SNOHOMISH, Wash. — A new breed of farming is popping up in Snohomish.
At Raising Cane Ranch, Nick Pate is turning his farm into a forest.
"I'm kind of bringing back the forest -- what was here before farmers came down and uprooted all the cedar trees and spruce trees and alder," said Pate.
Instead of leaving his 40 acres as simply pasture or grassland, Pate is planting about 1,500 trees.
The style of farming is called "agroforestry," and it's re-creating the natural ecosystem that once stood generations ago.
"We've put in dozens of varieties of tress that can feed humans and they also feed birds," Pate said.
Planting trees on land that would otherwise go underused decreases the farm's impact on local waterways, as well as helping combat climate change.
"Trees shade the earth. They keep things cooler. The leaves filter the air. The roots filter out the water," said Pate. "The amount of species we've brought in has quadrupled. It's just amazing."
In agroforestry, you won't find neatly tilled rows of crops.
Instead, Pate plants naturally occurring nuts and berries that he can sell for profit, supplementing his cattle business from his fledgling forest.
"It's a forest that is edible, mostly for humans, and provides products that we can sell."
Only a few small farms in Snohmish County are practicing agroforestry right now, but a growing number of farmers believe getting back to nature will help create the farm of the future.
This fall, the Snohomish Conservation District is launching a campaign to help farmers design their own agroforestry system for free.