Awardee
Project
Expanding a Consumer Market that Incentivizes Dry Farming as a Sustainable and Resilient Practice for Producers
Description
In basins like the Sammamish, water availability hinders agricultural production and expansion, particularly to new farmers. The practice of dry farming expands land in production while restoring health to our depleted waters, soils and environment. Yet, a barrier to wider adoption of dry farming is understanding the profitability compared to irrigated agriculture. This project will identify best practices as well as the profitability drivers of dry farming on three Sammamish farms. Dry farming can offer diversified financial benefits: water conservation payments, reduced labor costs, and increased market value for sustainable practices and higher quality. This proposal seeks to expand consumer awareness and raise the market value of dry farmed goods as a sustainable, climate resilient, and high quality products.