SILVERDALE – Starting in the summer of 2015, Pheasant Fields Farms will be a participant in the Cultivating Success Farmer Mentor program, an on-farm internship program that allows students to work one-on-one with an experienced farmer mentor. There are currently 13 farmer mentors throughout Washington State and this is the first time a Kitsap County farm has been enrolled in the program.

Student interns who are accepted into the program are matched with a mentor to receive hands-on experience in all aspects of production and marketing over the course of the farming season.

Farmer mentors receive on-going assistance with curricula development and implementation from WSU staff that help to coordinate the Cultivating Success program.

“We are thrilled that Nikki and Allen are participants in this program,” explains Renee Overath, Director for WSU Kitsap County Extension. “It’s a big deal for them to be accepted because it’s a competitive program and lots of farms want to participate. Pheasant Fields Farm will have an extra set of hands this season and have a positive impact for a new farmer wanting to learn the ropes.”

Pheasant Fields Farm is one of Kitsap County’s oldest farms, growing food since 1905. The farm is currently a family-run operation owned by Nikki and Allen Johanson that has been in their family for more than 50 years. They have expanded planting areas to more than six acres even though they lost more than five acres of the original 15-acre plot when State Route 3 was constructed.

More information about the Farmer Mentor program can be found at http://cultivatingsuccess.wsu.edu/farmer-mentor-program/ and information about Pheasant Fields Farm can be found at http://www.pheasantfields.com/