FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seattle, Washington | As a farmland conservation organization, PCC Farmland Trust sees farmers as the first line of defense for protecting our region’s soil health for generations to come. Recognizing this idea alongside the land access challenges that our region’s farmers face, the Trust launched Farm to Farmer in 2018, a land-matching program designed to better connect farmers to land opportunities in Washington.

The program launched in Pierce and King Counties, based on the Trust’s deep relationships and history conserving farmland in those communities. Today, PCC Farmland Trust is thrilled to be able to bring Farm to Farmer to Skagit County through a pilot partnership with Viva Farms.

“We see partnerships with organizations like Viva Farms as a key strategy for providing customized, community-driven assistance to farmers and landowners across the region,” said Megan Jenny, Community Partnerships Director for PCC Farmland Trust.

Viva Farms is a farm business incubator headquartered in Skagit Valley that provides bi-lingual training and resources to new and beginning farmers. Viva Farms will leverage the Farm to Farmer land-matching website to staff the program locally, providing customized, in-person support and resources based on farmer and landowner needs in their area.

“At Viva Farms, we know that land-matching and personalized assistance are critical to setting new and beginning farmers up for success,” said Anna Chotzen, Business & Marketing Manager at Viva Farms. “We are thrilled to now have a tool to help facilitate that.”

Since launching Farm to Farmer, PCC Farmland Trust has engaged 400 farmers and landowners, 65 of whom have created listings through the program. PCC Farmland Trust hopes to leverage its partnership with Viva Farms to build even more connections between farmers and landowners across Washington. Both organizations hope this partnership will be used as a model for future collaborations across the state.

Learn more at farmtofarmer.org.

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Farm to Farmer is a program of PCC Farmland Trust, a nonprofit that works to protect and steward threatened farmland in Washington. The Trust aims to keep land in production by making it accessible to future generations of farmers. Since its founding by PCC Community Markets in 1999, PCC Farmland Trust has protected 23 farms, totaling more than 2,500 acres across Washington.

Viva Farms is a nonprofit farm business incubator that has educated over 900 small farmers, 200+ native Spanish speakers, in sustainable and organic farming. Viva provides bilingual training to farmers as well as the “essentials” to starting a successful farm business: land, capital, marketing, infrastructure, and access to markets. Viva Farms’ accredited 9-month practicum in sustainable agriculture offers aspiring farmers and farm workers real-life experience through a full growing season, from business planning to crop planting and harvest.

 

Media contact: Molly Goren, Communications Manager | molly.goren@pccfarmlandtrust.org | 206-777-4053