The farmers featured in this series, two of which are located in Thurston County, are leaders in utilizing innovative and viable business and production practices to manage risk, and to build and maintain sustainable small-scale farms. The series includes 11 videos made possible by 2 consecutive Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership grants from USDA Risk Management Agency.

In Poultry Processing Rental Equipment, Colin Barricklow, Kirsop Farm in Tumwater, WA shares his diversified farm’s practices for cultivating row crops and small-scale poultry production for direct to consumer sales of up to 1,000 birds allowed for in the WSDA Special Poultry Permit. Food safety, animal husbandry, and predator control are essential components of Kirsop’s whole farm system.

Kirsten Workman of WSU Mason County Extension walks tour participants through on-farm poultry processing including how to use rental killing cones, scalder, and plucker that Kirsop uses in their commercial production.

Are you farming in a flood plain? “Assume it will happen every year”, even if it’s called a hundred-year event. This is the advice given by farmer Jennifer Belknap of Rising River Farm in Rochester, WA in the Flood Preparation and Recovery video after having been through several major floods on her farm. The aftermath can be less damaging to your farm’s bottom line if you have adequate flood insurance and a well laid-out plan that includes creating storage for equipment, livestock, and crops that will protect them from floodwaters.