WSARE Roots to Retail Bus Tours: Experiential Learning, and Network Building to Expand Values Added Grains in the Northwest

Commodities

Practices

• Crop Production: conservation tillage, cropping systems, crop rotation, drought tolerance, food processing, food processing facilities/community kitchens, food product quality/safety, no-till, nutrient cycling, nutrient management, organic fertilizers, seed saving, water management, other
• Education and Training: demonstration, display, extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, study circle, technical assistance, workshop
• Farm Business Management: agritourism, business planning, cooperatives, farm-to-institution, farmers' markets/farm stands, farm succession, feasibility study, grant making, market study, marketing management, new enterprise development, risk management, value added, whole farm planning, other
• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, habitat enhancement, soil stabilization
• Production Systems: agroecosystems, dryland farming, holistic management, integrated crop and livestock systems, organic agriculture, organic certification, permaculture, transitioning to organic
• Soil Management: composting, earthworms, green manures, nutrient mineralization, organic matter
• Sustainable Communities: analysis of personal/family life, community development, community planning, food hubs, food sovereignty, infrastructure analysis, leadership development, local and regional food systems, new business opportunities, partnerships, public participation, quality of life, social capital, social networks, sustainability measures, urban/rural integration, values-based supply chains, other

This proposal requests funds to offer demonstration-based experiential learning with the objective of spreading innovations, inspiring participants, and making connections that strengthen and develop regional values-based supply chains (VBSCs). The mission of the Cascadia Grains collaborative led by the Washington State University Food Systems Program (WSU FSP) is to bring together farmers, processors, brewers, distillers, retailers, brokers, investors, policy-makers and others to strengthen the role of regionally–produced grains and staple crops in our local food economy and diets by sharing critical knowledge as well as by creating a space in which new business and research relationships can form or be strengthened. Innovative growers across cropping scales in Washington and neighboring states are interested in opportunities to capture added value in regional markets for their grains and staple crops produced using agroecological principles. Food supply chain innovators in Western Washington and Montana are thought leaders in mid-scale, identity-preserved marketing, including several initiatives that were supported through Western SARE. Building networks and shared experiential on-site learning can catalyze foundational shifts in mental models of participants and effect lasting outcomes across regional agrifood communities. We aim to organize local tours for the 2025/26 winter Cascadia Grains conference to be held in Western Washington, and to offer a standalone traveling conference to West-Central Montana in the summer of 2026. The tour agendas will be guided by a steering committee of producers and other stakeholders interested in supporting agroecologically-based VBSCs in Washington and neighboring states. The steering committee will support the refinement of the learning objectives, outcomes, and outputs; provide input on the traveling conference agenda; and leverage their networks for recruitment of participants and site hosts. Western SARE tools will be utilized for evaluation and reporting. 

Primary Objective: Expand the mental models and build networks across cross-sector participants in the grain and staple crop agrifood system of Washington and neighboring states through shared experiential on-site and peer-to-peer learning.

A) Food-systems focused projects/case studies across regional VBSCs address and introduce potential mechanisms to increase the ability of producers to better capture value from their agroecological practices and identity-preserved products.

B) Experiential and peer-to-peer learning increase participant willingness to experiment and translate new marketing and production practices 

C) Expanded connections and networks reinforce development of lasting community-based structures that support and expand accessibility of value(s)-added supply chains in the Northwest