Meet the Modern Farmer: Sam McCullough - Modern Farmer

Meet the Modern Farmer: Sam McCullough

Sam McCullough was a high school senior chopping firewood for money when he was recruited by Nash Huber of Nash's Organic Produce. Now he's the manager of Huber's 700-acre enterprise.

Sam McCullough
Sam McCullough, manager of Nash's Organic Produce.
Photography Audra Mulkern

Sam McCullough was a high school senior chopping firewood for money when Nash Huber recruited the teenager in 2000 – the same year Huber’s produce operation began experimenting with grains: first barley, then oats and wheat.

“Grains typically want dry heat,” McCullough points out, a droll statement given the farm’s location along the Dungeness River in rainy Washington State. Its organic status also rules out any chemical weaponry to combat the fungal rust that can decimate entire wheat crops.

McCullough, now the manager of Huber’s 700-acre enterprise, obviously rose to the challenge – and, along the way, received a college education of sorts. Over the years, he’s trialed wheat varieties in collaboration with multiple university professors, including Dr. Stephen Jones of Washington State’s famed Bread Lab. Of that particular learning experience, the 36-year-old says, “Holy crap! Maybe taste is more important than yield!” The farm has since established its own mill, producing eight kinds of flour that are sold on-site and to local bakeries and restaurants. “Quantity is no longer so important to me,” McCullough declares. “Quality is.”

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