is not a separate census category for them, the authors have identified 88 Hmong-operated farms. The majority of immigrant and women-owned farms are small, with over 75 percent of Latino, Hmong, or women-operated farms having less than 50 acres and under $50,000 in sales. While sales may appear low on these farms, our research shows that it can be a critical component of household income (Ostrom, 2005a)
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