The Northwest Agriculture Business Center welcomes Luke Woodward to its staff! Luke will serve as the nonprofit’s Project Manager for King County.  Luke and his wife Sarah Cassidy were the founding farmers and land stewards of Oxbow Farm. He has a rich and successful history in farming and farm business development, working with farm staff to grow the farm to 30 planted acres and supplying an 800-member CSA program, 10 restaurants, and six supermarkets in 2015.

“We are pleased to be able to serve King County farms and communities states David Bauermeister, NABC’s Executive Director.  We are fortunate to have Luke on point. He is a high caliber farmer who has been highly involved in the evolution of farming in King County over the past 17 years. Luke has an intimate and working knowledge of the local food economy.  He has built and fostered extensive and positive relationships with farmers, wholesale purchasers, chefs, and government agents throughout the local food economy.  Luke has also developed relationships with restaurant and wholesale accounts and made farm-to-school connections within the community.”

Based on the NABC’s successful history serving agricultural producers in all of the counties north of King County, Bauermeister was invited to the broad effort which resulted in the development of the King County Local Food Initiative.  As a part of this initiative, NABC was urged to bring its agricultural business development services south.  These services include business planning, valued-added product development, infrastructure development, access to capital, and cooperative and organizational development.

Luke and Sarah oversaw the transition of Oxbow Farm to a nonprofit farm and education center in 2009, providing educational opportunities for King County school children while continuing to grow the commercial farm business. He is a founder and served as the first President of Sno-Valley Tilth, and served on the Board until this past December. Luke, Sarah, and their daughter Pearl live and farm in Duvall. “I am extremely happy to be part of NABC.  We have an incredible community of famers in this county who care deeply about the land, our waterways, and nourishing our region.  It will be an honor to serve them and all the great people and institutions who support these farmers through their patronage.”