4th annual Ag Summit explores organic ideas

The WSU Extension held its 4th annual Agricultural Summit this Saturday, where "organic" was the key word of the day.

Twenty seven local farmers and residents turned out to hear speakers including Tim Crosby, of 21 Acres Farm in Redmond. Crosby spoke on the amount of energy used in food production.

Local dairy farmer Gary Burkhalter of Grays River Holsteins spoke of his experiences in becoming a certified organic farmer and his associations with Organic Valley Co-op.

Erin Mirrett, inspector with WSDA Organic Certification Program explained the organic certification process step by step and Mary Embleton, executive director of Cascade Harvest Coalition talked about Puget Sound Fresh, a marketing campaign working to connect producers with a larger market and consumers from across the region.