FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PCC Farmland Trust farmer named “Steward of the Land” by American Farmland Trust
First Washington state farmer to receive award
Seattle, Wash. (May 13, 2008) — Sequim farmer Nash Huber has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the Steward of the Land Award by American Farmland Trust (AFT), the nation’s leading advocate for farm and ranchland preservation. Part of Huber’s operation, the 97-acre Delta Farm, was acquired in 2001 by PCC Farmland Trust (Trust), a Seattle-based nonprofit, in an area of the state very threatened by development.
The $10,000 award was established in memory of AFT’s founder, Peggy McGrath Rockefeller, an avid farmer and conservationist. Now in its twelfth year, the Steward of the Land Award recognizes the American farmer or farm family that best demonstrates leadership in protecting farmland and caring for the environment. Nash Huber is the first farmer in Washington State and the first organic vegetable farmer ever to receive the prestigious award.
The preservation of farmland has long been a critical focus in Nash Huber’s life. He was a founding member of Friends of the Fields, a Clallam County citizens’ group dedicated to protecting irreplaceable agricultural lands, and he has worked extensively on farmland preservation issues with private individuals, nonprofits like the North Olympic Land Trust, and county and state agencies.
Nash was the firstborn of seven children on a multigenerational family farm in south central Illinois, and he worked hard on the farm from an early age. When he went to college, he studied chemistry and eventually worked in the same chemical industry that agriculture has become so dependent on since the 1950s.
After a few years, he became discouraged and left the Midwest. “I drove as far to the north and west as I could go and still remain in the U.S.,” he says. “When I saw the fertile Sequim-Dungeness Valley in 1968, I knew I had to farm here.”
In 1979, he obtained his organic certification and started Nash’s Organic Produce, selling vegetables at local farmers markets and wholesale to Seattle. Gradually the business grew and in the early 1990s, he’d reached the point where he could purchase 10 acres in Dungeness with his wife Patty. They built a packing shed and ever since the business has grown as strong and healthy as the sweet carrots the farm is so famous for.
“A truly healthy farm has to be diverse and livestock is a critical component,” says Nash. “We grow our own organic barley, triticale, and rye for cover crops to fertilize the land and to feed pigs and chickens. We also do a lot of composting. Using natural soil amendments is a win-win for our farm, the environment, and our carbon footprint, instead of the industry tradition of fertilizing with chemicals derived from petroleum."
Nash also works intensively with the Organic Seed Alliance and Washington State University to develop seed crops such as spinach and chards for the Northwest. On his own, he has developed a new curly purple kale using breeding methods that farmers have utilized for thousands of years.
Nash is also investigating wheat varieties with WSU that might grow well in the unique climate of Dungeness. “We have a year-round growing season, which is incredibly rare. The winters are mild and summers are dry. We grow certain seed crops here that are only grown in one or two other places on the planet.”
It is the unique climate that has led to the development that has poured into the Valley, causing the loss of 1,000 acres of farmland every year. “We don’t have a lot of time to preserve some of this incredible farmland,” says Nash, “but if we don’t, we throw away our food options for the future.”
To protect a critical farm in Dungeness, Nash convinced one of his vendors, PCC Natural Markets in Seattle, to set up and initially fund the non-profit PCC Farmland Trust that acquired the 97-acre Delta Farm in 2001. “PCC had faith in our farm when many others were skeptical. The Delta Farm is the crown jewel of the 400-acres we currently farm, and our long-term lease enables us to plan for a time when the young farmers can take over the business.”
Training the next generation of farmers is a major focus for Nash, and several of his farm crew have been working with him for years. “The young people who find their way to my farm get hooked on producing top quality organic food to feed their community. I can’t think of another profession that offers so much satisfaction to a person who is willing to put in the work.”
Nash and his crew are also dedicated to farming practices that allow wildlife to thrive around the farm, including leaving some grains crops in the ground to provide food and shelter for over-wintering waterfowl. The farm is also certified “salmon-safe.”
In 2006, Nash received the Vim Wright “Farming in the Environment” Award. A video of his operation can be found at www.farmingandtheenvironment.org.
About the PCC Farmland Trust: The PCC Farmland Trust is an independent, community-supported 501(c)(3) land trust, founded in 1999 as a separate, non-profit organization by PCC Natural Markets, a certified organic retailer headquartered in Seattle, Wash. Their mission is to secure, preserve and steward threatened farmland in the Northwest, to ensure that generations of local farmers productively farm it using sustainable, organic growing methods.
About the Delta Farm: Located in Sequim, Wash., the 97-acre Delta Farm was the Trust’s first purchase in 2001. It is a thriving, diversified and organic farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State that is leased to Nash Huber, who has farmed organic produce for the past 25 years.
The farm has Class 1 soils and an optimal location for farming, including mild maritime growing climate, river bottom soils and lots of sunshine. The Delta Farm received organic certification in 2002 and is certified Salmon Safe. In 2003, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife purchased 23 acres of the Delta Farm for wildlife conservation and purchased a conservation easement on the rest of the property.
About Nash’s Organic Produce: Nash’s Organic Produce received Farming & the Environment's 2006 Vim Wright Stewardship Award. Nash was Producer #4 in the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s (WSDA) organic certification program, is renowned for his internship programs, and is a tireless advocate for farmland threatened by development.