Small-scale farms offer big contributions

For Janis Thorson, the nudge to start making her 6.5 acres work for her was a desire to retire at 53, and the reminder from her husband that prices and costs weren’t going to stop rising. So she took the plunge and started growing vegetables to sell at local farmers’ markets. Her half-acre garden is producing enough to meet the financial goals she set for it.

For Bob and Barb Davison, it was the growing herd of horses on their 1-acre Ponderosa lot that pushed them to find a 10-acre farm all set up for horses on the west edge of Spokane. There was enough room not only for their own horses but for boarding other horses and holding riding events. A new set of arena fences installed last summer set the stage for their venture as Hillcrest Stable.

All across the Inland Northwest, folks with a dream and/or a piece of land are looking at ways to get a sustainable income from their land. Some grow crops to market to local consumers. Others raise animals for milk, meat or fiber. Others find a service they can provide or agricultural products that can be used in art and craft work. These are the new small-family farmers.

“It is so valuable to the community and society as a whole to keep the small family farm alive. There are so many people who want local produce. They want fresh food. They want to know who the farmer is,” says Teresa Beaver, coordinator of the Cultivating Success Program.

These small-scale farmers are just the kind of people Beaver is looking for to take the “Agricultural Entrepreneurship – Tilling the Soil of Opportunity” course being offered in several places around the region. The course is one component of the Cultivating Success Program’s effort to encourage sustainable small farming and ranching through education. The program is a unique consortium of the agricultural extension education services at the Washington Sate University and the University of Idaho and Rural Roots, a nonprofit organization that works to develop opportunities and links between small acreage farmers and the consuming public in north Idaho and northeast Washington.

The concept for the program was shaped in 1997 when Rural Roots began working with the University of Idaho and Washington State University to provide educational opportunities for small acreage farmers. In 2001, a USDA Higher Education Challenge grant allowed them to combine their efforts and offer a certificate in Sustainable Small Acreage Farming and Ranching. Today Cultivating Success offers a series of courses, workshops and on-farm apprenticeships throughout Washington and Idaho.

The goal of the Cultivating Success Program is “to increase the number of sustainable small-acreage farmers and help them be more successful,” says Beaver. By developing and presenting an in-depth educational program, Beaver hopes to give small farmers the skills and networks to increase the chance of success and manage the risks involved in starting and operating a venture.

In the Inland Northwest, the “Agricultural Entrepreneurship – Tilling the Soil of Opportunity” courses are scheduled for Spokane (Jan. 27-March 31), Colfax (Jan. 24-April 11) and in Moscow (Jan. 13-May 5). Beaver says it may also be offered in Plummer and Kamiah.

The course uses the agricultural focused version of the award-winning NxLevel Entrepreneurial Training Program that provides practical, hands-on business development opportunities to help entrepreneurs advance their skills in starting, growing and managing their businesses.

The 12-week course gives students already involved in small acreage farming and ranching and those just thinking about it, a grounding in aspects of business planning, marketing, finances and legal issues that can spell the difference between success and failure. A major component of the course will be guest speakers from the community with practical, agriculturally-based experience and background in these areas.

“The reason we make sure farmers and other experts are brought into the classroom is that Cultivating Success is a community-based program. It’s really important to the philosophy of the program to connect students with other farmers and hear their stories, to meet them and have these connections and develop networks. We want the students to learn about the different resources in their community.” The course also allows students an opportunity to network with participants and presenters.

At the end of the course students should have a business plan in hand to guide them. “A business plan is a road map for their business. It’s something you do to enhance the possibility of success or increase success and reduces your risk,” adds Beaver.

For the Spokane course, the Cultivating Success Program is teaming up with the Small Business Development Center located at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute. The SBDC is the region’s leading small business develop agency and is charged under its mandate through Spokane Community College, WSU and the Small Business Administration with providing small businesses with access to information, training and other resources to develop their business.

According to Carla Preston, a business development specialist with the Small Business Development Center and instructor of the Spokane course, after the class, students will also have access to the considerable resources of the SBDC to help them refine their ideas. She added however. “I personally believe that outside of realizing you have the skills to be a business person, the networking opportunity is the primary reason for (taking the class).”