Video: Program introduces new farmers to successful ones

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EVERETT, Wash. – The tough economy has new farmers looking for ways to save make a living, and a unique program at Washington State University aims to help them do just that.

Reid Carleton and his wife have been farming since 1966. Back then, they raised a small herd of cows and sold milk, but rising costs and falling milk prices threatened the farm, forcing them to find other ways to survive.

"Every car that went past, we went ‘what can we sell them? What kind of a service can we offer them?’” said Reid.

Today, there are no more cows. They grow vegetables, board horses and run an on-farm store. The Carletons are a shining example of a farm that’s diversified successfully at a time when others have simply sold their land.

The WSU Snohomish County Extension’s Farmer-to-Farmer program is trying to nurture new farmers by introducing them to successful farmers like the Carletons.

"And provide folks with the knowledge that they need to go forth and be successful and come up with innovative ways like Reid has done here of being able to keep the land in production,” said Kate Halstead, WSU Snohomish County Extension.

New farmers Randy and Vicki James are trying to learn from the Carletons and want their own farm to become a successful link in the food chain.

“I think right now the amount of support there is for it. I think the family farm is really on a comeback,” said Randy.

This is the first year of the Farmer-to-Farmer series.