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Looking Back at Harvest 2017

November 24, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

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.

Stacks of dairy-quality alfalfa hay being stacked in field outside Malin, Oregon.
Look at all that dairy quality alfalfa!
A tractor pulling a baler in a hay field near Malin, OR.
Make way for hay!
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!

Walker Farms potato bulker and spud truck in a field near Newell, California.
Harvesting potatoes near the Peninsula
Walker Farms employees work on a potato harvester in a chipping potato field near Newell, CA.
Not everything goes as planned
Gold Dust Potatoes employees sorting through potatoes that are going to be shipped.
Chipping potatoes being sorted
Gold Dust employees sacking chipping potatoes for shipments in their processing plant in Malin, Oregon.
Sack ’em, sew ’em and ship ’em!

 

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.

Gold Dust and Walker Farms employees discussing ways to make the businesses better at the annual Leadership Dinner.
Our employees discussing changes they’d like to see to make them more effective
Weston Walker thanking long-time employee Salvador Vera at the Gold Dust and Walker Farms 2017 Leadership Dinner.
Thank you for your dedication, Salvador!

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.

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust office, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, Klamath Basin Potato Festival, potato harvest, potato shed, potato shipping, Round-Up, Running Y Ranch, walker brothers, wheat

It’s Harvest Time!

September 18, 2014 By Gold Dust Farms 3 Comments

Chipping potatoes being unloaded and going into a storage shed at Gold Dust Potatoes' Malin, Oregon facility.
It’s Harvest Time!

Summer is over.  While the roads fill with school buses, around the Klamath Basin they also fill with farm equipment.  The school yards fill with kids at recess while the fields fill with farm crews, swathers, bailers, combines and bulkers.  The warm days, green leaves clinging to the trees and calendar might say we’re all still in summer.  However, if you ask any kid what time of year it is, they’ll likely reply it’s fall.  And if a farmer doesn’t say it’s autumn, they’ll tell you it’s harvest time!

Walker Brothers started harvesting grain in the beginning of August.  Despite the smoky skies all summer long and the drought, the yields have been good.  The only real obstacle to wrapping up grain cutting has been waiting for a few fields to finish ripening.  So far our crews have been doing an excellent job of getting the grain cut and into storage, making it as streamlined a process as possible.

An organic wheat field on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR, needs to finish ripening.
A few test cuts have been done on this organic wheat field
Two combines harvest wheat in a field at the Running Y Ranch outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Ohhhh, the Walker Brothers Claas Lexion is pulling ahead!
Walker Brothers' Claas Lexion 750 cutting a wheat field at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Gotta’ love seeing a combine at work!
A grain harvester pours wheat into a grain cart on the Running Y Ranch.
Our combine filling one of our grain carts to the brim with wheat
A grain cart loads wheat into grain trucks on the Running Y Ranch, outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
And in turn, our grain carts fills our grain trucks!
An un-cut wheat field on the Running Y Ranch in Southern Oregon.
Next!

On Monday of last week (September 8th), as grain harvest worked nearer towards  ending, the first official day of potato harvest began.  Due to the nature of chipping potatoes, we often have some of the first potato bulkers in the field.  This year, along with the chippers, we’re also harvesting some beautiful organic table potatoes.  Again, despite the drought, our spuds are looking pretty good so far and with a week under our belt things are going smoothly in the field and at our storage sheds!  And as of the publishing of this post, we’re already a third of the way done.

An open row of chipping potatoes waiting to be harvested on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge lease lands.
Mmmm . . . chipping potatoes
A potato bulker harvests chipping potatoes and then loads them into a potato truck on the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge near Tulelake, CA.
And that’s how you harvest chipping potatoes!
The Peninsula stands tall in the background while Walker Brothers harvest chipping potatoes near Tulelake, California.
The Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge lease lands are definitely a scenic place to grow potatoes
A potato trucks kicks up dust on a dirt road on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge near the Oregon-California border.
Go Spuds Go!
Chipping potatoes from the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge leases are unloaded into a potato cellar at Gold Dust Potatoes, Malin, OR.
From field to storage
A photo showing a spud truck being unloaded and the equipment it takes to get the chipping potatoes into storage.
Another potato cellar is being filled with chippers from another field
Chipping potatoes are being sorted at Gold Dust Potatoes' Malin, OR, storage facility.
After being unloaded, the chipping potatoes are sorted
Chipping potatoes going into a storage cellar at Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin, Oregon campus.
We won’t see these chipping potatoes again until they’re shipped

As if we didn’t have enough going on, if you listen closely, you can hear our potato processing plant running.  Semis with refrigerated trailers are idling outside, waiting for the crews to get potatoes loaded.  While it’s not running at full tilt just yet, the number of loads being shipped and the number of hours our shed crew will only increase from here on out.  And if you ask the office staff, one look at payroll will tell you we’re busy!

A semi-truck with a refrigerated trailer waits to be filled at Gold Dust Potato Processors' packing shed.
It looks fairly calm outside our packing shed . . .
Chipping potatoes being unloaded from a potato truck into Gold Dust Potato Processors' packing shed in Malin, OR.
Field fresh chipping potatoes getting ready for shipping
Four women manually sort chipping potatoes in Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin, Oregon packing shed.
After the Odenberg sorter, our ladies give the chipping potatoes a manual inspection
An employee pulls potatoes before they're sacked at Gold Dust Potato Processors in Malin, Oregon.
One last chance to grab any spuds our customers don’t want
Chipping potatoes are piled into a large tote before being loaded into a truck at Gold Dust's potato packing shed.
Now THAT is a big sack of spuds!
An employee loads chipping potatoes into a refrigerated trailer in Malin, Oregon.
As you can see, there’s a lot of chipping potatoes in that reefer

Did we forget to mention we’re getting our fourth cutting of alfalfa wrapped up as well as get our straw put away?

A hay squeeze and truck move wheat straw bails on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
You gotta’ move the straw before you can haul it
A fourth cutting of alfalfa hay waits to be cut and bailed in a hay field near Malin, OR.
That’s a good-lookin’ fourth cutting of alfalfa

Even though harvest is one of our busiest times of year, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a little time for fun.  This year at the Tulelake Butte Valley Fair, some of our employees competed in the Hay Squeeze driving contest and the demolition derby.  Operating our trademark white with a red stripe squeeze was Toby Turner.  Though Toby mostly handles big bales, he did an excellent job managing the small bales and managed to earn 7th place.  In the demolition derby, the white and red theme was carried on to a beat up Lincoln that our farm mechanics, Don Sconce, Mark Smith and Tristen Wilson put together.  Don thrashed around the infield in the white and red beast, taking home 4th place.  Well done, gentlemen!

 

Hay squeezes from Klamath Basin farms are lined up for the hay squeeze competition for the 2014 Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair.
The competition is looking stiff
Toby Turner, Walker Brothers farm employee, is talking with a competitor at the Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair hay squeeze competition.
Toby is chatting up the competition
Toby Turner moves a unit of hay at the 2014 Tulelake Butte Valley Fair hay squeeze competition.
Go Toby Go!
Gold Dust Potato Processors and Walker Brothers farm sponsored a car in the 2014 Tulelake Butte Valley Fair demolition derby.
Ain’t that derby car a beauty?
Don Sconce sits in the driver's seat of a demolition derby car before the 2014 Tulelake Butte Valley Fair.
There’s Don’s game face
Tristen Wilson, TJ Chavez, John Walker, Emma Chavez, Don Sconce and Mark Smith pose with the Gold Dust demolition derby car at the 2014 Tulelake Butte Valley Fair.
Here’s Team Gold Dust! What a good lookin’ crew
Don Sconce drives the #19 derby car into the arena at the 2014 Tulelake Butte Valley Fair demolition derby.
A warrior enters the arena
A photo of Gold Dust car after the 2014 Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair demolition derby.
And this is what 4th place looks like. Good job, Don, Mark and Tristen!

As we’ve said in past posts about potato harvest, every year is a different adventure and this year will be another.  With any luck, it will end as smoothly as it’s started and everyone will finish safely and sanely.  Good luck to our crews in the fields, in the sheds  and in the offices – and thank you for your hard work and dedication during one of our busiest times of year!

And a special thank you to Katie Walker and Lexi Crawford for the additional photos of the Tulelake Fair!  Thanks, ladies!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, Organic Potatoes, potato harvest, potato shipping, Running Y Ranch, walker brothers, wheat

The Fields In July

July 12, 2013 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Chipping potatoes growing at the Walker Ranch outside of Merrill, Oregon.
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!

A wheat field at the Running Y Ranch outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Looks like the baby wheat is all grown up!
A grain field in July, 2013 at the Running Y Ranch in Klamath County, Oregon.
And here’s the field where we were rained out of
A chipping potato field at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR.
When we last saw this field, it was being prepped for planting chipping potatoes
A chipping potato field on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR.
Here’s the field Mr. Jepsen was checking – and it looks great!
Chipping potato plants in bloom in a field at the Running Y Ranch.
There’s blooms on these chipping potatoes!
A chipping potato field that was tilled using a Salford farm implement.
Looks like the Salford tiller did a good job on this field
The second cutting of alfalfa hay in a field near Malin, Oregon.
That’s a nice looking second cutting of alfalfa
A Malin potato field at Gold Dust Potato Processors.
The baby spuds are all growing up too
A Malin, Oregon wheat field that was growing chipping potatoes in 2012.
Last year, this wheat field was all in chipping potatoes
Chipping potatoes growing at the Walker Ranch outside of Merrill, Oregon.
The chipping potatoes at the home place look green and happy
A potato field outside of Merrill, Oregon, with the Merrill water tower, flag and town in the background.
The home place potato field looks really good too!
An organic grain field on the Lower Klamath Lake Wildlife Refuge.
In another month, the organic grain will be waist high and full of geese and Sandhill cranes

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, Running Y Ranch, walker brothers, wheat

Chipping Potatoes And Grain Are In The Ground!

June 25, 2013 By Gold Dust Farms 1 Comment

Chipping potatoes peeking through soil in a field at Gold Dust Potato Processors, Malin, OR.
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.

A John Deere tractor stuck in a field at the Running Y Ranch outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Another spring, another stuck tractor
A piece of fertilizing equipment is stuck in the mud at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Fall, OR.
Even Basin Fertilizer is getting in on the getting stuck!
A four wheel drive John Deere tractor and Case field disc stuck in a field at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR.
I think they’ll need a bigger shovel
Wheat planted in the spring is already growing in May at the Running Y Ranch.
Spring grain was already growing
A John Deere 9620T pulling a disc in a rainy field at the Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Yes, it does rain in the Klamath Basin
A John Deere tractor and grain planting equipment pull out of a field due to wet weather at the Running Y Ranch, Klamath Falls, OR.
A little too wet for planting grain
A field at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, Oregon, is prepped for chipping potatoes
Getting ready for spuds
A field of chipping potatoes is planted at the Running Y Ranch, Klamath Falls, OR.
Chipping potatoes going in the ground
A potato planter is being filled at the Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
After a pass or two, the planter needs filled
Agronomist, Daniel Jepsen, checking the planting depth of chipping potatoes in a field at the Running Y Ranch.
Are they deep enough, Dan?
Two tractors and potato planters planting chipping potatoes at the Running Y Ranch.
Yep – TWO planters at once!
A tractor works a field to break up the ground to make it suitable for chipping potatoes at the Running Y Ranch.
Before you can plant the spuds, you have to bust the clods
Bill Walker, CEO of Gold Dust Potato Processors, checks to see if the dirt is fine enough for planting chipping potatoes.
Bill checks the dirt to see if it’s fine enough
A tractor pulling a Salford tiller breaks up clods in a future potato field at the Running Y Ranch, Klamath Falls, OR.
Now THAT is some fine dirt!
A John Deere 9620T discs a future chipping potato field at the Running Y Ranch.
Making a potato field is dirty work
A 700+ acre organic grain field being planted on Lower Klamath Lake on the Oregon California border.
Our organic grain field on Lower Klamath Lake
Two tractors prepare a organic grain field on Lower Klamath.
If you look, there are two tractors in this field – it’s that big!
a four wheel drive John Deere tractor discs a field on Lower Klamath with Mt. Shasta in the background.
Mt Shasta keeps an eye on our tractor discing the field
A John Deere tractor prepares an organic wheat field on Lower Klamath on the Oregon California border.
Is that a toy?
Chipping potatoes peeking through soil in a field at Gold Dust Potato Processors, Malin, OR.
The baby potatoes were already getting their grow on
An alfalfa field in mid-May at the Walker residence outside of Malin, Oregon.
And in mid-May, the alfalfa was looking good too

 

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!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, walker brothers

Grain Harvest At The Running Y

September 28, 2012 By Gold Dust Farms 2 Comments

Claas Lexion 750 cutting a field of conventional wheat on the Running Y Ranch.
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!

Ibises in a Walking Wetland on the Running Y Ranch.
Snipes (ibises) and ducks forage in a Walking Wetland next to one of our organic wheat fields
Combines and grain trucks wait for morning moisture to dissipate in a field on the Running Y Ranch.
Before we can cut the grain, we have to wait for the morning dew to dry
A John Deere harvester rented from Machinery Link and John Deere tractor pulling a grain cart wait to begin harvest at Running Y Ranch.
When these guys get busy, we won’t be able to get this close!
Claas Lexion 750 in wheat field waiting for grain harvest to begin on the Running Y Ranch.
The big Claas is patiently waiting to make short work of this wheat
Organic wheat field on the Running Y Ranch being harvested.
We’re making short work of this organic wheat field
A grain cart being pulled through an organic grain field on the Running Y Ranch.
The grain carts were busy in this field!
John Deere harvester cutting organic wheat on Running Y Ranch.
That’s a pretty good looking organic grain field!
A grain cart being filled with organic wheat on the Running Y Ranch.
When the combine’s storage is filled, it off-loads into one of our grain carts
Three combines harvest organic wheat in a grain field on the Running Y Ranch.
Three harvesters working one field – what a beautiful sight!
A John Deere tractor pulling a grain cart pulling away from a John Deere combine.
Yes, cutting grain is a dirty job
Ducks and other birds in a Walking Wetland near grain fields being harvested on the Running Y Ranch.
These ducks don’t seem to mind grain harvest at all!
Walker Brothers' Claas Lexion 750 making test pass in grain field on the Running Y Ranch.
Our Claas Lexion making a test pass in a field of conventional wheat
Three John Deere harvesters leased from Machinery Link in a cut grain field on the Running Y Ranch.
Three combines leased from Machinery Link wait for the day’s harvest to get underway
Four grain trucks at the Running Y Ranch waiting to be filled.
With our 10-wheelers hauling spuds, we’re using semis for grain harvest
A hawk hunts for prey in a recently harvested grain field.
Can you guess why hawks love grain harvest?
Claas Lexion 750 cutting a field of conventional wheat on the Running Y Ranch.
No finer site than a big Lexion 750 cutting heavy grain
Walker Brothers' Claas Lexion 750 combine filling a grain cart with wheat.
Does this Lexion 750 harvester make our grain cart look small?
A Claas Lexion 750 harvester and John Deere combine harvest a grain field on the Running Y Ranch.
Know what you call this boys? Teamwork.
A John Deere tractor pulls a grain cart being filled with wheat from a Claas Lexion harvester.
For perspective, you can see how much larger the Claas is than the tractor
A John Deere combine fills a grain cart being pulled by a John Deere tractor.
And here’s the John Deere harvester we’re leasing. So yeah, to us, size matters!
A wheat field on the Running Y Ranch being harvested by Walker Brothers' grain harvest crew.
It takes a big combine to harvest a big grain field

Filed Under: farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, Running Y Ranch, sustainable farming, walker brothers, wheat

Grain Harvest Begins!

August 16, 2012 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Class Lexion combine cutting grain in a wheat field in Malin, OR.
Here comes the Claas, making short work of this field

Driving around the Basin, fields of ripening wheat, barley and oats are turning from green to gold.  Combines are appearing almost from thin air, lining roads and sitting in front of shops and sheds being prepped for cutting.  In some fields, you can see where farmers took test passes.  As summer ends, grain harvest begins.

At our potato processing plant, we cut the wheat field directly south of the packing shed and solar panels.  Our big Claas with its 40 foot wide head made short work of the field, starting just before lunch and finishing the same evening.  To truly appreciate the efficiency of the combine, you have to be in the field and watch it work.  Modern combines with their floating heads and GPS units are able to cut grain just inches above the ground and maximize the amount of crop cut on each pass.  This machine not only allows us to harvest our grain in a more efficient manner, but we also are able to collect more of the grain cut.

While this is our first field harvested, it is certainly not our only field.  After this one, two other fields are ripe and ready to cut – and those are just the ones ready in the immediate future!  As August rolls on, you’ll see our grain trucks running from the fields to storage and our grain carts toted out to help collect the crop.  Though we spend a lot of time discussing chipping potatoes and writing about our packing shed, grain and hay are a part of the crops we rotate though in our sustainable farming plan.  So wherever you see a grain field, a potato field was there once!

A Claas Lexion 750 combine cutting wheat at Gold Dust Potato Processors in Malin, Oregon.
Cutting wheat at Gold Dust
Class Lexion combine cutting grain in a wheat field in Malin, OR.
Here comes the Claas, making short work of this field
A closer shot of the Claas Lexion 750 combine cutting grain.
Check out how low that header is!
A Claas Lexion 750 wearing the Walker Brothers logo turns in a wheat field in Malin, Oregon.
Swing wide, big guy!
A John Deere 8430T tractor and Unverferth 8250 grain cart waiting to be filled with wheat.
A Johne Deere and grain cart wait their turn
A grain truck, semi with grain trailer and a tractor pulling a grain cart parked in a harvested wheat field in Malin, OR.
Here’s a great shot of all the ways we get grain from the field to the silos

 

Filed Under: farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, sustainable farming, walker brothers, wheat

Yep, We’re Farming!

May 3, 2012 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Potato field being planted at Gold Dust Potatoes' Malin facilities field.
Planting chipping potatoes at Gold Dust

The old saying goes, April showers bring May flowers.  And for farmers, sometimes those very same April showers that bring the flowers (and much needed precipitation) can bring headaches as well.  However, despite a wet beginning to the month, we have been planting potatoes.

Since mid-April, our tractors and planters have been in the fields getting this year’s crop of chipping potatoes in the ground.  Fields that aren’t being planted in spuds and are not already growing alfalfa are being drilled with wheat.  With the Running Y added to our acreage portfolio, it’s taking an extraordinary amount of coordination and communication to keep our spring farming on track.  And with the typical Klamath Basin spring (which means it’s not typical at all!), it’s also requiring a little bit of patience as well.

While much of the focus is on the ground and what’s going in it, all around the Basin the signs of spring and the promise of the season to come are sprouting up all around.  Winter wheat is peaking through the soil while the alfalfa and other hay fields are well above our ankles.  These green reminders mixed with the rich browns of freshly farmed soil make the Klamath County landscape one of the prettiest places to be this time of year.  No wonder we love what we do!

Potato field being planted at Gold Dust Potatoes' Malin facilities field.
Planting chipping potatoes at Gold Dust
Planting a field of chipping potatoes in Malin, Oregon, with Mt. Shasta in the background.
What a beautiful day for planting potatoes!
Gold Dust's potato packing shed and solar panels behind last year's potato field.
Last year’s potato field showing spring’s green promise

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, grain, walker brothers, wheat

We’re Farming The Running Y!

February 22, 2012 By Gold Dust Farms 2 Comments

Sign at the Running Y Ranch.
Welcome to the Running Y Ranch!

If it’s been a secret, it isn’t one any longer.  After evaluations, negotiations and many meetings, we’ve struck an agreement and will now be farming the Running Y Ranch!  It’s a move that we’re very excited about and feel that for the long-term success of our farming operations, it is right in line with remaining sustainable for many, many years to come.

You’ve seen us mention the Running Y before in blog posts and press releases about our annual Open House Field Day.  The Running Y Resort is where we treat our attendees to an afternoon of golf followed by dinner after spending the morning checking out our fields and packing shed.  So, are we farming the golf course?  Of course not; that would be silly.  The fields we’ll be working are located just across from the resort on the Running Y Ranch.  And while it may seem like it’s a long ways from our storage and packing facilities in Merrill and Malin, it turns out it’s not any further than some of the ground we farm near the Lava Beds in California.

The rich, peat dirt is some of the best farmland in the Klamath Basin, and while large portions of the ranch have been in pasture for a while, in no time those grounds will be producing hay, wheat and chipping potatoes.  Add in the wells located on  the premises and it only looks better from where we’re sitting.  However, securing the ground doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed success.

As you’re reading this, the Walker Brothers crews are at the Running Y Ranch getting it ready for spring farming.  Over the constant, raucous calling of migrating snow geese, you can hear the din of equipment running.  Irrigation canals and ditches are being dredged and readied, faulty head gates are being replaced and old, crushed culverts are being removed.  Though the general perception of farming is that farmers and crews have pretty relaxing winters, at Gold Dust and Walker Brothers winter is just the season you’re busy with getting ready for spring planting.

While we want to farm the Running Y because of the rich farm ground and the availability of water, it’s hard to ignore the natural beauty of the place.  The little valley is surrounded by tall stands of pine and fir trees where it’s easy to find deer and elk tracks.  In the fields themselves, snow geese, bald eagles, herons and cranes abound while on the perimeter songbirds and hawks watch the action. All in all, it’s a picturesque place that makes us thankful we get to work and live in a place as beautiful as the Klamath Basin.

Sign at the Running Y Ranch.
Welcome to the Running Y Ranch!
Hilltop view of the Running Y Ranch outside just off Highway 140 outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
We’re farming all the fields you can see in this photo. Yes – all the way over there!
The ranch headquarters at the Running Y.
Here’s the ranch headquarters
Bald eagles courting in a pasture at the Running Y Ranch.
And here are the ranch bald eagles
Pastureland located at the Running Y Ranch just off of Highway 140.
Right now it’s flooded pasture, but eventually this will be chipping potatoes, hay or wheat
Solid set irrigation pipe will be used to water chipping potatoes.
Solid set irrigation pipe waiting to be set in chipping potato fields
A recently cleaned and dredged irrigation canal at the Running Y Ranch.
This canal has been cleaned and is ready for irrigating crops this summer
A resting wheat field located at the Running Y Ranch.
Last summer, this was a productive grain field
Migrating snow geese congregating in a field at the Running Y Ranch.
Loud and beautiful, snow geese love this place!
A very large headgate helps control irrigation at the Running Y Ranch.
No, seriously – this is a headgate. A very, very, very large headgate.
A Caterpillar excavator cleaning an irrigation canal on the Running Y Ranch.
An excavator gets a canal ready for a busy summer
A photograph looking south from the North Headgate at the Running Y Ranch.
Looking south from the north-end headgate
A red tail hawk in mid-take off from a ponderosa pine at the Running Y Ranch.
He was quick, but not quick enough to avoid having his picture taken!
A John Deere tractor pumping water from a canal at the Running Y.
Who needs pumps when you have a John Deere?
A flooded field located at the Running Y Ranch.
Soon, this flooded field will be filled with crops instead of water
Two Walker Brothers employees stand by a large headgate that's about to planted in a canal at the Running Y Ranch.
This beautiful, white headgate is about to go into the ground
A headgate in the process of being installed in a canal at the Running Y Ranch.
Now you see it . . .
A recently installed headgate holding water in a canal at the Running Y Ranch.
. . . And now you don’t!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, sustainable farming, walker brothers, wheat

Walker Bros Win Environmental Stewardship Award!

April 15, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Sandhill Crane In Stubble Field
Grain stubble provides protection against wind erosion.

We are very proud to announce that the National Potato Council has honored Walker Brothers with a 2010 Environmental Stewardship Award.  While it’s always nice to be recognized, to receive recognition from the National Potato Council for our work on providing cleaner water and wildlife habitat as well as for preventing soil erosion feels extra good.

Part of the requirement to win the award was to maintain a high crop yield while implementing practices that protect the environment and wildlife.  With both our chipping potato crops and wheat crops, we were able to do just that.  Aside from the tried and true practice of crop rotation, when planting we used no till drills for the wheat which minimized erosion during planting.  As for the potatoes, GPS was used to plant the rows closer together, which helped minimize pesticide use and erosion.  After planting the spuds, a few days later the fields were irrigated in order to reduce wind erosion.

For pest management, Walker Brothers used a couple of techniques other than better planting methods.  One was to plant 42 foot wide stretches of rye and grass around the fields to attract good insects as well as to encourage bad insects to leave the crops alone.  Not only did this help with bugs, it also provided habitat for birds.

Speaking of birds, we participated in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Flood Fallow program.  We voluntarily flooded fields, which provided habitat for migratory waterfowl that summer in the Klamath Basin.  This gave the birds a place to hang out as well helped clean the water and returned important nutrients back to the soil.  This also gave human visitors to the leases something to look during the Walking the Wetlands tours.

After implementing the above methods and other techniques and technology, Walker Brothers still harvested over 60,000 metric tons of chipping potatoes.  So, at the end of the day, we not only had an impressive yield but we also cut down on the amount of fertilizer and pesticides we used and helped make our little part of the world a little better (and cleaner!).

We would like to thank John and the farm crew for all of their hard work in implementing these practices.  We would also like to thank the National Potato Council for this award and we look forward to officially receiving it in Vegas in January at the 2011 Annual Meeting!

For more details about the award, be sure to read our press release about receiving the National Potato Council 2010 Environmental Stewardship Award.

Filed Under: awards & recognition, chipping potatoes, community, farm, grain, potato harvest, potato news, wheat

Gold Dust Ships First Container of Wheat!

October 28, 2009 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Need Wheat? Talk to Weston!
Need Wheat? Talk to Weston Today and Save!

Today marks another first for Gold Dust and Walker Brothers Farms.  For the first time in company history, we are shipping grain from our processing facility in Malin, Oregon, to South East Asia.  While we’ve been in the grain business for years, this is the first time in our company’s history that we’ve shipped wheat ourselves, let alone overseas.  This is the first shipment of what we hope turns out to be many.

Weston, our international salesman, said the shipment is a container of a northern spring wheat we call “Gold Dust Red Wheat”.  It’s been cleaned and is ready for processing into natural, whole-grain snacks.  So far, the primary use of our “Gold Dust Red Wheat” is for whole grain snacks, such as Frito Lays’ multi-grain SunChips® snacks.

Visitors to our site and blog may have been under the assumption that Gold Dust and Walker Brothers Farms only deal in chipping potatoes.  While it’s true that much of the focus is growing, processing and selling chippers, John and Bill have been growing and selling wheat since the 1970’s.  With this much experience in raising wheat, our customers can expect the quality of our “Gold Dust Red Wheat” to meet their expectations.

We have plenty of wheat to meet this year’s orders.  If you’re interested and would like a sample, contact Weston in our wheat and potato sales department.  He will be more than happy to send you a sample of our “Gold Dust Red Wheat” and talk to you about pricing.  Since you’re dealing directly with the grower, and not any middle men, you can be assured of big savings as well as excellent customer service.

A Sample of Gold Dust Red Wheat
Weston Proudly Standing With First Wheat Shipment
Gold Dust’s Red Wheat Packaging
A Small Sample of Gold Dust Red Wheat
Need Wheat? Talk to Weston!
Our First Shipment of Gold Dust Red Wheat

Filed Under: farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, grain, wheat, wheat sales

From Our Farm Blog

  • Here You Go – Weston’s Organic Potato Chips!
  • We Need Some Elves!
  • Looking for a job?
  • Klamath Ag Leaders Meet with Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman
  • We Stand With Shut Down & Fed Up

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