Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/543863
24 AUGUST 2015 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com movement, and I wanted to learn more about it, right from the grass-roots level." The couple moved on, and others took their place. Needing room for expansion, Baird dedicated a quarter of a circle (about 30 acres) near Royal City to the project, which includes sheep pasture and fallow land as well as cropland inter- spersed with insectary zones of flowering plants to attract beneficial insects. He then developed a second location a mile from Ephrata as a demonstration farm, which hosts 25 to 30 school field trips each year. Interns He has several full-time employees and interns from around the country— typically well-educated young people who are perhaps disenchanted with their job prospects and want to do something that has purpose, he says. "I've enjoyed seeing young people becoming interested in agriculture and where their food comes from in a real hands-on way," he said. They work hard to grow their own food while at the farm as well as to provide food for the markets. They experience small- scale farming in the midst of the large- scale farms in the Columbia Basin and learn every aspect of food production, from planting seeds in the greenhouse to selling the produce at the market. "Most of those people aren't going to go on in agriculture," Baird acknowl- edged. "But they at least have a much greater awareness of what it takes to pro- duce food. I really think it's raising food awareness." As well as running Cloudview Farms, Baird and his elder son Jamie grow organic wheat, alfalfa, and apples on about 900 acres. Baird also has joint ventures in organic potatoes, onions, and other crops, and says he's com- mitted to organic methods, which he thinks are healthier for the soil and the environment. He has his own 250-acre orchard and is a partner with Robinson and Warren Morgan in BMR Orchards, which Robinson manages. Baird said although he tends to be on the alternative side, he embraces the latest technology such as platforms and mechanical thinning that can help improve production. "I like both sides of the coin," he said. "I like the most progressive things going on in agriculture, from robots to mechanization, but at the same time, I like the more earthy stuff. I'm not trying to go back in time." Energized Baird said the small-scale farming energizes him, as he loves to experiment with cover crops, rotations, and other ways to build nutrients in the soil in order to produce healthy food. He's pleased that consumers seem to be taking a greater interest in where and how their food is produced. "We can and should be embracing this," he said. He believes Washington could build a reputation as the healthy food capital of the world and be more open about how crops are grown. "We in agriculture feed our society, so we have the responsibility of having healthy soils and growing as healthy pro- duce as we know how," he said. He believes the organic market has not been fully tapped and there's a new generation of people who simply think buying organic food is cool, regardless of whether it's healthier. "I don't buy this nonsense that we can't feed the world organically," he said. "This can be done, and saying it can't is just one more way to avoid trying to farm healthier, which we, as providers of society's food, should be morally and ethically trying to do." Baird admits that while there's a lot of money to be made in large-scale farming, it's much harder to be financially sustain- able on a small scale, particularly given the distance from markets. "I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket," he said. "I have a very well run, good orchard that supports this venture." Two years ago, Cloudview became a not-for-profit 501(c)3 operation. How it will evolve in the future, Baird's not sure. He's ready to let it morph into a new phase when the time comes, perhaps as a research farm focusing on cover crops and plant nutrition. Baird said he's pleased that the farm has been able to demonstrate the benefits of small-scale production in an era when 90 percent of our food comes from large farms. "It's very important to be engaged in something you feel passionate about," he said. "It matched my values and where I would like to see agriculture go, with more heart and more interaction with the public." • TJ MULLINAX/GOOD FRUIT GROWER Jim Baird established Cloudview Ecofarms to support the local food movement and to give young people an opportunity to learn all about food production. 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