Who: Kylie Cassidy
What chapter: Rogue Valley
RFC Host Farm: Dancing Bear, and By George
What year: 2014 (intern) and 2015 (apprentice)
Where are they now: Farm Manager, Wolf Gulch Farm, Little Applegate Valley, Oregon
Kylie’s journey in agricultural education has been adventurous and exploratory. Kylie grew up in Colorado and then came to Oregon in 2014 to intern with RFC at Dancing Bear Farm in the Rogue Valley. She then became one the first ever apprentice program participants, completing her second farming season at By George Farm, also in the Rogue Valley. The following year she leased farmland and grew seed crops at By George Farm, with support from the Southern Oregon Seed Growers Association (SOSGA) mentorship program. She then took a year off from actively farming to travel in Japan and explore other traditional small-scale farming methods and food preservation techniques. She says “my trip to Japan was ag-centric. I spent time in little agricultural villages learning from elders and also happened to spend quite a bit of time at various permaculture communities.” Following those adventures she returned to the United States and joined her sister and her sister’s partner in Montana working on their flower farm. The team decided that they wanted to start a farm together, and applied to join a pilot program in Technical Assistance for Land Access being offered by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development group of the Oregon Community Food System Network. They were accepted, and through that program they are receiving legal guidance and support. Kylie returned to the Rogue Valley where she is currently the Farm Manager at Wolf Gulch Farm in the Little Applegate, where she helps grow seed and produce a winter CSA. She and her sister are currently in the process of looking at land and exploring different opportunities to purchase, lease, or otherwise transfer ownership. When asked about her future farming goals she says, “We all would like to start a diversified family farm. Flowers, veggies, seeds, and poultry are on our shortlist of enterprises, with hope to expand into bigger livestock, all with a focus on stewarding the land of course!”