The Tilth Alliance distributed more than $555,000 in grants to farmers this year.

Recipients of the alliance’s Washington State Organic and Sustainable Farming Fund grants were in 19 counties.

The amount varies each year, depending on what funders feel they can contribute, said Melissa Spear, executive director for the organization.

It has ranged from $250,000 to $500,000 in the past few years.

The Tilth Alliance is a nonprofit organization based in Seattle. It supports farmers in adopting and using organic, regenerative and sustainable farming practices.

Because the program is primarily funded through private donors, Spear said.

“We continue to seek ways to bring funding into this program,” she said.

The organization may approach the legislature and state department of agriculture in the future.

‘Quite impactful’

“This is a unique grant program,” Spear said. “Small grants, a fairly simple application process, sustainable agriculture targeting small farms — money that is not often easily available to small farms.”

The program has been “quite impactful,” funding 421 applicants with $3.6 million over the last nine years.

“It’s made a huge difference,” Spear said.

With the grants, small farmers have made investments in equipment, including walk-behind tractors, no-till seed drills, manure spreaders, seed-cleaning equipment or wash-pack stations.

The goal is to “really increase the viability of those farms by increasing their efficiency, lowering their costs,” Spear said. “Whether it’s labor costs or just the time it takes them.”

A lot of the food the smaller farms produce goes directly into their neighboring communities, she said.

More applicants

The number of applicants has also increased. Last year was the highest, with more than 123 applicants. This year they received 112.

“The first couple of years, we had like 30-something applicants,” Spear said.

She estimates about 51% of applications receive funding.

“The review process is difficult because there are many applications we have to say ‘No’ to, that we think are good applications,” she said.

The grant focuses on sustainable and organic agriculture. Farms don’t necessarily need to be certified as organic.

“We do think it’s important that the focus is on sustainable and organic practices,” Spear said.

The organization strives to fund farmers who have historically not received resources that they should have, she noted.

“Many of these farmers on small farms may be relatively new and beginning,” she said. “We all know we’re facing a crisis in terms of farmers retiring, aging out, and we need new farmers acquiring the skills they need to step up into the agricultural sector in a more significant way.”

She also points to the “fragility” of the food system, and credits small farms with holding it together “using Band-Aids and whatever” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We think it’s super-important that we have these funds available to ensure these farms remain viable in the state,” she said. “Farming is hard.”

Biggest needs

The biggest needs have been for solar on-farm energy, composting systems, irrigation and fencing, particularly for rotational grazing or wetland buffers.

Capital investments, such as walk-in coolers, tractors, flail mowers, cultivators and weeders are a fifth category, Spear said.

Other requests include soil amendments, cover crop seeds, shade cloth for fruits and berries and increased habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects.

“We feel this is just such an incredibly important grant program,” Spear said. “Our work is ensuring we continue to have funding. We would like to have $1 million a year to give away.”

Complete list of recipients

Abraham’s Organics (Tonasket)

Boldly Grown Farm (Bow)

Blue Glass (Woodinville)

Classroom In Bloom (Winthrop)

Crozier Farm & Orchard (Eastsound)

Dancing Goats and Singing Chickens (Yelm)

Dilish Farm (Vancouver)

Ekuvuneni Farm (Kent)

Eldur Heron Farm (Burlington)

Elk Meadows Farm (Olympia)

Empyrean Farm (Deming)

Estelbrook Farms & Vineyard (White Salmon)

Farmer Frog (Snohomish)

Ferry Boat Seeds (Friday Harbor)

First Light Farm & learning Center (Seattle)

Flat Tack Farm (Vancouver)

Flames Voice of Hope (Puyallup)

Flora Farm (Port Angeles)

Foggy Hill Farm (Langley)

Full Bloom Farm (Lummi Island)

Goosefoot Farm (Chimacum)

Growing Veterans (Lynden)

Haki Farmers Collective (Little Rock)

Hearth Farm (Carnation)

Hillcrest Farm (Lummi Island)

Hogstead Farm (Tulalip)

Hop Frog Farm (Onalaska)

Jembe Farm (Port Angeles)

Kezama Farm (Kent)

Klickitat Canyon Winery (Lyle)

Lang Boyd Orchard (Yakima)

Lovgren Dairy (Shelton)

Maverick Farm (Leavenworth)

Mayorga Farms (Toppenish)

Mejia Romero Farm (Mount Vernon)

Mountain Song Meadows (Marblemount)

Nooksack Berries (Nooksack)

North Star Farm (Lopez Island)

Ola Aina Farms (Colville)

Old Brick Farm (Bush Prairie)

Organic Farm School (Clinton)

Rabbit Fields Farm (Mount Vernon)

Red Shed (Twisp)

Saltwater Seeds (Chimacum)

Seagate Farm (Friday Harbor)

Shared Roots (Bow)

Shy Acre Farm (Port Townsend)

Snowgrass Farm (Leavenworth)

Sound Sustainable Farms (Redmond)

Spotted Frog Farm (Olympia)

Summit Farms LLC (Olympia)

Tampopo Farm (Sequim)

Tian Tian Farm (Vashon)

Try To Do Good Farm (Coleville)

UTOPIA Washington Fa’atoaga (Kent)

Vale Creek (Chehalis)

Vashon Peony Co./Pine Lake Fiber & Forest Goods, LLC (Olalla)

Walking Rose Farm (Twisp)

Wakulima USA (Kent)

West Beach Farm (Eastsound)

Wild Dreams Farm and Seed (Vashon)

Wild Sage Farms (Spokane)

Willow Brook Farm (Carlton)

Wise Owl Wellness Farm (Olga)

Withywindle Valley Farm (Olympia)

Yang Farm (Mountlake Terrace)

Yes Ma! Backyard Farm (Puyallup)