Community/Collaborative Projects

Day Creek Organic Farm

A collaboration was established between faculty and students in the Engineering and Design Department at Western Washington University and the One Globe Foundation in support of developing student research activities around supporting small family farms. The sponsor is the owner of the Day Creek Organic Egg Farm near Concert WA in the Skagit valley. His vision is to improve operations and expand production at this farm in a sustainable way and in doing this to provide a template that other small farmers can follow. WWU student research activities related to projects on the farm are being funded by this grant.

This funding not only supports this vision but is also meant to educate and engage undergraduates in researching and solving meaningful engineering-type problems that the small farming community faces.

• managing and reducing waste streams in production, modeling and eliminating environmental impacts
• adding affordable and easy to maintain automation, developing economic models that better allow the small farming community to compete with larger producers
• improving the quality of the final product through better handling of the product, improving the conditions under which livestock are reared
• and in promoting favorable conditions for farm workers.