October 2025

Farmland Preservation in the News

• Farmland Legacy Program commemorated | goskagit.com
  
  
• Small farmers seek Skagit’s big magic | Salish Current
  
  
• Oregon Farmland Program Pushes Against Urban Pressures | AgDaily
  
  
• Broad Set of Agricultural Stakeholders Unite on Federal Roadmap to Protect Farmers from PFAS | American Farmland Trust

Agriculture in the news

• Native CDFIs partner in $9M financing for flour mill on Umatilla Reservation | Tribal Business News
  
  
• Too many apples? Overproduction worries cast cloud over WA harvest | Yakima Herald
  
  
• Bird flu hits Washington egg layer facility with 2 million birds | Capital Press
  
  
• Report shows Washington ag income has dropped to 43rd place | Capital Press
  
  
• Del Monte closure leaves Wenatchee Valley pear growers with historic losses, uncertain future | Wenatchee World
  
  
• Displaced in the fields: Domestic farmworkers and the cost of immigration shifts in the Pacific Northwest | Wenatchee World
  
  
• EL 22.1 landowners, irrigation district sign new agreement | Capital Press
  
  
• Hops inventory decline points to industry stabilization | Capital Press

Grants & Resources

• September WaSHI (Washington Soil Health Initiative) Newsletter
  
  
• Solar Soil Health Guide | Farmland Information Center | American Farmland Trust - This guide is meant to be a resource to help retain the long-term soil health for farmland impacted by solar development.
  
  

• Water Year 2025 Impacts Survey. The goal of this survey is to gather information about impacts and response actions that were implemented during the 2025 water year (October 1, 2024 - September 30, 2025) due to either abnormally dry or abnormally wet conditions.

  The anonymous survey should take about 15-20 minutes to complete, and your responses will inform the PNW Water Year Impacts Assessment. The survey will remain open until Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

  Click here to complete the PNW Water Year 2025 Impacts Survey.

• Urban Ag and Innovative Production: A Guide to Local Policy | Vermont Law & Graduate School Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
  
  
• Heritage Barn Grants | Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation (DAHP) - Grant applications are due October 19.
   
• Multiple Grant Opportunities for Research, Education, and Outreach | Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

Events & Trainings

• Whole System Farm Design Workshop | Viva Farms, Edge Perma, and Skagit Conservation District - Workshop will take place October 23 at 4pm. This class is free but requires registration. This class will introduce participants to the fundamentals of ecological farm design.  
  
  
• Tilth Conference + Farm & Food Symposium | Tilth Alliance - Conference will take place November 12-15 in Spokane Valley. 

Job Announcements

• Farm to Farmer Manager | Washington Farmland Trust
  
  
• PNW Land Transfer Specialist | American Farmland Trust
  
  
• Market and Incentives Specialist | Washington State Department of Agriculture
  
  
• Careers | American Farmland Trust - Five fully-remote positions and two regional positions.
  
  
• SCC Job Board - Opportunities with Snohomish, Columbia, Skagit, Underwood, Jefferson County, and Palouse Conservation Districts. 

Subscribe to the Farmland Preservation Monthly Newsletter, brought to you by the Office of Farmland Preservation. 

The Washington State Conservation Commission administers the Office of Farmland Preservation to address the rapid loss of working farm and forest lands in our state. Learn more: www.scc.wa.gov/ofp.