EVERETT — More flooding. Longer droughts. Warmer summers.
Weather patterns of late have strayed further and further from the trusty Farmer’s Almanac. That’s made it harder to make a go of it in agriculture, whether as a big business or a backyard gardener.
Snohomish County’s 11th annual Focus on Farming conference aims to examine this changing landscape, on a local level. You might call this installment the “future of farming.” The conference is Nov. 20 at the fairgrounds in Monroe.
“How do we plan for agriculture into the future?” asked Linda Neunzig, the county’s agriculture coordinator. “How do we plan for success?”
To help answer those questions, the county has invited Fred Kirschenmann as one of two keynote speakers. A distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center at the University of Iowa, and a recognized leader in the field of sustainable agriculture, Kirschenmann also helps run his family’s 1,800-acre organic farm in North Dakota.
He’s also the first repeat speaker in the decade-plus since Focus on Farming started.
The other keynote speaker is Robert Thayer, emeritus professor of landscape architecture and founder of the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of California, Davis.
This year’s conference is at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. The one-day event includes 24 workshops covering six areas, including the business of farming, livestock and nurseries. An agricultural trade show coincides with the conference.
Attendance has climbed every year and reached 550 in 2013, Neunzig said.
To register for the conference online, go to www.focusonfarming.org. Adult admission costs $60. It includes conferences, a locally sourced catered lunch and trade-show admission. For more information, contact Linda Neunzig at 425-388-7170 or linda.neunzig@snoco.org.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 Census reported 1,438 farms in Snohomish County with a combined 70,863 acres under cultivation. Together, they produced more than $139 million in crops.
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