#1 in the nation

The Warren Wilson College Farm, established in 1894 when the Asheville Farm School was founded, has won numerous awards over the years in addition to producing a lot of delicious farm-to-table food. Now it has received another major accolade: No. 1 college farm in the nation.

In a feature titled “The 20 Best College Farms,” Best College Reviews ranks the WWC Farm at the top of the list. Ranking criteria include farm size; integration with the campus; sustainability; courses taught at the farm; students using the farm; and integration with the larger community.

“This award for our college farm is an affirmation to the commitment the College has shown to our working farm for well over a century,” said Farm Manager Chase Hubbard, a 1995 Warren Wilson graduate.

The 275-acre WWC Farm is sustainably managed by two staff managers with the help of a large student work crew – one of more than 100 student work crews on the Warren Wilson campus. In addition to providing some of the beef served in the Warren Wilson dining hall, WWC’s mixed-crop and livestock farm sells beef, pork, chicken and lamb to the surrounding community twice each year. Corn, wheat, barley and oats are grown in rich bottomland soils in rotation with an alfafa-based hay mix. No pesticides or herbicides are used in the farm’s crop production.

“The level of complexity of our farming operations is well beyond that of a typical college farm,” Hubbard said, “and the commitment our students show to mastering these complex tasks is inspiring.

“Spanning 365 days each year – in all weather and all times of day and night – Warren Wilson students are doing the things that make our farm a leader in higher education.”

Read more about the Warren Wilson College Farm and “The 20 Best College Farms.”