Cost Share for Canfield Farms
Michelle’s sheep and dog enjoying the winter sunshine outside of the mud.
In 2024, we provided $453,117 in cost-share to implement best management practices on five farms. One example of this is Canfield Farms.
If you’ve driven along Old Snohomish Monroe Road, you may have noticed Canfield Farms, a picturesque sheep farm perched on a steep slope. Once the site of a much larger farm homesteaded in the 1880s, the Canfield’s 37 acres extends onto the floor of the Snohomish River Valley. These acres in the floodplain provide fertile ground for crops and pastures; however, over the past several years they have become more frequently inundated with water during periods of heavy rain.
As the threat of flooding increased, Michelle Canfield began to worry about the safety of her sheep throughout the winter. The conditions also made it too soggy for heavy equipment like a tractor, which Michelle needed in order to feed round bales of hay to her sheep. Instead, she was forced to load square bales on her ATV trailer and put them into feeders by hand each day, increasing labor and hay costs dramatically.
Michelle had already worked with the Snohomish Conservation District in previous years to develop a farm plan, so she reached out to see if we could help.
Our District’s Agriculture Resource Planners started by working with Michelle to come up with a solution that would get the sheep out of the floodplain and onto higher ground during the winter. This involved plans for a waste storage system that would help contain manure and prevent water pollution. Michelle also worked with the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to finalize a design for a covered feeding and bedding area.
The price of the project would have been beyond the budget of the Canfields, but fortunately there was cost share funding available—financial assistance that allows the landowner to split the cost. This program provides a win-win solution: landowners help achieve their land management goals while protecting natural resources that are important to the entire community.
“I like working with NRCS and Snohomish Conservation District because they are supportive, collaborative, and flexible,” said Michelle. “They work within your constraints and help you customize based on your [farm] system.”
Once the new animal housing was ready, Canfield Farms moved their entire winter feeding operation out of the floodplain in December 2024.
Agriculture Resource Planner Jenna DeWitte (left) checks in with Michelle Canfield (right) about her new covered feeding and bedding area.
“I was able to move the sheep into the barn just ahead of a big atmospheric river rain event that left a lot of standing water in my floodplain pastures,” said Michelle. “As I was planning upcoming vacation and work travel, the weather report of potential flooding on the horizon made me pause, only to remember I don’t need to worry about that anymore.”
Thanks to these improvements, Canfield Farms has been able to help protect water quality, improve the farm’s flood resilience, increase agricultural viability, and provide the animals with a warm, dry place to bed down.
“The sheep seem to be appreciating the ability to get out of the worst of the winter weather, which is good for their overall welfare,” said Michelle. “This project took about three years to plan and complete, but I’m so glad I stuck with it, and grateful for the grant funding that made it affordable for me!”
This project combined funding and partnerships from Canfield Farms, Snohomish Conservation District, NRCS Environmental Quality Incentive Program, Washington State Conservation Commission Natural Resource Investments, and Department of Ecology Shoreline Floodplains by Design funding via Snohomish County.
Learn more about our cost share program and reach out if you’re interested in connecting with our technical experts on your specific goals.
This project was funded in part by the Washington State Conservation Commission and Washington State Department of Ecology Shoreline Floodplains by Design Program. Floodplains by Design is a public-private partnership working to reduce flood risk, restore habitat, and create resilient communities along Washington’s major rivers. Through this program, the Washington Department of Ecology provides grants that support locally-driven and multi-benefit floodplain projects.