Gold Dust Potatoes & Walker Bros. Farm Blog

2021 Employee Picnic & BBQ

August 23, 2021 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Gold Dust & Walker Farms group photo — **Here’s Gold Dust & Walker Farms’ Dream Team!**

When you have amazing office, floor and farm crews made up of some of the best employees found in the Klamath Basin, what do you do?

You have a BBQ!

Last month (July 22nd, to be exact), Gold Dust & Walker Farms invited our employees and their families to BBQ picnic lunch in Malin Park. The smoke gave way to let the sun shine through for a perfect day to have lunch outside. On the menu were hotdogs and hamburgers expertly grilled by Roni Walker’s husband, Dan Reagan. Our employees from the mechanics shop, field crews, hay crews, floor crews, office crews, and frankly anyone who works for Gold Dust & Walker Farms lined up for lunch. Tables were full of folks visiting with people they worked with as well as the families and some people who work for us who they may not have already known.

As part of the fun, we also had games for kids (and some adults!) to play – which eventually broke into a water balloon fight. Moms and kids alike were chasing each other, hands filled with water balloons, throwing and ducking to avoid getting wet. Smiles lit faces while laughter and screaming echoed through Malin Park’s trees. And the best thing to follow a water fight is ice cream!

To help show our appreciation for our workers, we gave them tickets based on the number of years they’ve been with our companies which they could exchange for Gold Dust & Walker Farms merch. Items they could “purchase” included hats, sweaters, Carhart jackets and even some In-N-Out Socks. Employees were also entered in a drawing where they had the opportunity to win In-N-Out gift cards, water bottles, lunch bag and a gift basket full of Gold Dust and Walker Farms swag.

We had a great time, but more importantly, we hope our employees did. It was nice for everyone to gather for a meal under the July sun to share a few laughs. For us to get a chance to show some gratitude and appreciation for the hours and dedication our workers put in to help our farms to be as successful as they are.

Thank you, Gold Dust & Walker Farms employees. We hope to see you all there next time!

If you’d like to join the Gold Dust & Walker Farms team, be sure to check out our job postings. We have employment opportunities from the offices out to the fields, including full time jobs as well as seasonal employment. Our crews are made up of incredible people, and we’re always on the lookout for talent.

Here You Go – Weston’s Organic Potato Chips!

December 11, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms 15 Comments

We’re pretty sure it’s unanimous that 2020 has been a train wreck of a year. COVID-19, the ensuing pandemic, economic disruption, an election year – there’s been very little to celebrate. Well, we might have found something

Weston’s Organic Potato Chips!

What are those you ask?

Obviously, they’re potato chips – organic potato chips. And one of the reasons we’re excited about these chips is we’re providing the organic chipping potatoes that are fried up into these tasty snacks. They’re grown right here in the Klamath Basin, which, in our opinion, makes these potato chips extra delicious.

Fried up by family-owned and operated Warnock Food Products of Madera, CA, this is the same company that produces the rose fingerling potato chips we wrote about back in February.

We’ve been able to find them at our local Grocery Outlet in Klamath Falls

Weston’s Organic Potato Chips seems to be a regional brand only found on the West Coast. Though they may be a mostly Californian product, we were able to find them at our local Grocery Outlet in Klamath Falls. On a personal note, it’s pretty exciting to go to a grocery store and see potato chips with your family’s farm on them.

Even more exciting is when you know the “Weston” behind them.

If you haven’t guessed yet, the Weston printed on the big white bags is in reference to our very own Weston Walker. Jaap Langenberg, the brain behind the rose fingerling chips and Weston’s Organic Potato Chips, visited our farm a while back. During his visit, he was amused that Weston was so dedicated to growing and providing chipping potatoes he even named his dog Spud. With the image of a farmer and his dog in Jaap’s mind, a brand was born.

Now the big question – how do they taste?

We might be a tad biased. Regardless, these potato chips fry up nice and nearly white – just as a proper chipping potato should. Being thick-cut, wavy-style chips, they have a nice, crisp crunch. There are two flavors to choose from – Sea Salt and Sea Salt ‘N’ Vinegar. While you get the familiar flavor of sea salt and the pungent punch of salt and vinegar, what’s nice about these potato chips is you can actually taste the spud. The flavors don’t overwhelm the natural potato taste, which in a world of overly-salted snacks is a nice change. And again, we might be slightly biased so you need to find a bag and try them yourself!

We hope you’re able to find a bag of Weston’s Organic Potato Chips in a store near you. Since these are an organic product, if the white bag doesn’t stand out on the shelf of the snack section, you might have to go look for them in the natural foods aisles. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Simple ingredients make them simply delicious!

We Need Some Elves!

November 26, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way, we’re going to start seeing Christmas trees dressing up front windows and lights twinkling through early dark evenings. And around Merrill and Malin, you’re going to start seeing boxes taking donations for Toys For Tots!

This year instead of just taking donations at our sheds, we’ve set up several Donation Stations. Several businesses have been gracious enough to help us collect new, unwrapped toys and other gifts for local kids. From now through December 9th, you can stop by one of our Donation Stations and help make a child’s Christmas merrier.

You can find the Donation Stations at the following businesses:

Gold Dust & Walker Farms packing shed
Malin Country Diner
Taqueria Jaliscience 2 in Malin
Martin’s Grocery Store in Merrill
Casa Villanueva in Merrill
Pappy Gander & Company in Merrill

Wherever you see our signs, you can drop off a toy or gift for a child aged from newborn to 18 years old. Often times teenagers are forgotten about for toy drives, so we encourage keeping them in your thoughts as well. And if you don’t have time to go shopping, we’ve set up a fundraiser page! Visit the Gold Dust & Walker Farms #Elf Team 2020 page, hit the red “Donate” button and you can contribute money for our local Toys For Tots shoppers to purchase gifts with.

Along with Make-A-Wish, Toys For Tots has a special place in our hearts. Toys For Tots has been a part of our holiday tradition for years, and it never ceases to amaze us how generous our employees, customers and community are. We realize 2020 has been a tough year for a lot of people, which makes everyone’s generosity that much more meaningful.

If you’re able to help this Christmas season, we hope you can. Every little bit goes a long ways to bringing joy into a kid’s Christmas.

Gold Dust & Walker Farms Toys For Tots flier

Looking for a job?

August 12, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms 1 Comment

One of the challenges of being a thriving agri-business is that as we grow, we need more people to fill new positions. It’s a good challenge, but a challenge just the same. And add the seasonal harvest positions, it feels like we need to hire a small army!

Speaking of which, if you happen to be looking for a seasonal job, we have two opportunities that could turn permanent. The first one is a Harvest Trucker Driver. Whether or not you have your CDL, we can provide training and have you haul in crops from all over the Klamath Basin!

With harvest approaching we need hardworking Farm Labor to get our fields ready for digging chipping potatoes and help with getting them into storage. This job will last all the way through potato harvest, but is a great way to get your foot in the door of Gold Dust & Walker Farms.

While we’re looking to get folks in the seats of our hay, grain and spud trucks and help getting the fields ready for harvest, we have other opportunities as well. Interested in working in Klamath Basin agriculture but not sure how your skill set would fit? Don’t worry. Right now we’re looking for an Executive Assistant and a Crop Bookkeeper to help out in our offices in Malin.

You good at turning wrenches, especially on diesel engines? Yep, we’re looking for Diesel Mechanic to keep our tractors in the field. And if you’re looking for a great opportunity to start working in ag, check out our Quality Control Specialist.

We’re always on the hunt for hardworking, talented individuals. If you’re interested in one of the above employment opportunities, be sure to go to the job’s page, read the details and apply today! And keep an eye on our Klamath Basin jobs page to see our latest openings.

Klamath Ag Leaders Meet with Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman

July 14, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, we wrote a post about Gold Dust & Walker Farms’ participation in Shut Down & Fed Up’s tractor rally, the Convoy For Change. In the post, we mentioned one of the goals for the rally was to get the attention of Trump Administration to start pushing for a solution that not only saves our Klamath Basin farms, but also helps the suckers and salmon recover.

Gold Dust & Walker Farms' Lexi Crawford shaking hands with Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Brenda Burman — **Our very own Lexi Crawford shaking hands with Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman**. Photo credit Holly Dillemuth of the Herald & News.

It happened.

Last week on July 9th, the Klamath Basin was visited by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Brenda Burman. Thanks to our House Representative Greg Walden showing having a meeting on Air Force One where he shared a photo of the rally with President Trump, he also met with Bernhardt. That visit and discussion of the Shut Down & Fed Up tractor rally helped prompt the visit.

Two of our farm’s leaders, Tricia Hill and Lexi Crawford, had the opportunity to meet with Bernhardt and Burman. Being the KWUA president, Tricia attended a meeting he held with local ag leaders as well as attend his talk at the Shut Down & Fed Up field of crosses. Lexi made it to the field as well as one of the organizers of Shut Down & Fed Up.

Bob Gasser with Greg Walden, Brenda Burman, David Bernhardt and Doug LaMalfa — **The Interior Secretary, David Bernhardt, and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner, Brenda Burman, paid the Klamath Basin a visit**

The atmosphere at the field was filled with energy and hope. Yes, it was hot and the slightest breeze would kick up the dirt, but getting the opportunity to meet two of American ag’s top officials is exciting. Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman navigated through the crowd, talking to the people who had the privilege of being there.

Among the visitors was the Scala family, whose field the crosses and flags were planted in. He also gave a challenge coin to Scott Sues’s children, Spencer and Charlotte. Going through the crowed, Bernhardt and Burman heard stories of family farms going under, fields being fallowed due to lack of water. They also heard words of thanks and appreciation for coming to the Klamath Basin, seeing some of the effects first and saying they were going to help find a solution.

Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman taking a photo with Klamath Basin women involved with agriculture — **Bernhardt and Burman wanted a photo with our amazing Basin women involved with Klamath ag**

One of the more memorable moments was when Commissioner Burman asked to have a photo with all the women that were there. From a girl to women who work in many different aspects of agriculture, they crowded around Burman and Bernhardt while the photogs in the crowd eagerly snapped photos. We also got a special picture with Commissioner Burman with Lexi and Tricia. As you recall, Tricia is the first women president of KWUA and Lexi is the first woman to sit on the Oregon Potato Commission. And Brenda Burman is the first woman Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. To see all the women who work in Klamath Basin ag in one group, and then to get a photo of three women who are the firsts in their organizations, was unforgettable.

BoR Commissioner Brenda Burman with Gold Dust & Walker Farms' Tricia Hill and Lexi Crawford — **Brenda Burman, Tricia Hill and Lexi Crawford represent three firsts for women in agriculture**

No promises were made that day. Secretary Bernhardt didn’t have any immediate thoughts for solutions and admitted he didn’t want to tip his hand until he knew he had a fix that would help our farms and ranches while helping the Tribes with fish. Though the Secretary and his entourage left the field without giving hint to a plan, most were satisfied with the visit. To be heard, and to know the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation are going to try and help us find a solution, is great step in the right direction for Klamath Basin ag and all of our communities that depend on it.

Thank you very much, Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman! We appreciate the visit and the help.

We Stand With Shut Down & Fed Up

June 4, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

**We are proud to support the Shut Down & Fed Up movement**

May 29th was pretty incredible. And we’re proud to have been a part of an amazing event like the Convoy For Change.

Last Friday, some of our crew met at our shop in Merrill to help decorate cars, pickups, tractors and trucks to join in the convoy. This tractor rally was put on by the Shut Down & Fed Up movement, which is working to find a sustainable solution for farms and fish in the Klamath Basin. Gold Dust & Walker Farms was more than happy to add our vehicles and voices to the protest. We even offered up one of our grain fields just outside of Merrill to give everyone in the rally a place to get ready.

Signs – check. Help – check. Let’s get these farm rigs ready to roll!
Alright, let’s get Lexi’s rig ready for the tractor rally!
No truer words have ever been attached to a tractor
That’s a great and incredibly true sign, Madison and Penny!
Here’s one of 23 vehicles we put towards Shut Down & Fed Up’s tractor rally
We even made sure the hay was ready for the Convoy For Change
As you can see, the Convoy For Change tractor rally isn’t just about tractors.

We figured there’s be quite a few people. The leaders of Shut Down & Fed Up said there’s be several hundred participants.

**That’s quite a line of farm rigs getting ready to join the Convoy For Change**

What we saw from the shop’s parking lot told us there was a whole lot more than several hundred. As we worked to get posters and flags hanging from the equipment and vehicle windows painted with phrases in support of Klamath Basin ag, we could see the line for the tractor rally was massive. It went past our shop, and from what we could tell to the Tulelake-Malin junction.

Our vehicles didn’t enter the tractor rally all at once. Rather, we were spread out, slowly making our way to Merrill and then towards Klamath Falls. People lined the streets of Merrill, waving and cheering in support, giving our protest the feel of a parade more than a statement. However, it was a statement – a statement that was nearly 30 miles long!

While some of the tractor rally headed to downtown Klamath Falls (yes, there!), others headed to a field in Midland owned by the Scalas family. In years past this was a productive hay field, but this year, with their water being cut, it was instead a dusty meeting place for the Convoy For Change. At the site nearly 2,000 crosses were planted, each to represent the family farms and ranches that would be affected or die off if water to Klamath Basin ag was shut down, as it was for the Scalas family.

Tractors surrounding a field planted with crosses near Midland, OR for the Shut Down & Fed Up Convoy For Change — **Tractors and other farm vehicles surrounded the field of flags for the Shut Down & Fed Up rally**

The field was surrounded by an assortment of farm machinery – ranging from large tractors hooked up to potato bulkers to combines and fertilizer spreaders. The convoy slowly filled the field, with all the intersections leading up to it jammed with more rigs. At the field, several leaders from Klamath, Siskiyou and Modoc counties spoke along with Representatives Walden and LaMalfa and other California supervisors. Despite the heat, the traffic and the long procession to get to the field, many met at the field to show support for Klamath Basin ag and the communities affected by farming and ranching.

It was an incredible feeling of awe and camaraderie to be a part of this amazing event. Talking to some of the members of Shut Down & Fed Up, they had to goals for the tractor rally. The first was to bring our community together, which they succeeded in. The second was to get the attention of the Trump Administration to focus on finding a solution that helps not only Klamath ag, but also brings real solutions to preserving the sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake and the salmon in the Klamath River. We wish them luck in their second goal.

Gold Dust & Walker Farms is proud to support the Shut Down & Fed Up movement. While we’re able to find the ground and water to fulfill our contacts, we know many of our neighbors are not as fortunate. We’d like to thank the organizers of the Convoy For Change tractor rally, including our very own Tricia Hill and Lexi Crawford. We also hope you too will learn more about their cause by visiting their Facebook page or going to ShutDownFedUp.org.

We’re Taking Precautions Against COVID-19

March 26, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Everywhere you look, COVID-19 is the topic on everyone’s mind. The coronavirus is in the news, on the radio, in grocery store lines, in your email inbox and your social media feeds. With its ease of spread and the effect the pandemic is having on the economy as well as the society, it’s no surprise that everyone is trying to get as much information out as they can, and people are looking for as much information as they can get.

When it was announced that agriculture is among the essential industries last week, it was huge relief for us and farmers all over the Klamath Basin. While that allows us to keep our potato processing plant in Malin running and us to continue with spring farming for the time being, that doesn’t mean we aren’t taking any precautions.

Our Partnership Team sent out the following email earlier this week:

Dear Gold Dust Customer or Vendor,

As a critical business, we are honored and grateful to continue to provide potatoes, hay or grain and will do our best to keep our team and yours safe from COVID-19. We have assessed the risk of this pandemic and implemented several procedures to limit it’s impact on our business. A few are listed below.

No visitors will be allowed at the packing shed or on the farm.
Drivers will no longer be allowed into the building but will do their paperwork at the front window of the packing shed.
A handwashing station has been placed at the entrance to the packing shed for teammates to use prior to entering.
Cleaning practices within the buildings on our farm have been increased.
Clear communication that we should stay calm and carry on (cautiously).

Thank you for your partnership with our team.

Please stay healthy!

Hopefully the COVID-19 pandemic will get under control sooner than later, but for the time being we’ll be doing our best to keep our employees safe – as well the folks we do business with. As more precautions are recommended we will implement them.

We appreciate everyone working with us through these unusual times, and hope everyone is safe and healthy. Thank you.

One last note – many of our local, small businesses are getting hurt by the shelter at home orders. If you can support your favorite local eateries and stores that may be open – please do. These businesses are an important part of community not just because of the services they provide, but also the support they show for our children, service clubs and more. They help give our small towns the unique personalities that make the Klamath Basin unique and great place to live.

What’s This About Rose Fingerling Potato Chips?

February 22, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms 6 Comments

There were a few exciting projects last year, but this one is something a bit different for us.

Farm Hand Rose Fingerling Potato Chips — Yep – We’re the Gold Dust & Walker Farms that’s on that bag!

As a Klamath Basin chipping potato farm, we’re used to sending our spuds to plants all over the West Coast to get turned into potato chips and french fries. There’s been a few campaigns where our farm has been featured, including Kettle Brand’s Tater Tracker. However, this time you don’t have to go to a computer – you can find us in stores!

In a joint project with Staunton Farms, we have been sending rose fingerling potatoes to Madera, California to become the prettiest potato chips you’ll ever see in a store. The brainchild of Jaap Langenberg, Warnock Foods has been producing rose fingerling potato chips under the Farm Hand Project name, and on the bags you’ll see “Gold Dust & Walker Farms”!

Wondering how rose fingerling potato chips are different from a regular potato chip? The obvious differences are the color and shape. Since these are made from a potato that has streaks of pink in its flesh, these fry up a yellow to light brown with that same rosy color striping through the chip. Chipping potatoes have been bred to fry up light yellow to white in color, so the sugars present in the rose fingerlings create the darker color of the Farm Hand potato chips. If you’ve seen a fingerling potato, like their name, they’re longer and oblong compared to the spherical shape of a chipper.

Back label of Farm Hand Project Rose Fingerling Potato Chips — Simple ingredients, delicious potato chips

Ready to try some? There’s a catch. Farm Hand Project are regionally produced potato chips, which means they’re hard to find. Regardless of their availability in your local grocery store, you still want to know how they taste.

Farm Hand’s potato chips are thicker cut, giving them the same satisfying crunch you get from kettle-style chips. They are nicely salted, and the flavor of the chips itself is very slightly sweeter than a normal kettle chip, but delicious. All in all, these are an excellent addition to any grocers shelves! However, we’re a little biased since we love all things potato and potato chips.

But if you would like to try a rose fingerling chip in general, Trader Joe’s has a very similar product. Since we weren’t able to find any opinions of the Farm Hand Project Rose Fingerling Potato Chips, we relied on some unbiased reviews of the Trader Joe’s brand. And from what we saw of the few reviews were able to find, people like them!

In a thread on Hipinion.com, a user asked if they were any good and was told the chips are “really, really good”. Food blogger Kirbie posted on KirbieCravings.com some of her finds at a local Trader Joe’s, including the Rose Fingerling Potato Chips, and wrote, ” I really like these new chips from Trader Joe’s. The rose fingerling potatoes have hints of pale pink color in each potato chip. The chips are very crunchy and lightly salted. They taste like classic homemade potato chips. ” But the award for most enthusiastic review goes to Barry (Barry, Barry, Barry.) from the In The Chips YouTube channel:

If you get a chance to try Farm Hand Rose Fingerling Potato Chips, we’d love to hear what you have to say and even see a photo of them on a store shelf. It’s always exciting to get into a new market, and to have our farm’s name included makes it even more so!

Otter at the Running Y!

January 27, 2020 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Ask any Klamath Basin farmer or rancher what their favorite parts of working in ag is, you’ll get a long list that ranges from working outside to being a part of community that looks out for one another. And on most of those lists is getting to be around wildlife.

It’s not a secret that agriculture provides a lot of habitat and feeding opportunities for wildlife. From impromptu winter wetlands for migrating birds to hunting grounds for predators, when you work the fields you get to see a lot of different animals on a daily basis. On one of our farms in particular – the Running Y Ranch – we’ve had elk make trails through our potato fields, bears prowl the edges of the tree lines, countless numbers of ducks, geese and swans swim our flooded fields, and even a sighting of an occasional cougar.

Knowing that all of that wildlife is around, it should come as no surprise that we even get the occasional otter sighting. River otter habitat ranges all over Western Oregon, and in many areas just east of the Cascades. With the abundance of wetlands, rivers, lakes and canals in our area, Klamath County is an ideal place for river otters to thrive. And apparently one of those places is our canals on the Running Y Ranch!

This video was shot by our Running Y Farm Manager, Trino Zendejas, while driving on the ditch banks of the farm. While he doesn’t make a long appearance, the little guy plays a little peek-a-boo with Trino before diving below. It’s a short video (12 seconds), but does a great job of capturing the playfulness of everyone’s favorite mustelidae (there’s a five dollar word to impress your friends with!).

A big thank you to Trino for capturing the otter on your phone and to Bart Crawford for passing it along!

Harvest 2019 Is In The Books!

December 4, 2019 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Wheat getting harvested at Gold Dust & Walker Farms' Malin, Oregon headquarters. — Cutting grain at our Malin Campus

If you’ve read our posts over the years, when it comes to harvest there’s a very common theme – every harvest has its unique challenges. This year’s harvest was no different.

With grain and potato harvest taking place at the same, along with getting our third and fourth cuttings of dairy-quality alfalfa out of the fields, our farm crews are spread all over the Klamath Basin bringing home the crops. This year, we decided to give ourselves another challenge – our first industrial hemp harvest!

We began cutting grain in at the beginning of August and kept our combines cutting wheat, malting barley and oats clear into mid-November. Though we weren’t able to harvest all of our fields due to the effect of the weather on the crops, we still managed to cut an incredible 7,208 acres. Considering we had fields in the Tulelake area, Malin, the Straits and clear up into the Running Y and Caledonia, our grain harvest crew put in a lot of hours moving equipment, let alone cutting the crop.

A Walker Farms potato bulker harvesting chipping potatoes and loading them into a spud truck. — Digging potatoes down on the Tule Lake lease lands

Speaking of the weather, it definitely posed a challenge to potato harvest. The beautiful, temperate summer gave way to some frigid fall days that kept our potato harvest crews and spud truck drivers out of the fields. Despite that challenge, this was one of our quickest potato harvests to date – we started digging chipping potatoes September 3rd and finished on the 25th of October. And to give you an idea of how good our potato harvest crew is, we had four 100% bruise free days, and one day we loaded 134 trucks with chipping potatoes. Well done!

At the end of the season, despite the challenges, harvest was successful. Our farm learned some new things, and just as we expected, out farm crews stepped up and showed the dedication necessary to make it successful. Our farm managers and field crews are what help set Walker Farms apart from other growers in the area, and we cannot thank them enough for the hours and commitment they put in every year. Thank you to all – from the offices to the fields – to everyone at Gold Dust & Walker Farms who made this year’s harvest another success.