Next generation farmers: Impacts and effectiveness of a bilingual, organic farm incubator program

KATHERINE ELAINE SELTING SMITH

doi:10.7273/000004023

Farm incubator programs aim to support new entry farmers by reducing barriers to entry including access to land, infrastructure, equipment, markets, capital and education. Although over 130 farm incubator programs now exist across the country, little research exists on the effectiveness of these programs. To address this gap, I performed an in-depth case study of the bilingual, organic farm incubator program at Viva Farms in western Washington. The goal of this project was to determine whether incubator programs similar to the one at Viva Farms offer an effective and inclusive educational method to establish new entry farmers as skilled natural resource managers and contributors to sustainable community food systems. This research was conducted in 2016 through interviews with current and past participants and participant observation. Research findings indicated that 82 percent of all Viva Farms participants since the program’s founding in 2010 were still farming in 2016 and 92 percent of all participants plan to continue farming as a business. Additionally, data showed expanded access to farming for underrepresented groups in comparison with national farmer demographics with participant demographics consisting of 52 percent minority farmers, 46 percent with less than high school education, 26 percent under age 35 and 41 percent female farmers. Findings revealed that the educational approaches utilized by the incubator were highly effective in supporting participant implementation of agroecological production practices. Additionally, participant responses indicated increases in social capital and cross-cultural capacity in community food systems as a result of program participation. My results suggest that the farm incubator educational model can increase access to farming for diverse participants and can be an effective educational tool for the future success of beginning organic farmers. Continued research is needed to monitor farmer transition from the incubator to independent farming and the sustained application of agroecological practices. If the results hold over time and this model can be replicated in multiple locations, it appears the farm incubator model could form part of the solution to solving the national aging farmer crisis and assist in the transformation towards more sustainable regional agriculture and food systems.

Next generation farmers: Impacts and effectiveness of a bilingual, organic farm incubator program

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