WSU's Biologically Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming (BIOAg) Program

Noticing the lack of academic training for organic and sustainable farmers, The Network started working with WSU and the legislature in 1997 to establish the first undergraduate degree in organic farming in the nation. We have also secured funding for sustainable farming and ranching practices research.

Overview

For the past 60 years, the American agricultural system has largely been based on policies and practices that have caused the demise of many family farms and environmental damage including soil erosion, water pollution and human and wildlife exposure to harmful chemicals.

For the most part, farms have specialized in growing single crops over vast acreages using large amounts of water and synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, as a result of the "Green Revolution" and government agricultural and economic policies that have forced farmers to "get big or get out." Unfortunately, these policies continue today.

Costs for farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and machinery continue to rise, while prices paid to farmers for the crops they sell are increasingly unstable due to the uncertainties and manipulation of global economic and trade policies. All of these factors make life on the family farm or ranch in many cases a constant financial crisis. Washington State loses 69,000 acres of farmland every year.

Now, biotechnology is being put forward as the solution to many of the problems of our current agricultural system. Transgenic crops, in which a gene from one species is inserted into a completely different species (which would never occur in nature), are being touted as the solution to world hunger and environmental problems. The Network has many concerns about transgenic crops, including the use of genetically-engineered food crops to 'grow' drugs and industrial chemicals ("biopharming").

The Network envisions a different future for agriculture in Washington State. We advocate for policies and programs that support and promote production and marketing methods that are environmentally sound, economically viable and socially responsible.

Program Work

The Network works to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of Washington's farms by increasing the knowledge and use of sustainable and organic farming practices "on the ground."

We also work to increase state and federal support for family farms. We believe that family farms using good stewardship practices are a key part of a sustainable food system. Family farms are much more likely to invest in the land and community around them for the long term, than global agribusiness operations.

The Network promotes sustainable and organic farming practices by:

Working with Washington State University
Working with regional and national partners to influence the Farm Bill and other national legislation

The Network's primary strategy is to foster greater knowledge and use of sustainable and organic farming practices by working with Washington State's "land grant" college¹, Washington State University (WSU).

As our main public agricultural research and education institution, WSU plays a key role in determining the future of agriculture in Washington State. Historically, WSU has emphasized a chemical-based, single crop approach to agriculture. More recently, WSU has announced plans to become a "world-class" center for biotechnology.

Since 1997, the Network has been a strong advocate for a greater emphasis and programs at WSU on sustainable and organic agriculture and independent family farms. Beginning in the late 1990's with the Letter of Mutual Commitment between the Network and WSU, our advocacy efforts have resulted in new research, teaching and outreach programs at WSU that promote and support sustainable, organic and small farmers. See Accomplishments. See WSU/BIOAg.

The Network also co-sponsors organic seminars and workshops at WSU, such as the January 2004 workshop on organic grain production (Word.doc). This successful event brought nearly 100 producers and buyers together to discuss how buyers could obtain more Washington organic wheat and other grains.

¹ Land-grant universities are publicly funded educational institutions specializing in agriculture. They are required to be responsive to the needs of the communities they reside within. Founded in 1862 by the Morrill Act, the mission of land-grant universities is to make higher education accessible to everyone and to benefit "agriculture and the mechanical arts."

WSU's Biologically Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming (BIOAg) Program

Washington State University’s Biologically Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming Program, or BIOAg Program, addresses the need for economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially responsible solutions that work for Washington growers and farm workers, and that meet the public demand for healthy, local food.

BIOAg establishes WSU as a visionary, forward-thinking national leader in support of sustainable and organic agriculture. It includes the nation's first organic farming major at a 4-year higher education institution. http://afs.wsu.edu/organic.htm

For the past few years, the Network and WSU's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture have worked together to secure $700,000 from USDA for the BIOAg program, for organic research projects at WSU. This seed money got the BIOAg Program off the ground. In 2006 the state legislators approved $400,000 of state funds for the BIOAG program. For the 2009-2011 WSU incorporated BIOAg into their baseline budget which helps to stabilize funding for the program.

More BIOAg Program info to follow. Stay tuned.

What is biologically intensive agriculture? A BIOAg fact sheet (.pdf)

Federal Policy Work

The Network also mobilizes people in Washington State to influence federal policy. To do this, we work with regional and national sustainable agriculture advocacy organizations: the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (Western SAWG) and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC).

For example, for the past several years the Network has worked with NCAC to secure funding in the federal Farm Bill for the Conservation Security Program (CSP), which gives financial incentives to farmers for good environmental practices on working agricultural lands. We mobilized our members and others to contact policy makers to gain their support for funding the CSP.

We also have advocated for the inclusion and funding of many other sustainable agriculture programs in the Farm Bill, including Country of Origin labeling, organic certification cost sharing, the Women with Infants and Children Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and others.

For more, see our Farm Bill 2008 page.

Accomplishments

Ensured WSU commitment to sustainable farming through a precedent-setting "Letter of Mutual Commitment" between the Network and WSU's College of Agriculture
Allocation of $700,000 in federal funds for organic research at Washington State University
Creation of WSU's Small Farms Program to serve the research needs of small farmers across the state
Lead constituent group working with WSU to develop BIOAg program—a comprehensive research, teaching and outreach program on organic and biologically-intensive agriculture
Full-time Director for the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at WSU
Secured $400,000 in state funding for WSU's Biologically Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming Program in 2006

Resources

WSU BIOAg Update 2007

Network BIOAg Fact Sheet 2007

"Finding Common Ground" report by the Kellogg Foundation—download the full report or click on "Programming," "What's new," and finally the tile of the report to view the full article

"State of the States: Organic Farming Systems Research at Land Grant Institutions 2001-2003" by the Organic Farming Research Foundation—download the full report

WSU Small Farms Program

WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources

Conservation Security Program