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Looking Back at Harvest 2017

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A combine operated by Walker Farms cutting grain at the Running Y near Klamath Falls, Oregon.
That combine makes grain harvest look easy

About the time we feel like we’re getting our feet under us, we realize it’s almost the end of the year. What feels like a short few weeks ago actually turns out to be months, and we realize just how busy it’s been around Gold Dust and Walker Farms.

While we constantly talk about how busy it is around our sheds and farm, the reality is that it is always busy! Regardless of the time of year, there’s always something going on. However, when summer turns into fall, and we’re in the midst of harvest, shipping, organizing labor and doing whatever it takes to get potatoes to our customers, our campus feels more like a beehive than a farm.

Plant Manager Salvador Vera watches an employee unload a spud truck at Gold Dust's Malin, Oregon campus.
Salvador is keeping an eye on this load

Looking back at this harvest, we started digging chipping potatoes on August 15th. But potato harvest wasn’t the only thing going on in the fields – we were cutting alfalfa hay and grain. In the sheds, our crews were getting the potato processing plant ready for our annual Open House Field Day as well as shipping season, which started in August as well. As for the offices, our staff was coordinating loads, running expanded payrolls, recruiting labor, getting organized for the Open House Field Day and providing support to the farm and shed crews. And all of this is just the beginning of harvest!

 

As August rolled into September, potato harvest and grain harvest rolled on and we were getting our fourth cutting of hay. Our packing shed was running at full tilt, as were our offices.

Jennifer White with Gold Dust and Walker Farms sponsored Destruction Derby car at the 2017 Tulelake Butte Valley Fair.
Jennifer’s Derby Car – Moxie (photo credit Lexi Crawford)

While there was plenty of action on our campus and in our fields, there was also quite a bit going on in the community. The Tulelake Butte Valley Fair took place from the 7th through the 10th. Along with the regular fair activities, a member of our hay crew, Kelly Cole, participated in the Dash for Cash hay squeeze competition while our agronomist, Jennifer White, thrashed around in the Destruction Derby. The fair also gave Gold Dust an opportunity to support local FFA and 4H

Katrina Lee, Gold Dust Human Resources administrator, at Klamath Community College's 1st Annual Ag Career Fair.
Katrina educated visitors about opportunities in ag and at Gold Dust and Walker Farms

kids at the auction. Speaking of fairs, we also participated in the first annual Ag Career Fair at Klamath Community College. All of that combined made for a busy September!

The employees and children of Gold Dust and Walker Farms at the 2017 Potato Festival in Merill, Oregon
The Gold Dust & Walker Farms Potato Festival Crew!

When October arrived – you guessed – more potato harvest! With grain harvest over and our swathers and balers finally put away, it was now time to start fall farming. Meanwhile, back at the shed trucks lined up waiting to get loaded while our office staff started working on inventory, preparing for the Leadership Dinner and basically doing whatever it takes so we can keep farming and shipping potatoes. We also participated in the Klamath Basin Potato Festival in Merrill, and this year instead of being in the parade we handed out hot chocolate, hot apple cider and small bags of potato chips to anyone who braved the cold rain to watch the tractors, marching bands and floats make their way down the main drag. In years past we’ve had potato harvest wrapped up before the Potato Festival, but this year we weren’t out of the fields until the 25th.

Gold Dust and Walker Farms employees enjoying dinner at Bigoni's Pizza Barn in Malin, Oregon after potato harvest.
Everyone relaxing at the Harvest Party at the end of digging potatoes (photo credit Lexi Crawford)

 

And now we’re deep into November. We just had our annual Leadership Dinner on the 10th which gave our partners an opportunity to share how our businesses have been doing and brainstorm with our employees with what can help Gold Dust and Walker Farms to continue succeeding. At the dinner we also recognized one of our long-term employees, Salvador Vera. Salvador has been with Gold Dust and Walker Farms for 20 years. In that 20 years, he has become an integral part of our businesses, helping with everything from laying out pipe in the spring to helping with harvest and keeping the shed running. As a thank you, Weston presented Salvador with a watch.

Looking back at the last four months, the thing that stands out to us isn’t how much we’ve accomplished or how busy it’s been. What stands out is how many people, working together, can get so much accomplished. Not only does it take an extraordinary number of people to keep our farm and shed running, it takes extraordinary people. We’ve been blessed with loyal, hard-working employees who work as a team. In the offices, the shed or out in the fields, our crews pull together everyday to help make Gold Dust and Walker Farms successful.

Gold Dust and Walker Farms partners at the 2017 Leadership Dinner.
Thank you, Salvador, and thank you Gold Dust and Walker Farms employees!

With that said, thank you to everyone for putting in the dedication it takes to make us successful. As we’ve said before, the modern farm is more than just a guy on a tractor – it’s a small army of dedicated people in the office, fields, and in our case, packing sheds that make it so we can keep doing what we do. Thank you.

17th Annual Open House Field Day

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Guests for Gold Dust and Walker Farms' Open House Field Day inspecting chipping potato samples in Cellar 1 on Gold Dust's Malin campus.
We literally opened up our doors for our 17th Annual Open House Field Day!

This year’s Open House Field Day was as much about change as it was showing off our processing plant and fields. We’ve always loved this event because it gives us an opportunity to share the insights and inner-workings of our farm and shed with the people who’ve helped us grow into the sustainable businesses that we are. And from that point of view, our 17th Annual Open House Field Day was like others in the past. However, some of this year’s changes could be summed up by our new company slogan, “Where together we grow”.

We kicked off the Open House Field Day on August 28th with our usual pre-function dinner at Bill and Jan’s house where old and new friends gathered to catch up and enjoy ahi seared by Rabobank’s Ken Hibbard, a delicious prime rib roasted by Jan and a few drinks. The next morning, our guests were treated to hearty, country-style breakfast at Mike and Wanda’s in Tulelake. After Weston recognized and thanked our many customers and partners and Bill thanked our growers, Lexi unveiled the new logo and company motto.

Inspiration for “where together we grow” came from talks Lexi had with employees trying to find out what motivates them to come to work everyday. The overwhelming response was that our employees took ownership of their jobs, and as part of taking ownership, knew that if they didn’t do their job someone else wouldn’t be able to get their work done. “Not only do we grow crops, but we grow friendships, intelligence, partnerships, families, strong communities, personal strength, faith and love,” explained Lexi. “We are all connected and need each other in order to sustain this business.”

Afterwards, Lexi introduced our special guest speakers, the Klamath County Commissioners. Kelley Minty-Morris, Donnie Boyd and Derrick DeGroot. The commissioners discussed some of the challenges they overcame on behalf of the County as well as fielded questions and concerns from the audience. From the need for air service at Crater Lake Regional Airport and bringing a grocery store to downtown Klamath Falls to the LNG pipeline and what can be done to bring Basin ag power rates to being on par with farmers on the Columbia River, the three of them did their best to address the concerns being discussed in the room.

Following breakfast, we headed to the fields to see how the current chipping potato crop looked. In a parade of pickups, SUVs and the few sedans, our crowd emptied out on the streets of Tulelake to the surrounding farmland.

The first field we looked at was a variety of potatoes named 1867s grown by Donnie Heaton. Donnie has been growing chipping potatoes for us for a while, and judging from the sample spuds he dug up he’s doing another fine job this year. Keeping with his normally quiet demeanor, Donnie let the potatoes do the talking. The shovelful of chippers were right on target for the time of year and looked great. He did mention “it’s been a long, hot summer” but as of the day of the field tours, he figured he’d dig that field towards the end of September or early October.

Next we went to a field of 2137 chipping potatoes grown by Staunton Farms. Marc Staunton led the way and told our group a little about his family’s history in the Klamath Basin. His family’s 1927 homestead was not far from the field we were looking at. Though Marc talked about his family’s roots, the main thing he wanted to share was that his message was about sustainability, and as he put it, “Not the grocery store meaning of the word.” Between regulations, labor costs and availability, marketing and pressure from environmental groups, every year it gets harder to farm. However, by being proactive, Mark assured our visitors they’re in it for the long haul. And the chippers? Though Marc tried to downplay our expectations, he showed us another great sample of potatoes.

The third field we visited was a crop of Lamoka chipping potatoes grown by M.D. Huffman Farms. For Matt and his son, Drew, these potatoes represented a new opportunity for them – growing an organic crop. Though extremely adept at growing chipping potatoes, Huffmans had never grown organic potatoes before, and though challenging and presenting a learning curve, they realized they had to get into those markets. So, with “lots of chicken manure and fancy compost” as Matt put it, they’re putting up an amazing crop of potatoes – organic or conventional. We were also shown another field of organic Waneta potatoes they were growing, and it looked as good as the Lamokas.

For our fourth stop, we visited Rob Unruh’s field of Dakota Pearls. The Unruh’s are another long-time Basin farming family, and Rob shared with us the field we were looking at was one his grandfather homesteaded in 1937. Rob’s son and grandfather farm with him, making almost four generations of family farming together. Before growing for Walker Farms, Rob mentioned his family were commercial growers. However, when the fresh market went sideways, times got tough. “Farming is a great life,” he said. “Just a hard way to make a living.” Regardless of markets, Rob’s talent for growing chipping potatoes is evident. The Dakota Pearls (the seed arrived by rail from PD Sproule) were perfect examples of what we’re looking for in chipping potatoes.

Our last stop on the field tour was just on the other side of Turkey Hill from our packing shed at Luke Robison’s field of 2126 chipping potatoes. Luke is a fourth generation farmer, and, if his youngest son goes into the family business, the boy will be the fifth generation. Like our other growers, finding good labor has become a challenge so Luke has what he referred to as a “family farm crew”. Despite the size of his crew, they’re more than capable of getting the chippers from the fields to storage. Speaking of potatoes, Bill mentioned the 2126s were some of the hardest to grow. Not only do they require more fertilizer, the potato plants send out runners across the rows, making it hard to grow good sized tubers. Despite the challenges of 2126s, Luke and his son have produced a great crop of chippers that will be perfect when they finally dig the field.

At this point, you may have noticed something – while we usually focus more on our fields, this year we solely focused on our potato growers. And it fits with our new slogan. A few of the growers talked about the experience and advice Bill and John offered them with the varieties they decided to grow and how to grow them. We, on the other hand, have been able to count on having the expertise of elite growers helping us fill our contracts. In an industry where quality is everything, we can rely on them producing top-quality chipping potatoes for our customers while providing our growers with a contract for fair and reliable price for their potatoes. Just as Paul Sproule helped us, we’re now able to help other farms grow.

After the field tours, we headed to our campus for lunch and to check out the various varieties of chipping potatoes we’re able to supply our customers. Usually we have this part of the Open House Field Day inside the processing plant, but, with shipping season already underway, we had another change – we instead went to Cellar 1. Tables were set up for lunch, and our guests were able to see the progress of the potato varieties.

Another variation from years past is the fact the packing shed was up and running – which meant our guests could actually get a tour from plant manager Matt Thompson and see exactly how the chipping potatoes move through the plant. From spud truck to getting sacked and stacked at the end, Matt showed everyone how the processing plant works as well as a few of the improvements he made to the shed over the summer.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Open House Field Day without our golf tournament and dinner. This year we held both events at Reames’ Country Club. Though the smoke from nearby forest fires threatened to force us to use a backup plan, afternoon winds cleared out the Klamath Basin and ensured we were able to hit the links. After the ceremonial shot of Crown Royal (seriously, they ought to sponsor this event), our guests headed out to the golf course for a shot gun start. And as usual, the competition was fierce!

Gold Dust and Walker Farms' Open House and Field Day guests at Reames' Country Club for golf and dinner.
As usual, our guests are some of the best looking most intelligent people around!

Once the teams putted their last hole, drinks and dinner was served at the club house. Awards were given to the top two teams as well as last place. So, who took home which honors?

Men’s longest drive: Jarod Marshall (somehow he avoided the camera!)

The Open House Field Day Dinner is also an opportunity for us to raise money for one of our favorite charities – Make-A-Wish. Katie Walker, Weston’s wife, showed a video of a Make-A-Wish recipient who spent a day with the Portland Trailblazers which moved many of the folks in the crowd to tears. On behalf of Make-A-Wish, Katie also presented Gold Dust and Pape’ Machinery with plaques for their generous donations over the years. As part of her presentation, Katie also shared the history of our fundraising for Make-A-Wish over the years.

Bart Crawford, Tricia Hill, Bill Walker, Weston Walker, Katie Walker, Lexi Crawford and Matt Thompson with plaques from Make-A-Wish recognizing the fundraising Gold Dust and Walker Farms has done.
Katie presented plaques from Make-A-Wish Oregon to recognize Gold Dust and Walker Farms’ contribution to fundraising

The first year Gold Dust used the Open House Field Day as a charitable event was 2013, and that year the crowd raised $1,900 which Gold Dust matched to bring the total to $3,800. Over the years, our guests have been more generous, raising thousands of dollars for Make-A-Wish. This year, however, not as many people were able to make the trip out for the Open House Field Day, but that didn’t keep those who were able to make it from breaking all of our records. By the time the pledging was done, $30,490 had been raised along with 135,000 airline miles! To put that in perspective, last year Gold Dust and our guests raised $21,814, which broke the previous year’s record of $18,381.

That kind of generosity is what helps not only our farm grow, but helps out people in our community. Each wish costs around $7,000 to grant. To put that in perspective, that is approximately four wishes we and our guests are able to grant – wishes for local kids like Krue Johnston, whom Jan and Kay Ratliff recently helped. We are constantly amazed and humbled by the charitable nature of the people and businesses we work with. Thank you to all who pledged.

Despite the smoke, we had a great time this year and hope all of our guests did too. We understand it takes a lot of planning to travel out here, but Tricia, Weston, Bill and John appreciate everyone who can make the trip out. A big thank you to everyone who was able to make it, and to the folks who weren’t able to attend we hope to see you next year!

Making A Wish Come True

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Krue Johnston, a Make-A-Wish recipient from Klamath Falls standing in front of a limousine before heading to Medford Regional Airport to have his wish granted.
Krue Johnston getting ready to leave for his wish – the kid’s riding in style to MFR!

If you’ve followed our blog at all, you’re aware that for the last several years at our Open House Field Day that we have held a fundraiser for our local chapter of Make A Wish. We sincerely appreciate the charity and giving spirit of our guests. However, rarely do they get to see how their generosity impacts any of the children they’re helping.

Recently, Jan Walker, Gold Dust CEO Bill’s wife, was helping grant the wish of a local boy when things went slightly sideways on them at the Medford Airport. But it does have a happy ending. What’s great about this story is the franchise of one of our customers (not knowing Jan’s affiliation with Gold Dust or In-N-Out’s generosity at our annual event!) was more than giving in helping make his wish come true. Now, in Jan’s words, here’s how In-N-Out’s Medford, Oregon store manager helped her and a friend make a boy’s wish even sweeter:

Gold Dust has held Make A Wish fundraisers at our Annual Open House each August. Our participants have helped raise money for the many wishes that the Oregon Make A Wish Organization have provided to children facing life threatening health conditions. Katie Walker (Weston’s wife) and I have been active wish grantors and are often asked at our annual fundraiser about some of the wishes that the fundraiser has helped. Some of those are local children that are granted wishes. This is a story of one recent wish that was granted to a local boy, Krue Johnston.

Make-A-Wish wish grantors Kay Ratliff and Jan Walker standing with Krue Johnston at Medford Regional Airport.
Krue with wish grantors Kay Ratliff and Jan Walker

Krue was diagnosed with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy in 2015. A friend of mine, Kay Ratliff, who is also a wish grantor, and I took on Krue’s wish. After meeting Krue it was discovered his wish was to go to a sandy beach, snorkel, fish and swim with dolphins in the Bahamas. The magic of granting wishes to a wish child becomes real when wish grantors are able to announce to the child that his wish has come true. Krue’s wish to go to the Bahamas happened last May. He and his family flew to Nassau from Medford. One of the duties of wish grantors is to be at the airport to help the family on to their flight and intercept any problems. We were happy to be part of the excitement of beginning Krue’s wish.

While waiting for their plane, they planned to eat dinner. Unfortunately the airport restaurant was closed. Krue said he would love to have an In-N-Out Burger and Fries. This is where we come in to grant one more WISH!

As you may be aware, we supply In-N-Out with potatoes for their delicious french fries, and luckily for us there was a newly opened In-N-Out store in Medford. I took the families’ orders and drove over to the In-N- Out for their dinner. While there, the wonderful store manager helped prepare Krue’s special wish. She asked what size t-shirt Krue would wear and gave a coveted In-N-Out t-shirt to deliver to Krue. She provided Krue’s meal, an In-N-Out hat, stickers and games. Sadly we did not get the Medford store manager’s name, but we sincerely thank her and In-N-Out for the kindness to Krue.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have participated and so generously contributed to our cause for Make A Wish. You have made a dramatic difference is many children’s lives who become Wish children. Krue had a wonderful trip and was able to swim with his dolphins, he got to snorkel and be in the white sand that he was so looking forward to. Thank you and hope to see you all again at Gold Dust’s Open House this August.

As Jan said, we hope to see all our guests at this year’s Open House and Field Day, and thank you to all for supporting Make A Wish. This story shows the caliber of people we do business with and the quality of folks they hire. Thank you again for helping make wishes come true!

One final thank you before wrapping this up – thank you to Krue’s mom, Tracy, for sharing his story and pictures from his wish. It’s a joy to see what Make-A-Wish is about!

KCC Ag Marketing Class Visits Gold Dust & Walker Farms!

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Klamath Community College's ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class with John Walker and Bart Crawford at Walker Farms' Merrill, Oregon mechanical shop.
KCC’s Ag Marketing Class started the day in Merrill

As one of the most dynamic farms in the Klamath Basin, from time to time we get to share what we do with local schools. These field trips (some of them are literally out to fields) give us an opportunity share our love for farming with the community and expose young minds to agriculture.

On June 1st, we had another such opportunity, but this time it was a bit different. Instead of grade-schoolers, Professor Keith Duran brought his ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class from Klamath Community College to learn more about what Gold Dust and Walker Farms do and what it takes to be successful in agri-business.

John Walker addressing the KCC ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class at Walker Farms' Merrill, Oregon mechanical shop.
John Walker dispensing a bit of good advice – “It’s all logic.”

Their visit started at 8:30 in the morning at our Merrill shop, where John Walker and Bart Crawford met with the class. Though the conversation started out discussing what it takes to produce an organic crop, it quickly turned what it takes to actually run a farm. John talked about the amount of time and support it takes to ensure your employees have what they need to be able to be successful in their tasks. Adding to it, Mr Duran recommended his students to “Be a border collie, not a pit bull”, that leadership is more than hovering over your workers. Before our guests headed to Malin for the second part of the field trip, John left them with one more piece of advice. “Always remember one thing – it’s logic. It’s all logic,” he said, going on to explain that most of the problems, whether with the crops or equipment, can be figured out by stopping and thinking.

Klamath Community College student and Gold Dust & Walker Farms employee John-Rian Watson leading the ARE 221 Ag Marketing class on a tour of Gold Dust's potato processing facility.
KCC student and Walker Farms employee John-Rian Watson gave the KCC Ag Marketing class a tour of packing shed

Upon arriving at Gold Dust’s Malin campus, the KCC students were given a tour of our potato processing plant by Walker Brothers employee and ARE 221 student John-Rian Watson. After the shed tour, they met with Bill Walker and Lexi Crawford in the conference room, where, along with a discussion about the potato markets, our CEO gave them more advice on how to succeed at Gold Dust and in agri-business. While recommending the students need to pay attention to detail and possess a desire to work, he stressed it was important for the students to finish their schooling. “A college education does matter, “ he said, pointing out that it shows they can follow-through with what they started and complete tasks.

Gold Dust Potato Processors CEO Bill Walker addressing Klamath Community College students in the conference room of Gold Dust's Malin, Oregon packing shed.
Bill Walker giving the KCC students a bit of advice – “Pay attention to details, want to work and a college education DOES matter!”

Lexi also spent some time talking about the potato market and what it takes to provide excellent customer service, but when asked about her background, the conversation turned into what it takes to run a modern farm. Without a background in agriculture, the Albany-native’s family business was engineering, not farming. However, the advice of her family to study business, a chance meeting with Weston Walker and marrying Bart (who is also from a Basin ag family) led her down a winding path to Gold Dust and Walker Farms. Her education and experience has more than helped make her a key player in our marketing and farming operations.

Lexi and the Agriculture Marketing students shifted their talk to about how the next generation of farmers is changing – as well as the opportunities today’s farms offer. A problem our local farms and ranches have is young people are leaving and not coming back. One of the students, Victoria Flowers, is a part of a solution. She’s helping to establish Junior Farm Bureau at KCC to help educate area students about the future of Basin ag and job possibilities it offers. If the enthusiasm of the Ag Marketing class are any indicator, there’s a good chance we may be able to reverse this trend.

For Gold Dust and Walker Farms, one of the most important aspects of Professor Duren and his class’s visit it that we got an opportunity to show the next generation of farmers and ranchers the possibilities available in ag. We appreciated them visiting our shop in Merrill and shed in Malin to see what we do, and hope it was educational for them as well!

KCC's ARE 221 Ag Marketing class from left to right: Johnathan Rohrbacker, John-Rian Watson, Christina Wallace, Allen Hess, Johnathan Lopez, Ty Rajnus and Keith Duren in front of Gold Dust's Malin, OR packing shed.
KCC’s ARE 221 Ag Marketing class from left to right: Johnathan Rohrbacker, John-Rian Watson, Christina Wallace, Allen Hess, Johnathan Lopez, Ty Rajnus and Keith Duren

Thank you again for coming out visiting us!

The Chipping Potatoes Are (finally) In The Ground!

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View from a chipping potato field looking south towards Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin, Oregon campus.
It’s a bit more peaceful after we’ve planted our chipping potatoes

Our busy season has gotten a little less busy.

Last week, on June 2nd, we wrapped up planting potatoes in a seed potato field down on the Oregon-California border near Worden. Slightly breezy and warm with a view of the Klamath Wildlife Refuge and the snowcapped Siskiyou Mountains to the south and rolling hills and Cascades to the North made for a serene ending to a challenging season.

Every potato planting season comes with its challenges, and this one was no different. The wet winter and spring were a blessing and a curse –a blessing for the much needed end to the drought we’ve been living with but a curse as it kept us from the fields for a while. Once we were able to get out to the fields to plant potatoes, modern technology’s gremlins decided to play a few tricks on our planters and tractors, slowing our planting crews to a crawl in the beginning. Despite that slow down, we chased them off and did what we do best – farm.

A tractor and potato planter are getting serviced in a chipping potato field near Malin, Oregon.
Few things are more frustrating than when technology halts planting potatoes

Like shipping potatoes to our customers, planting chipping potatoes takes more people and effort than a lot of folks realize. The story of planting season begins before the seed even hits our cellars,  up in the offices of Gold Dust’s Malin campus. In the months leading up before the seed arrives, our management team has to figure how many acres are going to be planted into chipping potatoes and which varieties we’re going to grow. After those decisions are hammered out, the potato seed has to be ordered and we have to plan for it to be stored once it arrives.

Since we’re in the heat of shipping season at this point, there’s a dance between emptying cellars and getting them cleaned and getting our customers’ orders through the packing shed. It takes an extraordinary amount of coordination and organization between the shed crews and the cellar crews, yet they manage to make sure we have room for the incoming potato seed while getting our customers’ orders out on time.

A Gold Dust employee unloads chipping potato seed from a refrigerated rail car into a potato truck in Malin, Oregon.
Chipping potato seed being unloaded from a refrigerated railroad car

While some of the potato seed we plant is grown right here in the Klamath Basin, much of it comes from out of state and arrives by truck and rail. For the seed that comes by train, we have crews at the rail yard in Malin unloading it from boxcars into spud trucks. The seed that comes in on trucks requires a slightly less handling but still quite a bit of coordination as, we mentioned, we’re still in the middle of shipping season and it takes people to get it unloaded. Regardless of how it gets to Malin, the seed still needs to get weighed before going into storage, which means our front office crew is watching the scale and creating weight tickets.

Walker Farms' seed crew cutting chipping potato seed in a cellar on Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin, OR campus.
Our seed crew cutting potato seed in one of our cellars

So, when it’s time to plant potatoes, we just throw them in the planter and stick it in the ground, right? Nope. We set up a cellar to process and cut the seed, bark it (yes, with bark dust), which in and of itself takes a lot of hard-working people to make sure we’re putting high-quality product into the ground. After the potato seed is cut and barked, it goes back into storage for a few weeks until we’re ready to plant it.

A spud truck full of chipping potato seed being unloaded into a cellar on Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin, Oregon campus.
Chipping potato seed being unloaded into a cellar

It may only take a few paragraphs to describe getting ready for planting season, but it takes months of hard work and organization to make sure when we’re finally able to plant potatoes, we’re ready to go. And when it’s go time, it’s another dance of equipment and crews. Just as our management team figures out which fields will be planted with which potato varieties, they also figure out when they’ll be planted. Back in the offices, the battle plan is sorted out, the bookkeeping team is tracking the seed as it leaves the cellars and the front office is back to tracking the weights of loaded spud trucks as the truck drivers head out to the fields.

Speaking of the fields, it too is more complicated than dragging our equipment out and putting seed in the ground. In most cases the field is transitioning from a cover crop or one of our rotational crops (as per our sustainable farming plan) to a potato field. This requires weeks of tilling and working the ground over so we can plant potatoes in them. Prepping the fields often starts while the end of winter is lurking about, which means being at the mercy of the weather for when we can get our tractors out into the fields and pray they don’t get stuck. And then once the fields are ready? We’re still watching the evening weather reports and tracking the storms and the sun to see when we can actually get the spuds in the ground.

A Walker Farms potato truck headed to a field with chipping potato seed near Malin, OR.
Now that the time is right, get that potato seed out in the field!

And when all the planning comes together, the coordinating of the various crews is worked out and the weather is just right, then – just then! – we’re able to plant our chipping potato crop for the upcoming year. And again, as with everything in agriculture, it takes more people than just the guys in the tractors to get the fields planted. We have our mechanics on hand fixing everything from pickups and spud trucks to the equipment. Our spud truck drivers are getting the potato seed to the planters and our agronomy team is checking the seed, ground and conditions as the fields are planted. Our management team is warily watching the process in the fields and from the offices to make sure everything is going as planned while our field crews are laying out pipe in the fields that have just been planted. Everyone is pulling together, diligently doing their job – regardless of how unrelated they seem to each other – to make sure the potatoes are planted.

In a few weeks after the potato seed is in the ground, we begin to see the fruit of all this organization, labor and worry as potato plants sprout from the ground. Because planting season is over doesn’t mean the worry and hard-work is over, it’s just a different season. Frost crews will be monitoring the bitter nights, preparing to turn on sprinklers to fight the cold. Our irrigation teams will be making sure the potatoes get the water they need while the agronomy team is watching the plants for signs of stress and pests. The marketing and sales team will be lining up customers’ orders while the management team is looking toward harvest and beyond.

When you consider all of the different people involved in planting a potato field and all of the different hats being worn it takes to make it happen, it’s really incredible. It also showcases the variety of jobs available on the modern farm – we need all of these people doing these different jobs well just to get a potato in the ground!

Thank you to our hard-working planting crews who gave up weekends and worked late into the nights to make sure the fields were planted this year. And thank you to everyone – from the shed and cellar crews to the office staff and truck drivers – for getting the potato crop in the ground. Your dedication is much appreciated.

And now, we can turn to planting grain and cutting hay!

2016-17 Potato Shipping Season Is Over!

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A photo of the driveway at Gold Dust Potato Processors' potato processing plant after shipping season.
During shipping season, this driveway was packed with semis waiting to be loaded with chipping potatoes.

Another shipping season has come to an end. Normally humming with the din of machinery, forklifts and conveyor belts, the inside of the great white packing shed is all but silent. Except for the comings and goings of spud trucks hauling chipping potato seed to the fields and the haying equipment parked in the field, the driveway is all but empty.

How long did shipping last this season? On July 12th (2016), we started shipping potatoes from Boardman, OR, which lasted up until August 25th. As shipping from up north slowed, we fired up our processing plant on August 23rd. If you think about the timing, that’s when we started potato harvest, not to mention we likely had alfalfa being bailed and grain being cut as well. As you can see, then end of August tends to be an incredibly busy time of year for us! Though, it was only slightly less busy when we stopped shipping on May 16th – spring farming was well under way with planting grain and chipping potatoes as well as getting ready for our first cutting of alfalfa hay.

In that time, we shipped chipping potatoes to customers in Arizona, California, Oregon and Nevada. When we mention we’re an international company, we’re not kidding. Last shipping season we sent spuds to Costa Rica, Guatemala, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan.  We also crossed the 500 days with no time-loss injuries in the packing shed, which in and of itself is impressive as well!

It’s pretty amazing to consider how many chipping potatoes passed through our plant, the places they were shipped to and the things that happened around the shed in those 10 months. While looking into those details can be fun, there’s a story behind them that isn’t often told.

Starting with the first faces you see in our front office and the spud truck drivers getting the chipping potatoes from the cellars to our shed to the crews sorting, packaging and loading them, there’s

A Gold Dust employee performing maintenance on equipment at their Malin, Oregon potato packing shed.
The key to no mechanical failure down-time is properly maintained equipment.

a lot of diligent, hardworking people behind the scenes that help make Gold Dust look good. For example, for a packing shed to efficiently and effectively  run for 10 months, it requires someone making sure our equipment is in good shape and repairs, when needed, are performed as quickly as possible. According to plant manager Matt Thompson, the only days the shed was shut down were on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. There were zero down days due to mechanical issues, which if you look around our shed and see how much equipment there is, that’s incredible!

To get the chipping potatoes into the shed, you have to have a cellar crew that loads our spud trucks, plus all of the drivers that haul the chippers from storage to the plant. Once they arrive at our plant, there are people making sure the potatoes are cleaned to the customers’ requirements, not to mention the crews on the lines that are manually inspecting potatoes for defects that are occasionally missed by our sorting equipment. After the potatoes are sorted there’s another crew that packages them and then loads them in the trucks.

As you can see, it takes a lot of people just to get the potatoes from the cellars to the trucks – but we’re still not done! In the front office, our staff not only greets customers and answers the phones, but they also weigh the potato trucks before they unload. We also have employees who help broker the loads and, if needed, help work on the arrangements to get the orders loaded onto boats headed overseas and deal with the various customs laws abroad. It also requires diligent people to make sure the orders as well as the freight are billed correctly. Not to mention quality control people to make sure our chipping potatoes are meeting our high standards, a human resources department to make sure our employees’ concerns are met, and people making sure our employees get paid on time as well as our growers and vendors.

We also have the marketing team which not only tries to increase sales but also give our customers the service and attention they deserve. And last, but certainly not least, is the management team that makes sure all of the work gets done so we can continue to grow and ship chipping potatoes!

Speaking of growing potatoes, we also have to give credit to the farm crews who put in the long hours during planting season and harvest as well as watch over our fields during the growing season to make sure they’re getting the right amount of water and the pests aren’t hindering growth. If Walker Farms’ crews didn’t work hard growing an amazing crop of conventional and organic chipping potatoes, frankly we wouldn’t be here.

Sometimes in agriculture, we take for granted how many people and hours it takes to produce a crop. Too often the thought of farming is condensed down to a simple image of a guy on a tractor. There is some truth in that icon – it does take a guy (or gal) on a tractor to get the crop in the ground and out again. But it also takes a lot of other people doing their job – in the office, in the shed, in the truck, in the cellars –  to help feed America and the world. And as we reflect on the end of shipping season, we feel we need to give all the hard workers in our shed, offices and on our farm the credit they deserve. We’ve said it many times, but it’s still true: We have the best crews in the Basin, and if it wasn’t for their attention, dedication and determined employees, we wouldn’t be here.

A photograph of Gold Dust's sorting crew in the Malin, Oregon chipping potato processing plant.
Our hard-working sorting crew helping provide high-quality chipping potatoes.

Thank you to everyone for their time and commitment to Gold Dust and Walker Farms. And here’s to a great growing season!

500 Days of Safety!

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A sign on the wall of Gold Dust Potato Processors' packing shed indicating the number of days the plant has gone without an accident.
There it is – 500 Days Without a Lost Time Accident. Well done!

Everybody loves a good streak. Whether you’re talking about a winning streak your favorite team is on or a record-breaking most days in space (congrats, Peggy Whitson!), we all love to see someone on a roll. Gold Dust and Walker Farms are no different, especially when it comes to the safety of our employees.

Last week we celebrated our own streak – 500 days without a time-loss accident in the packing shed. To put that in perspective, the last time-loss accident our potato processing plant encountered was back in the first weeks of December, 2015. That was just a few months into the shipping season of 2015, and our shed crew then went all of 2016 without a time loss accident. Consider the number of trucks that have been loaded with chipping potatoes in that amount of time, as well as sacks filled and sewn shut, pallets wheeled around the floor and the sheer tonnage of potatoes that have passed through the plant, it’s truly an amazing feat. And as the spring 2017 shipping season is closing in, we stand an excellent chance of completing this season without an accident as well.

Streaks are fun – there’s no doubt about that. But this safety streak is more than just fun. It shows how conscientious our shed crews are and their dedication to getting the job done safely. It also helps us keep our insurance rates down. Most importantly, it means our employees are going home to their families every day without an injury.

To celebrate our 500 days of being accident free in the packing shed, Gold Dust took the office and shed crews to lunch at Bigoni’s Pizza Barn in Malin. As our crews feasted on pizza, plant manager Matt Thompson and CEO Bill Walker thanked everybody for their hard work and dedication to safety. “We have officially made it over 500 days without a time-loss accident in the shed. This shipping season alone we loaded just shy of 1000 export containers and 3000 truckloads of potatoes,” Matt told our employees.  “Thank you for a great season and for putting safety above production.”

To echo what Matt said, thank you to our employees for putting safety first and here’s to an amazing shipping season! Keep up the good work!

Gold Dust At The Mazama Career Fair

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Students from around the Klamath Basin filled Valhalla Court at Mazama High School for the 2017 Mazam College and Career Fair held in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
About 1,100 high school students from across the Klamath Basin attended the Mazama College and Career Fair on Wednesday, April 12.

One of the challenges every small rural community in America faces is the loss of great talent to cities and areas with more opportunities. The Klamath Basin is no different. Being located in a place that’s as beautiful as our little corner of Southern Oregon and Northern California isn’t enough to keep young people interested in staying if there aren’t any opportunities. A career fair is the perfect opportunity to reach out to our community’s young people to show them the possibilities that are available in their backyard.

As you read in our blog post from last week about spring farming, two of our top hands, Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner, were at the first annual Mazama College and Career day that took place on April 12th. Around 1,100 students from Mazama, Henley, Bonanza, Lost River, Falcon Heights Academy, Great Basin Home School, Klamath Union and Brixner Junior High showed up to Valhalla Court to see the various options available to them after High School. From schools such as Klamath Community College, Oregon Institute of Technology and Northwest College of Cosmetology to  businesses such as Diamond Home Improvement, Pacific Crest Credit Union and of course, Gold Dust and Walker Farms, there were plenty of options for everyone to explore and consider.

Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner representing Gold Dust and Walker Brothers at the Mazama Career Fair in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner at the Mazama High School Career Fair looking for some fresh recruits

Our booth was located by the front door, which posed a challenge as students made their way into Mazama’s gym to check out the other booths while bypassing Gold Dust’s. Thanks to Lexi’s quick thinking, she and Toby were able to wrangle students with something every teenager desires – food. Not only was providing chips from Kettle and Lay a great way to get the kids’ attention, it also provided a conversation starter about where our potatoes go. We also shared a booth with the Klamath Water User’s Association (KWUA), and with Chelsea Shearer’s help, our team was able to give the students a better idea of the opportunities available in local ag.

Snack chips are laid out on top of an agricultural drone at Gold Dust Potato Processors' booth at the 2017 Mazama College & Career Fair.
A sure fire way into students’ hearts, er, bellies and minds – a drone and potato chips!

KWUA was also handing out information for an intern program they have available this year. Called Generation h2.o, according to KWUA’s flier, they’re looking for “8 students from around the Basin to participate in a 5 week program complete with tours, presentations and actual work experience.” Not only will Generation h2.o give students a great education on water policy and hands-on experience, it also fulfills senior project requirements. If you’re a student interested in this program or know a Basin student in the class of 2018 that would be interested, please check out KWUA’s site for more information about the requirements and download an application. The deadline to apply is May 26th – so do so quickly!

Lexi and Toby had a good time at Mazama’s College and Career Day. It was a great experience to show local high school students how many opportunities our community has available in Southern Oregon, as well as hopefully see some of these kids working in our offices, shed or fields. For Toby, it also offered a chance to go back to his old stomping grounds as a Mazama Viking as well as meet a current Viking that was born the year he graduated!

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers employee Toby Turner standing in Mazama High School for the 2017 Mazama College & Career Fair.
This young man was born the year Toby graduated from Mazama High School – 2001!

Thank again to Mazama High School for putting the event on!

Spring Is . . . Here?

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A shot of Gold Dust's potato cellars with Turkey Hill in the background.
Yes, that’s snow on the hillside

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but here in the Klamath Basin, those showers this April have been snow showers. Though spring has officially sprung, we still have snow in our forecast, and this morning a light, white layer of the stuff coated the Basin floor and fields as well as the surrounding hills. Despite the snow and the moisture (which we’re thankful for!), it’s time to get farming underway. However, the wet weather doesn’t make it easy to get out in the fields. If you’re perused past blog posts, spring is the season of sunk equipment, stuck tractors and the ground pretty much swallowing anything that passes over it. With the nice, white winter we had followed by a nice, wet spring, you can imagine our farm crews aren’t eager to start sacrificing equipment to the dirt gods.

Just because the mud and rain have kept us out of the fields doesn’t mean we’re not getting ready for spring farming. Around the shop, we’ve been getting our equipment prepped for when the fields dry out. We’re also making sure our irrigation equipment is ready, which is incredibly important this year as the Bureau of Reclamation has stated all irrigation districts in our area should expect full water deliveries. And while we’re not ready for our field crews to start laying out pipe in our potato fields, the very important process of hauling in chipping potato seed and cutting it began earlier this week. Once things dry out, we’ll be ready to plant our chipping potatoes and grain crops as well as harrow our alfalfa fields for the growing season.

The rain and mud doesn’t stop what happens in the shed. Trucks are still lined up to haul chipping potatoes to our customers, which means our potato processing plant is still running at full capacity. Upstairs in the office, budgeting and planning for the upcoming crop year is taking place alongside getting taxes wrapped up. Plus, we’ve been out in the community recruiting for the job opportunities we have open. When you combine what’s happening in the shed and the offices with preparing for spring farming, this is the beginning of one of the busiest times of year!

 

Eventually, we will be able to get out in the fields. But until then, as you can see, we still have plenty to do!

Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner representing Gold Dust and Walker Brothers at the Mazama Career Fair in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner at the Mazama High School Career Fair looking for some fresh recruits

It’s Holiday Time Again at Gold Dust and Walker Brothers!

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There isn’t much snow on the ground – yet. We’re crossing our fingers for a white Christmas, but whether or not our wish comes true it doesn’t change the fact that it’s the holidays at Gold Dust and Walker Brothers!

Between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, the holiday season kicks off while the farm quiets down a little and the packing shed goes in to full swing. Trucks line the driveway, waiting to be loaded with chipping potatoes. Inside our offices, though the din of the processing plant hums in the background, in some of the offices Christmas music can be heard playing in the background.

A photo taken by Christa Moore of the Misfit Tree donated to the Malin Library by Bill Walker and Gold Dust Potato Processors.
What a perfect tree for a library! Thanks to Christa Moore for the photo!

This year, Bill, Jan, Tricia and Tricia’s husband, Darcy, attended the Klamath Basin Assistance League’s Christmas Tree Jubilee at the Running Y Resort. This organization does a lot of good work in the Klamath Basin, and one of their primary campaigns is raising money for Operation School Bell which allows poor children to go shopping for school clothes. Bill, who was caught in the Christmas spirit, had one tree in particular he wanted. After the bidding ended, he won the upside down tree he was after! Instead of having it set up at his house or at Gold Dust’s headquarters, the tree and the goodies that came with it were donated to the Malin Library, where it is on display. Bill also managed to get another smaller tree for the shed!

This time of year is also when Gold Dust and Walker Brothers hold the annual Holiday Leadership Meeting. This year the meeting was held at Italianna’s Ristorante and Gelateria, located just off of Shasta Way in Klamath Falls. While our guests enjoyed drinks, dinner and dessert, Tricia, Lexi, Bart, Matt, John and Weston gave presentations. The main topic of the evening was how the shed and the farm could save money. Though Gold Dust and Walker Brothers are in a good position, the situation for agriculture in general is looking down. To preemptively beat the downturn, our managers turned to our businesses’ employees for their thoughts on how, as John put it, “we can pick up the pennies”. Ideas ranged from having a different time clock system to moving pay day. Along with making the businesses leaner and meaner, Tricia and Lexi asked the group for keywords to describe the ideal Gold Dust and Walker Brothers co-worker. The results? Ownership of tasks and duties, strong work ethic, and a positive outlook. Honorable mention attributes included honesty, “no drama” and the ability to not only work well with others but to also work independently.

This meeting is also when our most outstanding employees are recognized for their contributions. The first person recognized represented many of the traits that were mentioned that make an ideal co-worker – he takes ownership, has a strong work ethic and displays dedication. And when presenting Kelly Cole with his award, Weston also pointed out his strong, positive attitude.

The next award was presented by Lexi for an employee who “took on a project no one conquered”. Not only did he take over our ag drone program, he handled the GAP audit, the food safety audit and the organic audit. And, according to Matt, Jeremy Turner was the model for ownership.

The last employee was recognized by John, and this fellow started off with us as a spud truck driver. Weston loves to tell the story of how his truck got stuck in a field his first harvest with Walker Brothers, and when he was told the only way to get out was to dig it out, he found a shovel and proceeded to do just that. Through his tireless dedication and work ethic, he’s now in charge of many of Walker Brothers’ important processes, from training potato truck drivers to taking care of the seed potato. Not only does this man go above the call of duty, our agronomist, Sachin Rawat, says Dan Pappe is a good teacher.  Thank you Dan for your years of dedication, and thank you to Kelly and Jeremy for stepping up and exemplifying the virtues that help Gold Dust and Walker Brothers thrive!

It wouldn’t be a holiday blog post without mentioning our favorite way to give back to the community – our company toy drive. This year, our employees contributed $166.15, which Gold Dust matched, and gave 25 gifts. In the end, this resulted in 66 gifts donated to our local Toys for Tots drive! Well done!

Tricia (Walker) Hill and Lexi Crawford delivering toys to the Toys for Tots program.
That’s quite a haul from Gold Dust and Walker Brothers’ employees! Well done!

But the toy drive wasn’t the only event in our offices. The Gold Dust office staff held their annual ugly sweater contest and had a Secret Santa gift exchange to help celebrate the season. Weston took home the dubious honor of having the ugliest sweater, followed by Lexi. All in all, though a little more low-key than year’s past, it was a wonderful way for our staff to get together before Christmas.

Before we wrap this up, to our employees who make our businesses great to the folks we do business with that have helped us grow, we would like to wish all of you the merriest of Christmases and happiest of New Years. We hope that everyone is able to get together with the ones they love, and that 2017 is bright and prosperous.

Happy Holidays!

From Our Farm Blog

We’re Hiring!

Looking for a job? Check out our current Employment Opportunities!

Payroll Bookkeeper – If you love numbers and have experience with bookkeeping and payroll, our Human Resources department needs you!

OTR Truck Drivers – Our trucking company, International Express, is looking for truck drivers. Interested? Check out our page for more info!

 

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