Pierce County farmers will share their challenges and successes during the County Council’s in-district meeting Tues., Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. at the Sumner City Hall.

Hosted by District 1 Councilmember Shawn Bunney, the meeting is in lieu of the council’s regular Tuesday meeting. Sumner City Hall is located at 1104 Maple St.; the “Farmers Forum” presentation will follow the council’s action item agenda, Bunney said.

“This council attempted to throw a lifeline to farmers last year by creating the FARM (Farming Assistance, Revitalization and Marketing) program,” Bunney said, “and we want to hear directly from them whether or not it has helped them do business.”

Recently hired “farmbudsman” Carrie Sikorski will head the FARM program, which is intended to help prevent the further loss of family farms and farmland in Pierce County.

Sikorski and the program will act as a single point of contact to help farmers navigate the county’s permitting process, connect them with support agencies and market their goods.

District 1 comprises eastern and southern Pierce County including Buckley, Wilkeson, Carbonado, Bonney Lake, Sumner, Edgewood, Milton, South Prairie, Orting, and Graham. Council rules call for at least one evening meeting a year to be conducted in each of the seven council districts.

Each Pierce County Council meeting features a citizen comment period when anyone can speak for three minutes on issues not on that meeting’s agenda. The council’s regular meetings are Tuesdays at 3 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the County-City Building (930 Tacoma Ave. S., Room 1045) in Tacoma, and the council’s home page is http://www.piercecountywa.gov/council .