October 2020 Newsletter
In this Issue:
  • Annual Meeting
  • Fallow Update
  • Alumni Spotlights
  • AgForestry-to-Go
  • September Donors
AgForestry Annual Meeting
20/20 Vision: Hindsight and Foresight
November 5th, 11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m.
Take an extended lunch break and join us virtually for AgForestry’s Annual Meeting of Members. The agenda features:
 
The Inevitability of Change is the Mother of Innovation: Be inspired by Rob Curley, editor of The Spokesman-Review. Hear his approach to innovation and lessons learned in his quest to shift his organization and industry from surviving to thriving.

Why COVID-19 Will Propel AgForestry Forward: Get an update on AgForestry, including exciting innovations we’ve made, how we’re adapting to challenges we face, and what we expect for the future.

Insights from Stakeholder Outreach: Learn what AgForestry stakeholders say about challenges the leaders of today and tomorrow face. Our research findings will help position AgForestry for the next 40 years.

Board Elections: Up to five new members will join the AgForestry Board of Directors. Current donor-members will receive an electronic ballot via email.

Grab your lunch and join us November 5th to show your support for AgForestry. Your Zoom registration will serve as your RSVP.
A Fallow Season
AgForestry will lie fallow for one season. Instead of convening in the fall, we are using this time to innovate. We are retooling the traditional program and creating opportunities for skills development.
Our mentoring program has launched! Fourteen members of Classes 41 and 42 have been matched with Alumni Mentors! Last week, class participants and their mentors attended a virtual ‘Match Day’ which included an orientation session and a private ‘meet 'n greet’ for each pair. We are excited to pilot this program and believe we can carry it forward as a part of the traditional program.
Class 42 member, Amanda Sandhop, shares her excitement about this opportunity: “When I heard about the mentorship program that AgForestry would organize, I signed up right away! This process has just started but has already provided a framework for my mentor and me to work through, for me to learn, grow, and set and accomplish goals.”
Read to Lead is another opportunity for Classes 41 and 42. We will read and discuss Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff. Acuff balances seriousness and lightheartedness in tackling the reasons why we don’t accomplish our goals. Class members will discuss the book and their reflections in a virtual book club in November.
Alumni Spotlights
Where are they now...
Tristan (Class 32) and Joelle Klesick were introduced in the early 1990s to a few farmers from the Willamette Valley, and they were inspired. He recalls, “they were impacting the world around them by growing food. With a growing family ourselves, the idea germinated, and we began a journey towards farming and raising our family.” The Klesick’s farming adventure started on a 4x8 foot plot, which has grown into 37 acres in Stanwood.
 
Tristan said, “AgForestry was a natural fit for me.” He was already serving on county boards, local dike districts, and was helping to launch the NW Ag Business Center. “AgForestry introduced me to the entire state, its challenges and how the Natural Resource Community could impact our state for the better.”
 
Tristan believes that AgForestry Alumni are servants first. “By serving our communities we can break down barriers and get to the heart of issues. We can't always solve them, but by being a voice for our communities we can impact and influence the process and the outcomes. AgForestry expanded my ability to see the bigger picture. I run into the alumni serving their communities everywhere!”

Read more of Tristan's story and how he is helping others become strong leaders at agforestry.org
Alumni Giving Back...
"The AgForestry Program was a wonderful program to show how our operation and our industry fits into our local, state, national and international communities. The many points of view expressed throughout the program gave us perspective on how interconnected we are in the overall workings of the our communities. 

"We have had a longstanding relationship with the Northwest Harvest Organization and it is very rewarding for our family and our employees to see our veggie boxes distributed throughout our local communities and beyond. The crop diversity on our farm and our central location in the Yakima Valley gave us access to a variety of fresh, local fruits and vegetables to include in the boxes and to provide local, fresh picked, in-season produce to consumers in need. 
 
"The distribution network of Northwest Harvest and the many local food banks allowed us to get the produce to those in need in a condition fresher than available in many grocery stores. The hard work and dedication of our field and packing house employees made the transition from 2,500 to 10,000 boxes per week relatively easy despite our continued shipping to our regular customers. We are proud to be working with Northwest Harvest to provide food to those in need."
Alumni Helping Veterans...
Military Veterans are eligible to attend a 9-week, step-by-step course on farm planning, free of charge.

Jason Alves (Class 40) says, “Cultivating Success, Whole Farm Planning is a comprehensive course available to those seeking to start their operation, and/or grow their Ag business. A generous grant from the VA Office of Rural Health allows us to expand this opportunity to veterans at no cost to them. We at your Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs hope that this opportunity both re-invigorates, as well as, sustains the long history we have in Washington State of veterans finding their second mission by feeding, clothing and supplying our state, country and the world.”

For information about the Whole Farm Planning course, and the scholarship opportunity visit the WSU CAHNRS website
We want to hear about you! Tell us what you've been up to since your AgForestry experience. Email us at leaders@agforestry.org.
AgForestry-to-Go!
Agricultural Labor Issues with April Clayton and Rosella Mosby
  • Wednesday, October 21, 2020
  • Noon - 1 p.m.
  • Free, registration required

April and Rosella will discusses the complex issue of agricultural labor in 2020. What new rules and regulations are impacting farming operations? How is Coronavirus being handled statewide? What issues may emerge in 2021?
Thank you to our September Donors
Big Bend Electric Cooperative, Inc.
-Kelly Haugh
Bleyhl Farm Service Inc.
Greater Spokane, Inc.
Ingham and Sons Inc.
-Mike (15) & Sharon Ingham
John (2) & Judy Calhoun
Kevin (21) & Helen Paulson
Lloyd (8) & Ann Anderson
Mark (13) & Miriam Grant
Maurice (7) Balcom
Mel (34) & Rex Calloway
MGP Farming Struthers Farms, Inc.
P & P Farms
-Alice Parker
Paul (15) Wing
Ron (2) & Gail Myers
S & B Farms, Inc.
-Brad & Jennifer Smith
Sara & David Wagenblast
Skagit Farmers Supply
Skip (19) & Tracey Yotsuuye
Wash. Wine Industry Foundation