Check out the purple blossoms on our organic potatoes!

If you’ve been to the grocery store lately, you’ve probably noticed the organic produce section has steadily been increasing its territory.  Consumers are becoming more concerned about what they eat, and more and more they’re dropping organic items in their grocery carts.  As farmers, we’ve noticed this trend for years, hence adding organic hay and grain fields to our crop portfolios.  However, we’ve never tried our hand at organic potatoes.

Until now.

This year we planted our first organic potato fields.  If you’ve checked out our site or read our blog, you know that we’ve been growing organic grain and alfalfa for some time now.  It takes years of planning to get fields ready for organic crops, making it an investment in time as much as it is money.  While we’ve had success with our organic crops, we’ve never tried our hand at organic potatoes.  But this year, down on the Running Y, we’ve planted two different organic potato crops – one red (Modoc) and one yellow (Yukon Gold).  You may have noticed something; neither of those varieties are chipping potatoes.

Why not organic chipping potatoes?  One reason is the current marketplace isn’t asking for them.  Most organic potato chips use non-chipping varieties, such as Russets.  With little want for organic chipping potatoes, and chipping potatoes being rather delicate, at this time we’re not growing any.  But you can bet if we have successful organic potato crops this year, you may find more of our potatoes in the organic section of grocery stores and in your favorite restaurants in coming years!

farm, gold dust, Organic Potatoes, Running Y Ranch, sustainable farming, walker brothers

The chipping potatoes at the home place look green and happy

The summer sun and the click-clacking of sprinklers in the fields make July one of the greenest months in the Klamath Basin – despite the lack of precipitation.  Thunder storms have threatened to drop rain, but in the end the clouds dissipate or head in a different direction.  However, as long as we can irrigate, and the temperatures stay in the sweet spot, our crops will continue to thrive.

With that said, we figured it was time to show how some of the fields have progressed.  As you may recall from a previous post “Chipping Potatoes And Grain Are In The Ground!“, we shared photos we took of our fields being planted in mid-May.  Since it’s been just shy of two months, it’s a good time to see how some of our fields are doing.  While it’s a bit early to say how the crops will turn out at harvest, things are looking pretty good!

We took photos of grain and chipping potato fields at the Running Y, an alfalfa field in Malin, a chipping potato field at our Malin potato processing plant as well as one of a grain field that was in chipping potatoes last year.  We also have some snaps of the big, dry-land organic grain field on the Lower Lake Wildlife Refuge as well as chipping potato fields at the home-place outside of Merrill.  These field photographs don’t tell the whole story, and represent a fraction of the acres we farm around the Klamath Basin, but should give you an idea of what we’re seeing.

Enjoy!

chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust, grain, Running Y Ranch, walker brothers, wheat

It’s the 4th and the rows are growing in!

Everyone at Gold Dust Potatoes and Walker Brothers would like to wish you, your family and your friends a very happy Fourth of July.  We also ask that as you celebrate the holiday, to take a moment and think about the brave men and women who fought to make this country the bastion of freedom that it is, and that you also have those who are serving our nation in your thoughts this day.  Freedom isn’t free, and we appreciate the people and their families that make the sacrifices that make America the great nation that it is.

Also, if you’re in the Klamath Basin on the 4th, we hope you can make it to one of the many events that are going on.  One event in particular that comes to mind is the Independence Day Jamboree and Parade.  Out of all the things going on, why are we focused on it?  Because our CEO and COO, Bill and John Walker, are the grand marshals of the parade!  The theme for the parade this year is “The 4th On The Farm” and we’re excited Bill and John have been picked by the Chamber of Commerce for this honor and to represent Klamath Basin farmers. We hope you’ll join us in downtown Klamath Falls at 5 p.m. to watch the parade and join in in the festivities going on at Veteran’s Park after the parade is over.

Finally, something potato farmers are always interested in is whether or not the rows have grown in by the Fourth of July.  And, by the looks of it, our chipping potatoes look pretty good – especially since the photo at the top of the post was taken the 2nd!

Again, we hope everybody has a fun and safe 4th of July.  And thank you to the veterans those currently serving for keeping America free and Americans safe.

awards & recognition, chipping potatoes, community, farm, gold dust, walker brothers

The baby potatoes were already getting their grow on

During the hustle and bustle of shipping season, spring farming began, making the months of March, April and May some of our busiest months of the year.  And as quietly as it began, last month, wheat and potato planting came to an end.

This year, our crops include chipping potatoes (of course!), wheat, barley, alfalfa hay and organic potatoes.  We worked and planted fields as far north as the Running Y to just over the California border on Lower Klamath Lake and in the Tule Lake leases.  However, instead of telling you about farming, how about we let the photos show you instead?

The following photographs were taken from the beginning to mid-May.  From getting stuck to happy alfalfa fields, these pictures will give you a glimpse into joy and frustration of planting season at Walker Brothers.

Before we wrap up this post, John, Weston, Bill and Tricia would like to thank the planting crews for their hard work.  We covered a lot of ground this year (literally), and did so through the perseverance and dedication of our hard-working crew.  Thank you!

Let’s cross our fingers for a event-less growing season and a fantastic harvest!

chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust, grain, walker brothers

2005 Spudnik 6400 Potato Bulker For Sale

From time to time, we decide to upgrade our equipment or thin out our collection of farming implements.  As a result, we have farm equipment to sell!

We just added a 2005 Spudnik 6400 potato harvester to our Equipment Sales pages (look under Potato Equipment).  This bulker has always been stored inside and comes with a multitude of features to ensure your potato harvest goes with as few issues as possible.  It’s in great shape, has a new elevator chain and comes with a spare tire, canopy, lights and cameras –  all you need to supply is the action!  Please feel free to check out the details on the link above, and if you’re interested, let us know.

Another item we’ve had for sale for some time is an Allis Chalmers 32′ tandem disc.  This disc folds for easy transport (to ten feet wide) and has recently had the bearings and hydraulics gone through.  Big bonus – we’ve significantly decreased the price!  If you have a field you need to work over, then you need to get in on this good deal while you can.

If you’re interested in either pieces of equipment, please feel free to get in touch with us at equipment.sales@golddustfarms.com.  And be sure to check back to see if we put anything else for sale!

farm, gold dust, walker brothers

. . . and a Happy New Year!

Snow is on the ground and cheer is in the air.  It looks quite a bit like Christmas around the Klamath Basin.  The holiday spirit is alive and well at Gold Dust!

Last Thursday (December 20th), if you visited the offices at the shed you may have noticed some of the office staff were dressed in “festive” (the word being a euphemism) sweaters.  Since these folks usually are sharper dressers than what the photos show, you can surmise it was the annual ugly Christmas sweater contest.  This year, there was a tie (who knew there could be two sweaters that terrible, right?) between Laura and Necia.  If you thought those were nice enough to wear to your Christmas dinner, you may want to fire your stylist.

The next day, Tacos Ala Mexicana were brought in for Christmas lunch for the shop, shed and office crews.  Tables were set up on the shed floor while Gold Dust’s employees visited and lunched on enchiladas, tacos, rice and beans.  After the cake was cut and served, on behalf of the partners, Weston thanked everyone for their continued hard work and dedication before wishing a Merry Christmas to all.

As you read in our last blog post “Gold Dust Hits The Road For Food Bank and SOOF“, Gold Dust donated 40,000 pounds of potatoes to Southern Oregon Outreach Foundation and the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank.  Also in the blog post, you may have noticed the employees were raising money for Toys For Tots and the food bank.  How much was raised?  The employees pooled together $300, which was matched by Gold Dust’s partners to bring the total to $600 to be split evenly between the two organizations.  Well done!

Before wrapping up this post (unintentional Christmas pun!), on behalf of Bill, John, Weston and Tricia, we hope you had a Merry Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year.  And to our employees, who work in the shed, the fields, the shop and in our offices, again, thank you for everything you do to make Gold Dust and Walker Brothers successful.  Without our hardworking crews, we couldn’t be the best farm and processing plant in the Basin.  Thank you.

Here’s to a bright 2013!

farm, gold dust, gold dust office, holidays, potato shed, walker brothers

Quiet for now, this potato bulker is waiting to harvest another chipping potato field

Our potato fields are littered with the remnants of dead potato plants and chippers that didn’t make it through the bulker.  Tracks from our diggers and spud trucks have replaced the long rows of plants.  The bulkers and tractors are quiet, while the spud trucks have changed duties from hauling chipping potatoes from the fields to storage to hauling them from storage to the packing shed.

Potato harvest is over.

On Monday (October 15th), just before lunch, our last field was dug.  This year potato harvest lasted a little over a month, and considering the ground our harvest crews covered, it’s a pretty amazing feat.  We had spuds in fields we traditionally farm in the Leases as well as around Tulelake, Malin and Merrill.  However, this year we also farmed the Running Y Ranch, which didn’t add much to the acres we had to harvest, but it did add to the miles our equipment and crews had to cover.  And now that it’s all said and done, this year we had a beautiful crop with impressive yields.

So, how did we get through harvest so quickly?  To start with, we have a hard-working, experienced, dedicated crew who stepped up and put in the hours to make it happen.  From the guys on the bulkers to the folks in the spud trucks to everyone at the storage sheds, packing shed and in the office, every person worked hard to make potato harvest go as smoothly as possible.  We also had beautiful weather which allowed us to start on time every day and not wait for the day to warm up, or cool down, or the soil to dry out.  It’s been a beautiful fall for digging spuds!  Finally, we’ve been doing this for quite a while now.  Though every harvest is different and presents new challenges nobody could foresee, we’ve developed a knack for growing and harvesting chipping potatoes.

Before we get to some final pictures of potato harvest on the Running Y Ranch and around the Malin area, John, Bill, Weston and Tricia would like to thank the crews and staff for making this another successful potato harvest.  Everyone’s hard work is appreciated, and there is no crew around that’s better than the one that works for Gold Dust and Walker Brothers.  Thank you, everyone.  All of you helped make this a success.

Now, for some final potato harvest pictures!  And enjoy the Klamath Basin Potato Festival!

chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust, potato harvest, Running Y Ranch, walker brothers

No finer site than a big Lexion 750 cutting heavy grain

As we mentioned in our last post about chipping potato harvest getting underway, grain harvest is still going on.  Though we started grain harvest around Malin and have worked through a gigantic organic barley field on the Lower Klamath refuge, we’ve moved our combines down to the Running Y Ranch to harvest the wheat we planted there.

Though we’re proud of our chipping potatoes, raising grain is a major factor of our farming operation.  When Bill and John got together all those years ago, they focused on raising wheat, which is evident when you see the grain fields we’ve planted around the Klamath Basin.  To get some perspective on the impact of raising grain on our farm, and since our harvesters and focus is on the Running Y, let’s take a quick look at how much grain we planted there.  Out of the total acres we’re farming there, almost 67% of the ground is under wheat.  Now compare that to the other crops, we have 12% of the ground in chipping potatoes and almost 10% of it in alfalfa.  And in case you’re curious, we’ve dedicated almost 6% of the farm ground on the Running Y to the Walking Wetlands.  What is the percentage of acres in production that are organically farmed?  16.81%.

Why so much grain?  For starters, grain is a good market to be in, and John and Bill have been raising grain in the Klamath Basin since 1975.  Grain farming is also a part of our sustainable farming plan.  Potatoes take a lot of “power” out of the soil.  By rotating grain and alfalfa crops into fields that have either just been in spuds are or going into potatoes, we’re able to add organic material, nitrogen and other essential elements back into the ground.  This makes it so we rely less on fertilizer, which is better for the environment, for the soil itself and for our operating line.

With that in mind, while we’re excited about potato harvest, we have to remember how important grain harvest is to our farm as well. Let’s hope the skies stay blue, the grain continues to ripen nicely and we get the crop into storage safely.  Here’s to heavy yields!

farm, gold dust, grain, Running Y Ranch, sustainable farming, walker brothers, wheat

Let potato harvest begin!

After a year of new ground, stuck tractors and all the other drama that comes with farming, our potato bulkers are in the fields digging chipping potatoes. It’s official – potato harvest has began!

On Thursday, September 13th, we headed to the leases with our bulkers, tractors and spud trucks.  Though we started digging the on the 13th, we’ve been preparing for potato harvest for weeks.  Before the diggers can be pulled into the fields, they need to be prepped for the long hours ahead while the pipe crews pull solid set from the potato fields.  Rollers are dragged over the rows to kill the potato plants and the vines that have grown between the rows are cut.  Then, after all that prep work has been done, we can get the chippers out of the ground.

Every growing season is different and challenging, and this one was no different.  The threat of drought weighed heavy on the minds of farmers all over the Klamath Basin throughout the winter and early spring while fires from Northern California and Eastern Oregon filled the late summer skies with heavy smoke, leaving some to wonder if it would have a negative impact on the growth of crops throughout the area.  However, looking at the potato plants and evaluating the chipping potatoes themselves everything looks good!

Though we’ve cranked up our diggers to get the chipping potatoes out of the fields, the combines are still cutting grain for harvest and the third cutting of conventional and organic alfalfa hay is meeting the swathers and bailers.  It’s certainly a busy time of year for our farm crews, and we hope that everyone works as safely as they do hard.

So, before we get to a few pictures, let’s all hope for a safe and successful potato harvest.  Thank you to our hard working crews for the long hours you’re putting in.  Let’s have a great harvest!

Below are photos taken of the Stronghold Field and other leases we have on the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge.  Photos from before potato harvest were taken on August 31st, two weeks before the potatoes were dug (September 14th).  In these images you can get a small glimpse of what we do to prepare for potato harvest, and then of those same chipping potatoes being harvested.  Enjoy!

chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust, potato harvest, walker brothers

A warm welcome from the Running Y staff

If you happened to look at  your calendar last week, you may have noticed the third Tuesday of August was already here.  Why does that particular Tuesday matter, you ask?  It’s time for the annual Open House Field Day, of course!

This year we held our 12th annual Open House Field Day on August 21st.  We were favored with a pleasant amount of sunshine and despite the large forest fires burning north, south and east of us, the wind kept the smoke at bay and the skies clear.  The day started with breakfast at the Running Y Lodge, where Weston and Kevin Kane from RaboBank put together a presentation.  Afterwards, the field tours commenced.

Since we’ve been working the Running Y Ranch this year and are proud of what we’ve accomplished in the several past months, we thought it was fitting to show off a couple of the potato fields we have planted there.  Weston, John and Dan fielded questions about the varieties, the soil and quality of the chipping potato crop.  Our guests were even treated to an impromptu lesson about potato plants and potato seed by none other than Duane “Sarge” Preston, professor emeritus from the University of Minnesota.  Not only is Sarge well-known, highly respected potato expert, he’s also an all-around nice guy.

After the tour of Running Y Ranch fields, everybody headed down to Malin to tour the packing shed.  Bill, John, Weston and plant manager Matt Thompson guided our guests through the packing shed and showed them samples of varieties our agronomist Daniel Jepsen dug up.  Along with fresh potato samples, the varieties were fried up to show how nicely they work for potato chips as well as to demonstrate the differences between varieties.  Discussions surrounded the quality of the chipping potatoes that were presented, and a few people even snuck a taste of the sample chips!

As we do every year, after the shed tour, we treated our guests to a round of golf at the Arnold Palmer-designed Running Y golf course.  Following golf, dinner was served at the club house where awards for longest drive, closest to pin, top team scores and lowest team scores were awarded.  Want to see those pictures?  You’ll have to tune in for our next blog post on the Open House Field Day!

chipping potatoes, customers and clients, farm, gold dust, open house field day, potato customers, potato shed, Running Y Ranch, walker brothers