Keeping farms in the hands of farmers

The United States loses two acres of farmland every minute. The rate of loss for 1992-1997, 1.2 million acres per year, was 51 percent higher than from 1982-1992.

Farming in Washington State

• More than 118,000 acres of agricultural land in Washington State were lost to development between 1992 and 1997.
• The number of farms in Washington decreased 10% from 40,113 in 1997 to 35,939 in 2002.
• Agriculture accounts for 13%, or $28 billion, of Washington State's $223 billion dollar economy.

PCC Farmland Trust

• PCC Farmland Trust is an independent, community-supported 501(c)(3) land trust.
• It was founded in 1999 by PCC Natural Markets as a separate, non-profit organization as a way to preserve threatened farmland in Washington State and move it into organic production.
• It is the only land trust in the United States dedicated to organic farmland.
• The Trust saves farmland through outright purchases, donated easements and bequests.
• Land acquired by the Trust is set aside for organic farming in perpetuity.
• The Ames Creek Farm is the third, and largest, farm the Trust has acquired since 1999. It is the first farm the Trust has preserved for organic farming in King County. It is 178.5 acres.
• Two other farms have been purchased and preserved by the Trust — The Delta Farm acquired in 1999 (74 acres) and The Bennington Farm acquired in 2003 (174 acres). In addition, the Trust assisted in saving the Sunfield Farm in 2003 (83 acres) by means of donating a challenge grant.
• PCC Farmland Trust is solely funded through voluntary donors. They have raised over $1 million.