Nash Huber, owner of Nash’s Organic Produce in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, has received a Steward of Sustainable Agriculture Award from the Ecological Farming Association.

Huber received the award Friday during the association’s 31st annual conference in Pacific Grove, Calif.

The association, better known as EcoFarm, conducts an annual conference, the largest sustainable agriculture gathering in the Western U.S.

Spotlights visionaries

It has been spotlighting visionary farmers, academics, restaurateurs, authors and others at its conference since 1988.

The award — also called a “Sustie” — is a hand-carved gourd, the organization’s symbol of agricultural stewardship.

Each year, the association honors three individuals, couples or groups who have demonstrated, in word and action, a long-term significant contribution to sustainable agriculture, the well-being of farming and the planet.

Past recipients include chef Alice Waters and publisher Robert Rodale.

In addition to Huber, recipients this year were Miguel Altieri, professor of agro-ecology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Gabriel Howard, a botanist and farmer who works with organic growers in Baja California, Mexico.

Other recipients

Anna Marie Carter, known as the “Seed Lady” of Watts, Calif., was honored with a “Justie” Award for her work advocating for social justice in agriculture by planting hundreds of vegetable gardens in Watts.

The Ecological Farming Association is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1981.

The awards were presented at a banquet attended by more than 800 guests by Amigo Cantisano of Organic Ag Advisers and a co-founder of EcoFarm.

Huber started Nash’s Organic Produce in 1979.

400 acres cultivated

At present, he and his team cultivate about 400 acres organically, growing organic fruits, vegetables, grains and seed crops.

They also raise pastured hogs and chickens using sustainable methods.

The farm employs 35-plus people, participates in 11 farmers markets, sells wholesale to PCC Natural Markets of Seattle and several West Coast distributors, runs a year-round Farm Store in Dungeness and operates a summer, fall and winter community-supported agriculture program that sells produce to subscribing customers.

It also preserves sources of organic seed for the future.

‘Next generation’

Accepting the award, Huber said he believes that “training the next generation to farm in a sustainable way is as important as the farming itself.”

His crew of young farmers has worked with him for many years and now runs the day-to-day operations.

Huber received the Vim Wright Award for Farming in the Environment in 2006 and the Steward of the Land Award from American Farmland Trust in 2008.

In addition to receiving a Sustie Award, Huber participated in a panel discussion, “Integrating Organic Seed Production into a Diversified Farming Operation.”