Gold Dust Potatoes & Walker Bros. Farm Blog

Yes, There Will Be Chipping Potatoes

April 22, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

April Snow Showers at Gold Dust Potatoes in Malin, Oregon — The Snow We Have Left on April 21 at 12:15 pm

Going to bed last night, we were treated to the soft pattering of rain on our rooftops and the weatherman promised more to come on the 11 o’clock news. This morning, we awoke to find the Klamath Basin covered in three inches of snow. All of this precipitation is on the heels of talks about the impending drought. Welcome to springtime in the Klamath Basin.

There is a drought headed our way this summer, and due to politics and policies, there is a chance that in some areas of the Basin irrigation will be halted mid-season. Some potato production ground will be idled as well. However, Walker Brothers will be growing chipping potatoes and Gold Dust will be processing those potatoes this fall.

Several irrigation districts service the Klamath Basin, which includes Klamath County in Oregon and Modoc and Siskiyou counties in California. One of the irrigation districts Walker Brothers relies on is the Tulelake Irrigation District, or TID. The nice thing with being a part of TID is they have five incredibly large wells along with several private wells to help keep folks inside their irrigation district farming as usual. While they still have to plan for the potential shortcoming of water, the Tulelake Irrigation District has tools at their disposal to help dampen the blow from the drought.

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers also had the foresight to secure several hundred acres of land irrigated by private wells to make up the difference between the acres we normally farm and what we expect we’ll need to fill our contracts. So, regardless of what the rumors are, we plan on meeting the obligations of our contracts with our customers.

It will be a long, hot summer here in the Basin, and please don’t take this discussion as an attempt to dismiss or downplay the drought. We are optimistic the wet spring we’re having is building up the snow pack we’ll need later this season and filling Klamath Lake so farmers will be able to farm as close to normal as possible. What we want our customers to know is we have made the necessary arrangements to grow the number of chipping potatoes forecasted to fill our contracts, and we plan to do so. With 30 years of farming in the Klamath Basin under our belt, while this may be a nuisance, we’ve done it before and will likely do it again.

While we have your attention, we’d also like to thank the Tulelake Irrigation District board members and the Klamath Irrigation District (KID) board members for their hard work during these trying times. We appreciate the outreach and public forums they’ve provided Basin irrigators as well as their continued vigilance in providing water for all irrigators – both large and small. Thank you for your time, commitment and hard work.

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.

We’re Hiring An Executive Assistant!

April 1, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms 3 Comments

Gold Dust is proud to announce we have another position opening up in our offices in Malin!

We’re looking for someone to take on an executive assistant’s role. As with any position in a thriving, constantly growing agri-business, this job requires someone with superb computer and communication skills that is able to work independently while paying attention to details. Due to the nature of this job, the ability to maintain confidentiality is extremely important. And, if you have experience dealing with human resources, OSHA and are bilingual (Spanish), we should definitely talk.

If you’re interested in this job or know someone who might be, please see our Executive Assistant page for more details. Be sure to check out the other open job positions at Gold Dust and Walker Brothers Farms while you’re at it!

Eat Potatoes, Be Happy

March 26, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Happy Chipping Potatoes — Feeling Blue? Try Potatoes!

In this week’s PotatoPro Newsletter, the author, Paul van Eijck, wrote about the use of the phrase “comfort food” in relation to potato chips and french fries and marketing them. According to this article, in the very near future we may see the phrase being applied to potato chips, french fries and almost anything else potato related.

In the article was an uplifting bit of information from across the pond released by a United Kingdom Web site dedicated to potatoes known as LoveChips.co.uk. PotatoPro referenced a study put out by LoveChips that indicated potato chips (or french fries to us Americans!) make people happy.

In the study, British researchers showed folks a video that was sure to put them in a foul mood. After watching the clip, they were given “potato chips” (or “fries” if you will) and through the power of potato-goodness, the subjects saw a 10% increase in calmness and a 13% increase in cheerfulness. Furthermore, Dr. Mike Green, the mastermind of the study, found an eight percent decrease in anxiety after munching on fries.

“There are a number of possible nutritional and psychological mechanisms which could explain the mood changes after eating chips,” explains Dr. Green. “It may be down to the biological effects of nutritional components on brain chemistry or simply a pleasurable oro-stimulatory sensation, triggered by the way chips taste.”

Whether it’s physiological, psychological or just magical, this researcher proved something we’ve always believed at Gold Dust: potatoes make people happy. So, if you’re feeling blue or just need a little pick-me-up, grab a bag of potato chips or head to In-N-Out burger for fresh-cut french fries. After all, it’s good for your mental health!

Auto & Diesel Mechanic Job Available

March 15, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Gold Dust Potato Processors and Walker Brothers Farms are always on the look out for new talent. This time, we’re looking for a farm mechanic.

As with any farm, there is a lot of vehicles and equipment. And, as with any farm, when you have lots of pickups, trucks, tractors and other types of equipment, something is bound to break down at the least convenient time. While we already have a talented team of mechanics, we’re looking to add another.

If you have a background in auto and diesel mechanics, then we want to hear from you. Know somebody who’s a wiz with both gas and diesel engines? Let them know we’re hiring! For more details and contact information, visit our Farm Mechanic Job Opening page.

Gold Dust Adds Ozone Machine from GMI

February 24, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms 2 Comments

Gold Dust is very proud to announce we have installed an Integrated Ozone System from Guardian Manufacturing on our line in our potato processing shed. For our customers, this means our chipping potatoes will last longer during transport. For us, it means we’re going to have happier customers.

The Integrated Ozone System (or Ozone Machine if you like) creates and dissolves ozone into the water we use to clean the potatoes. After the chipping potatoes are unloaded from the spud truck, they go through a preliminary wash to get debris from the fields and cellars off of them. With the dirt and whatnot removed, the potatoes now go through a second wash where they’re sprayed with an ozone water mix before going to the Odenberg Titan sorter.

Two questions you may be wondering at this point are how does the Integrated Ozone System work and how does ozone make potatoes last longer?

First, how it works. The ozone is made by a small machine that creates a controlled lightning storm. In a protected box, oxygen (O2) is drawn in to the “plasma block” where electricity breaks the bond between the oxygen atoms and then puts them back together in groups of three, or ozone (O3). After the ozone is created, it is dissolved into the water by creating a high pressure vacuum and blending it in. Once dissolved, the ozone-water mix is sprayed on the potatoes as they ride the conveyor belt to the Odenberg Titan and the manual sorting tables.

How the ozone helps the potatoes last longer is interesting. The ozone kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi by pulling oxygen atoms from the cell walls of those microbes and creating holes in them. These holes allow for the insides of the cell to spill out, thus killing the micro-organism. With the microbe neutralized, we’re shipping cleaner potatoes that will last longer in containers.

We’re excited to see how well the Ozone Machine improves shipping and cuts down on potential problems during transport. We also feel it’s another example of how we’re always looking for a way to provide a better product for our customers.

In the very near future we’ll add a page with more details about the Integrated Ozone System we’ve installed. In the meantime, if you’re looking for more information, be sure to visit Guardian Manufacturing’s ozone systems page.

Our Shed Is In High Gear!

February 12, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Chipping Potatoes Waiting to Ship — Sacks, Totes and Pallets of Chipping Potatoes to be Shipped

Outside the shed, trucks are lined up, waiting to be loaded with potatoes headed south to California and Mexico to be turned into chips and fries or north to Portland to catch a boat to Asia. Inside, totes and pallets stacked with sacks of chipping potatoes wait to be loaded on to the idling semis while the floor crew hustles to fill and stack the bags. At the back of the shed, the ladies at the sorting table diligently pull the culls while the good potatoes ride the belts to bins to be loaded. Meanwhile, in the offices, emails are sent to customers confirming shipping numbers and the quantities being sent. Paperwork is filed and scanned, some of it on a deadline to meet the Fed Ex drivers in Klamath Falls so they make it the overseas customers in time to pick up their potatoes at the port. Everyone is working long, hard hours.

This is shipping season at full tilt.

Shipping season is always long and extremely busy. This season is no different. But despite the challenges, deadlines and long hours, our workers do their best to make sure the potatoes are processed and sent to our customers as quickly as possible. Gold Dust has one of the hardest working crews in the Basin and we appreciate the dedication and the time they put into our business.

We realize how long and hard the hours are. And we are thankful to the people on the floor, at the tables, in the spud trucks and in the offices doing what they do and helping our business grow. So, to the folks who work for Gold Dust, thank you very much for your continued dedication and hard work. This company wouldn’t be where it’s at without you!

Gold Dust Ships Potatoes to Mexico!

February 4, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms 1 Comment

Mexico Flag/Map by Lokal_Profil @ Wikimedia Commons — Gold Dust Spuds Now In Sabritas Potato Chips!

When the cold and wet of February rolls into the Klamath Basin, naturally the minds of the folks who live here wander to warmer destinations further South. Nice, warm places like Mexico.

Gold Dust Potato Processors is very proud to announce we have been shipping chipping potatoes to a new international market. For a few years now we’ve been successfully sending chippers to several Pacific Rim countries. Being able to put a pin on the map for Mexico is a point of pride for us and we hope to continue shipping potatoes there.

Thanks to our partnership with P.D. Sproule and Frito-Lay (PepsiCo), our chipping potatoes are being shipped to a Sabritas plant in Mexicali where the spuds are cut, fried and distributed to the Mexican market as delicious potato chips under the Sabritas brand. As of this writing, Gold Dust has shipped nearly44,000 CTW (100 weight, or 4,400,000 pounds) of chipping potatoes to the Mexicali Sabritas plant.

Through another vendor, as of this writing we’ve also shipped fully-cooked, processed potatoes to a Sabritos plant in Azcapotzalco, an area of northwestern Mexico City. Sabritas has cornered over 80% of the Mexican snack food market, which means a lot of folks south of the border are going to taste the goodness of the Klamath Basin!

If you’re looking for a chipping potato grower to work with in expanding your business, get in touch with our potato sales department. We provide many chipping and frying potato varieties as well Oregon potatoes.

A Few Notes About South Korean Culture

January 29, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

In our last post, we talked a visit with our the guests we had from Doosan and Orion, two companies based in South Korea. In that post, I had put a caption under one of the pictures that appeared there was a drinking game going on (there wasn’t) and in another picture, a few people asked about the housewarming gift. With that in mind, this is going to be a brief public service entry to enlighten our readers about a few aspects of South Korean culture they may have been unaware of. Let the learning begin!

A Good Luck Housewarming Gift of Paper — Mr. Lee, Mr. Ha and Mr. Park Present Bill and Jan Walker With a Gift of Paper

In this picture, Mr. Ha, Mr. Lee and Mr. Park are presenting Jan and Bill with a very large package of toilet paper. In the United States, and to much of Western culture, this would seem like an odd choice of a house warming gift. However, in Korea, gifts of paper for a house warming gift are seen as good luck gifts to bring more money to the recipients.

Feeling At Home — JW and Juan Relaxing with Mr. Park and Mr. Ha

Now, this may look like JW, Juan, Mr. Park and Mr. Ha are sitting on the floor having some sort of drinking game, but it’s not. Actually, what you see here is our guests feeling very comfortable, relaxed and “at home”. When you consider the differences between how Westerners and Easterners furnish their homes, it’s much less surprising.

Bill, Jan and the rest of the Gold Dust crew enjoyed our visit with Mr. Ha, Mr. Park and Mr. Lee and look forward to the next time they’re in Malin!

Gold Dust Welcomes Orion and Doosan!

January 7, 2010 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Mr. Park, Mr. Ha, Weston and Mr. Lee — Weston with Mr. Park, Mr. Ha and Mr. Lee

Every so often, our customers travel to the Klamath Basin to visit Gold Dust’s fields, sheds and watch how we process our chipping potatoes. For us, it’s an excellent opportunity to talk to our customers face to face to get ideas on how we can deliver the best possible product to them. Our latest visitors, Mr. Ha and Mr. Lee of Orion and Mr. Park of Doosan Corporation, traveled from South Korea to our facilities here in Malin, Oregon.

The purpose of their visit was to check out the quality control procedures we perform on our chipping potatoes. During their time here (December 14th – 17th) they also spent a lot of time with Weston, Bill, John and JW discussing ways Gold Dust could improve our product. One idea that came from those conversations, and that we can share, is the installation of an Ozone 3 system in the shed.

The Ozone 3 system will eliminate the bacteria in the water we use to clean the chipping potatoes before they ship. For our customers, this means less potato loss while the potatoes are in transit. When we ship stateside, the amount of loss is usually minimal. However, when shipping to South Korea and other Pacific Rim countries, the weeks the chipping potatoes spend on the sea allow more time for problems to develop. So, if we can get the water we use cleaner than tap water, more potatoes will make it to our customers. Our goal is to have this system installed and running in early 2010.

We value the time we get to spend with our customers. It promotes a better understanding of what they need as well as what we can provide for them. Though changes and innovations that will improve our business are often the product of these visits, we’re usually able to squeeze in a little fun with our guests. Below are pictures from a dinner held at Bill and Jan’s new home in honor of Mr. Park, Mr. Lee and Mr. Ha. And as you can tell, good times were being mixed with business!

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers Farms would like to thank Mr. Ha, Mr. Lee and Mr. Park for visiting us and we look forward to their next visit!