WHATCOM COUNTY — The fourth annual FREE Small Farm Expo will be held on Saturday, March 9th at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds in Lynden from 9am to 2pm. Whether you already operate a small farm and are looking for new ideas or markets, grow your own food, are thinking of starting a small farm, or are making the transition from hobby to business, this event offers something for everyone.

Designed to be an informal meet-and-greet and networking event, visitors will find opportunities to engage with successful farmers, meat processing cooperatives, and market resources for local growers. Discover new resources to improve and expand productivity, animal health, pasture quality and homesteading happiness.

Over 35 different organizations will be represented from tractor suppliers, agronomists, veterinarians, butchers, master composters, solar providers, financial resources for farmers, and much more. Additionally, there are presentations on the half hour with a special keynote from noon to 1pm. Refreshments and lunch will be available for purchase

Keynote address by Rebecca Thistlethwaite 12-1pm

Meat the Future: Successful Models in Animal Agriculture

The challenges to livestock and poultry production are numerous- shifting consumer preferences, trade wars, regulations, activists, climate change, rising input costs, the list goes on. Farmers and scientists are coming to understand the myriad of benefits that domesticated animals can provide a farm, an economy, and an ecosystem that you could benefit from as well. Rebecca will share some successful models and key best practices for deriving the most benefits from animal agriculture. These will include production practices, processing, aggregating, and selling animal products from meat to milk to eggs to hides and fiber, with a focus on pasture-based and regenerative models.

Rebecca Thistlethwaite is the author of Farms with a Future and The New Livestock Farmer . Currently, she works as the Program Manager of the eXtension community-of-practice Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network. Rebecca runs Sustain Consulting, which specializes in food and farm issues, and operates a small farm and a community farm stand in Oregon with her husband and coauthor, Jim Dunlop, and their daughter, Fiona. http://rebeccathistlethwaite.com   

Hosted by Whatcom Conservation District and Whatcom County Public Works, the event is free and open to the public. Check our website or event Facebook Page “Small Farm Expo” for

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updates. Special thanks to our sponsors: Kafe Radio, Country Financial Barkley, Grow Northwest, Kulshan Veterinary Hospital, Whatcom Family Farmers, Wild Bird Chalet, Coastal Realty, Scratch and Peck Feeds, and Northwest Farm Credit Services.

FREE tarps and FREE soil test will be available to qualifying farmers, while supplies last.

For more information, visit  http://www.whatcomcd.org/small     or contact Aneka Sweeney at (360) 526-2381 x103, [email protected].