American Farmland Trust Releases Toolkit
to Highlight Success in Puget Sound Region
(Bellingham, WA) American Farmland Trust (AFT) has published a companion toolkit to the Puget Sound Agricultural Viability Action Plan released in April to make agriculture in Puget Sound thrive, help farmers become more economically secure and resilient, permanently protect land for agriculture, and improve environmental health and community well-being.
AFT’s Agricultural Viability Action Plan identified five core goals: protect farmland from conversion to development; support farmer livelihoods and business viability; improve access to farmland, markets, infrastructure, and technical assistance; build resilience to climate change; and support producer health and well-being.
The new Toolkit for Local Action highlights fourteen case studies from across the region where local governments and their partners are proactively addressing these goals and responding to the challenges facing agricultural producers. The Toolkit aims to inspire peer-to-peer learning and cross-pollination, and to help Puget Sound communities access the necessary information and resources to scale effective solutions to support agricultural viability.
“When we support healthy farms and farmers, we can protect vital lands from development and save open spaces that support both Puget Sound communities and our salmon runs,” says Laura Vary, Progress Indicator Lead with the Puget Sound Partnership, which provided funding for the project. “These case studies show ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships across our region which support both farmland and wildlife habitat.”
The Toolkit highlights initiatives like Thurston County, Washington's Working Lands Conservation Strategy, which exemplifies how integrating farmland protection into local planning can ensure that agriculture is considered essential infrastructure rather than a temporary land use awaiting development. The strategy was launched in 2024 to address increased development pressure on agricultural and forest lands while sustaining the rural character central to the region’s identity, and is designed to produce a practical, actionable approach to long-term conservation.
The Toolkit also highlights Snohomish County, Washington, where the County has sought to invest in innovation and research on small farms through its launch of an innovative Agriculture Technology (Ag Tech) Program. The program provides farmers no-cost access to advanced agricultural technologies that would otherwise be too expensive to adopt.
"The case studies highlighted throughout this toolkit demonstrate that practical solutions to farmer-identified challenges already exist across the region," said AFT Pacific Northwest Regional Director Addie Candib. "The question before us is not whether these strategies can work, but whether we have the commitment to implement and scale them."
The Toolkit emphasizes that local governments can play a significant role in fostering agricultural viability -- they may integrate farmland protection into comprehensive planning, invest in agricultural; infrastructure, and workforce development, reduce regulatory barriers, expand access to public lands, support farm-to-community purchasing programs, strengthen disaster preparedness, and leverage innovative funding tools to protect and sustain working lands. They can also invest in applied research, education, outreach, and other activities that build producer capacity, increase conservation practice adoption, and innovative resilient business models.
"No single county or organization can address these challenges alone," said Candib. "The future of agriculture in Puget Sound depends on continued collaboration, peer-to-peer learning, and the sharing of resources, ideas, and lessons learned across jurisdictions. By strengthening networks, we can accelerate innovation, avoid duplicating efforts, and build on successful models already being tested throughout the region. Together, we can create a stronger regional community of practice that advances agricultural viability, adapts to emerging challenges, and ensures that farming remains an integral part of the Puget Sound landscape for generations to come."
###
American Farmland Trust (AFT) is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms No Food® message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 8 million acres of agricultural land, advanced environmentally sound farming practices on millions of additional acres, and supported thousands of farm families.
