18th annual 100-Mile Friends of the Fields Harvest Dinner

When: 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17

Where: Sunland Country Club, 109 Hilltop Drive, Sequim

Cost: $150 per person. Tables seat nine guests. Buy eight tickets and get the ninth one free! Tickets go quickly and won’t be sold at the door. Tickets available at www.northolympiclandtrust.org or call 360-417-1815 ext. 4.

For the past 103 years, WSU Clallam County Extension has worked side-by-side with farmers to strengthen and support local agriculture across Clallam County.

From providing technical assistance for commercial farms to general farmer education, Clea Rome, director of Clallam County Extension and her dedicated team provide an array of expertise and resources critical to the county’s farm community and economy.

In recognition of the extension’s ongoing support of local farms, North Olympic Land Trust is honoring Rome and the Extension staff with the 2017 Farmer of the Year award.

“WSU Extension is at the heart and soul of the farm economy in Clallam County,” said Tom Sanford, North Olympic Land Trust executive director. “For over 100 years, they’ve been supporting the agricultural community from building the next generation of farmers through their 4-H program to increasing education around environmental stewardship through their Master Gardener Program.”

Each year a handful of community members nominate the Farmer of the Year — an award honoring individuals and/or organizations that have positively and significantly impacted the local farm community.

“What a tremendous honor this is,” said Rome. “The staff here is just so awesome and does so much good work, so I’m just really proud to see their work recognized.”

WSU Clallam County Extension dates back to the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which basically enabled the mechanism for agriculture-related research underway at land grant universities to be extended out into rural communities, Rome explained.

“Back then about 50 percent of the population was engaged in farming full time,” she said. “Now that only 2 percent of the national population is engaged in farming the face of the extension has changed, but we’re still really rooted in our ag communities.”

The Extension’s 4-H and Master Gardener programs are what Rome considers “legacy” programs, but a “core nugget,” of Extension always has been working with farmers in a real technical capacity to help them on their production issues, she said. Depending on the problem or project, Extension staff can tap into the large pool of resources at the university.

“Access to markets can really be the difference between a successful farm and one that ultimately is not,” she said. “Knowing this, we do a lot of work around helping farms connect to new markets in different ways.”

A key part of the Extension’s successful and ongoing history is its partners, like NOLT, food banks, the overall 4-H community, countless volunteers, the Clallam Conservation District, as well as regional partnerships in both Jefferson and Kitsap counties.

“We could not do what we do or operate without our incredible partnerships,” Rome said.

Harvest Dinner

The community is invited to join in honoring the WSU Clallam County Extension team at the 18th annual Harvest Dinner on Sunday, Sept. 17. Themed “Know the Hands That Feed You,” this year’s event is bringing together the expertise of multiple local chefs specialized in farm-to-table cuisine.

Today, with nearly 250 guests, the support gleaned at Harvest Dinner has become instrumental to local farmland conservation. Community support at prior dinners has helped to conserve 520 acres of farmland on over a dozen farms in Clallam County, including the 60-acre Historic Ward Farm in early February.

Thanks to sponsorships from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Natural Systems Design, Suzi Schuenemann, broker at John L. Scott, Ennis Arbor Farm, Wind Rose Cellars, Olympic Lavender Company, Sound Community Bank, Cedar Creek Dental Center, Lynne Tjomsland and Ina Jaffe, and Craft3, all proceeds from Harvest Dinner directly benefit local farmland conservation.

Get tickets at www.NorthOlympicLandTrust.org. For more information, visit extension.wsu.edu/clallam/ or call 360-417-2279.