Gold Dust & Walker Farms

Small Changes for Big Improvements In Our Packing Shed

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Frontier Metal Detector installed on a production line at Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin campus.
Frontier Metal Detector installed on our Export Potatoes Line

With chipping potato seed coming in, chipping potatoes being shipped out and the spring farming that happens in the fields near our sheds, our campus in Malin is hopping with activity. With much of the action happening around our sheds and cellars, we thought this might be a good time to share with our readers some of the changes we made to our processing plant that were mentioned in our post about the 2017 Open House Field Day.

During the shed tour, Plant Manager Matt Thompson shared some of the improvements that had been implemented during the summer of 2017. Focused on employee safety, food safety and efficiency, Matt was excited to share these changes. So what exactly was added?

The first thing Matt shared was three in-line scales had

Gold Dust Potato Processors Plant Manager Matt Thompson with digital readout at the Malin, Oregon potato packing shed.
Matt with one of the digital scale read-outs

been added to the production line. Three scales may not seem like a big deal, but these scales allow us to track production flow in live time. Working like a ticker, they weigh the chipping potatoes as they cross each scale. Now our packing shed can track the pounds of potatoes being processed per minute, and we can be more accurate about the weights of potatoes we’re shipping on behalf of each grower and to judge the yields of each field.

Gold Dust Potato Processors Plant Manager Matt Thompson demonstrating the big digital readout at the Malin potato processing plant.
Matt can easily see this readout from across the shed

For safety – and efficiency – Matt pointed out the huge digital readout on the on the scale at the southend of the shed as the second improvement. This scale is easily readable from across the production floor, which not only saves him time from having to check the weight of the chipping potatoes being loaded into the trucks, it also keeps him and other employees from having to make their way through the storm of activity.

The last item Matt shared was the Fortress Metal Detector that was installed on our export line. Why a metal detector in a potato packing shed? Though it extremely rarely it happens, metal objects can sometimes get in with potatoes we ship. This metal detector can pick up on any metal object – from a tiny piece of copper wire or soda can tab to a bolt that was picked up in the field. If the metal detector senses an item, it stops the line and dumps the product before it goes into the large bags of potatoes we export. As of this post, has the metal detector picked up anything? Not yet. But to make sure it’s working, every morning before production starts Matt uses tools that came with the metal detector to ensure it’s working and able to detect any sort of metal that passes through it. The plan is to buy two more metal detectors for the bulk line and the In-N-Out line to ensure all areas or production are checked before potatoes make it into packaging or trailers.

A Frontier Metal Detector installed on the export chipping potatoes line at Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin, Oregon campus potato processing plant.
This metal detector on our export potatoes line ensure food safety goals are met

Whether it’s creating systems, updating our farming practices or looking to technology to improve our operations, Gold Dust and Walker Farms are continually looking at how to do things more safely, more efficiently and more effectively. While there may be upfront costs to our businesses, these innovations help us in the long run to remain a sustainable farm and business.

Where Do Kettle Brand Chips Come From? Ask Tater Tracker!

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Bags of Kettle Brand potato chips on a kitchen counter.
Ever wonder where the potatoes for your Kettle Brand Chips come from?

As a chipping potato grower, we get to work with a lot of recognizable brand names from around world – and it’s pretty cool. People love to know where their food comes from, and as we attempted to answer the question “where do potato chips come from?” in another post, we’ve been given an opportunity to answer it again!

Ever been snacking on Kettle Chips and ever wonder where they came from? Well, they’ve provided an online tool to give you the answer! Kettle Brand has released their Tater Tracker, which highlights their potato growers and the farms where the potatoes come from. As you might recall from our Open House Field Day post – we’re one of those growers. And, yes, Gold Dust and Walker Farms is featured on Kettle Brands’ Tater Tracker page as well as a profile on Weston!

The Kettle Brand potato chips company car at Gold Dust and Walker Farms' Malin, Or campus during the 2017 Open House Field Day.
The Kettle Brand Potato Chips company rig stood out at the Open House Field Day

So, how does the Tater Tracker work? First, you obviously have to get a bag of delicious Kettle Brand potato chips (we recommend buying at least a dozen!). Next, locate the “Best Before” date located on the top right corner on one of the many bags you’ve purchased. Just below it you’ll find two numerical codes – type the second one into the space on the Tater Tracker page and you’ll see which Northwest potato farm your chips came from!

If you look at our grower profile, just under Weston’s bio you’ll see something else that Kettle has done with these pages – a virtual farm tour! While best viewed on an Android device, as the video plays you can turn your phone to get a 360 degree view of our potato farm, the sheds and even chipping potatoes being harvested. It’s a great way to see where your potato chips are coming from and give visitors an idea of what makes each of these potato farms unique.

Video by MaxwellPR.com

We love that Kettle Brand is as proud to work with us as we are with them. Not only does their dedication to sustainable agriculture match ours, it’s great to work with a snack company located in the Pacific Northwest that features local farms on its site. Thank you, Kettle Brand!

 

17th Annual Open House Field Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Chipping Potatoes Are (finally) In The Ground!

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

Our busy season has gotten a little less busy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2016 Winter Wings Festival to Visit The Running Y Ranch!

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Members of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society visited Gold Dust's Running Y Ranch in preparation for a field trip for the 2016 Winter Wings Festival.
Members of the Klamath Basin Audubon Society visited the Running Y Ranch for next year’s Winter Wings Festival

If you’ve spent any time reading our blog or talking to our partners and employees, then you know how proud we are of the Running Y Ranch.  Not only does that farm have amazing soil, terrific water rights and produce some of the best crops in the Basin, but the amount of wildlife around those fields is outstanding.  Elk and deer graze our fields (and raid our hay sheds!), raptors glide through the skies above the ranch while ducks, geese and swans stop by on their migrations along the Pacific Flyway.  If you appreciate wildlife, then you can understand why we feel the Running Y is a more than just another farm to us.

With that in mind, our CEO and partner, Bill, wanted to reach out to the Winter Wings Festival and offer our fields for tours in 2016.  For those unfamiliar with the Winter Wings Festival, it’s a yearly event held by the Klamath Basin Audubon Society (KBAS) over President’s Day holiday weekend that brings birders from all over the world to the Basin to take birding tours, attend workshops about bird behavior and photography, and basically talk birds!  Considering the tundra swan migration is happening that time of year, it’s a great opportunity to show people how agriculture and wildlife can co-exist.

The offer was extended and Diana Samuels, one of the organizers for the Winter Wings Festival, suggested that in preparation for 2016 some members of the KBAS pay the Running Y Ranch a visit. On February 21st, Caleb Sundahl, Mihajlo Matic and Lexi Crawford met the local Audubon Society to take photos, watch birds, look at where to take their birders next year and talk logistics.  Though there was less snow than we’d like for this time of year, it was a beautiful day to watch the swans, answer questions about our farming practices and make plans for next year.

After KBAS’s visit with members of the Gold Dust crew, we’re looking forward to having the birders visit our fields for the 2016 Winter Wings Festival.  Thank you to the Klamath Basin Audubon Society for coming out and seeing what we can share with birders.  We’re looking forward to their tour next year!

 

By the way, before we wrap this up, the photos for this post were taken by Lexi and Bart Crawford’s son, Walker.  Thanks for the snaps, Walker!

Walker Crawford, 6, takes a picture of himself.
Thanks for the photos, Walker!

It’s Highway Clean-Up Time Again!

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Yellow garbage bags from Gold Dust's litter pick up along Micka Road in front of Gold Dust Potato Processors' sign in Malin, Oregon.
It’s time for Gold Dust’s Adopt-A-Highway clean up!

If you’ve traveled between Merrill and Malin, then you’ve undoubtedly seen the sign at the corner of Harpold Road and Highway 50 proclaiming that section of highway has been adopted by Gold Dust Potatoes and J&W Walker Farms.  With a bit of sunshine in the forecast and shipping season coming to end, it was the perfect time for our crew to get out and pick up a bit of trash!

On June 3rd, Lexi Crawford, Sarah Mendez, Trish Briones, Nayeli Pena, Danell Hoppezak, and Lisa Mount donned the day-glow yellow vests of the Litter Patrol and hit the road, cleaning from the intersection of Harpold Road and Highway 50 all the way into Malin by the park.  According to Lexi, some of the more interesting finds included video game controllers, human hair and a boomerang.  Kind of makes you wonder what’s been going on along the highway!

Once Gold Dust’s section of adopted highway was declared trash-free, the intrepid group of garbage gatherers decided to clean up the area of Micka Road that our packing shed and other facilities sit on.  In no time, they had several bags of rubbish collected and left the area looking a whole lot nicer.  By the time they were finished, between the two locations the Clean Up Crew picked up 20 bags worth of garbage and debris.

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers have been a part of Oregon’s Adopt-A-Highway program since 2009.  Every time our crew hits the pavement, it’s fun to see the random stuff they find and it’s great to help make our area a little cleaner.  A big thank you to this year’s clean-up crew – and thank you for taking the initiative to spiff up Micka Road as well!

Is It The Running Y Ranch Or Running Y Lake?

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A chipping potato field looks like a lake from early February moisture on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lake front property or the entrance to a chipping potato field?

Last fall doesn’t seem very far away. The fields at the Running Y Ranch were busy, full of equipment cutting hay and grain and getting the fields ready to dig potatoes.  Before long bulkers were filling spud trucks, which headed to Malin to store the potatoes for shipping season.  Occasionally, the ground would seem to open up to swallow a truck.  When that happened, you remembered these fields were once part of Klamath Lake.

We were recently reminded of that again.  On February 16th, Tricia called to say the fields were so full of water from much needed rain and snow that you couldn’t see where one field ended and another began.  Not only that, swans, snow geese and Canada geese had flocked to the fields, and in some places there were so many of the white birds it looked like the snow had returned.

By the time we made it to the Running Y Ranch the next day, some of the flooding had subsided and the massive flocks had moved on.  But what was left was still amazing.  If it weren’t for the built up roads that ran along the edges, the fields would have appeared to be one contiguous lake.  With swans and a few Canada geese swimming through the wheat and potato fields of last year, you could almost see how this area was once a seasonal part of Klamath Lake.  And you could also see how these fields became so fertile.

Moments like these remind us how lucky we are to live in the Klamath Basin.  Yes, there’s still a drought and we’re all praying for more snow to fall in the mountains and rain to fill our lakes and reservoirs.  But watching geese swim in these flooded fields and swans pick through the leavings of last year’s grain harvest help give us a moment’s respite of today’s worries and remind us of the power and majesty of Mother Nature.

We hope you enjoy the photos below, and if you’d like to see any of them enlarged, just click on the picture and a gallery will appear.

And let’s all hope for more water!

Organic Potatoes? Yeah, We Grow ‘Em

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A field of organic potatoes growing on the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, OR.
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!

 

We’re Wattsmart!

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Photograph of a certificate Pacific Power gave to Walker Bros. farm for being a "wattsmart" company.
Look at that – we’re Wattsmart!

It’s official – Pacific Power says Walker Brothers is a wattsmart business!

What does that mean and how did we become “wattsmart” certified?  To begin with, the wattsmart Program is group of programs and incentives offered by Pacific Power and Light to businesses to help them become more energy efficient.  Programs range from updating old HVAC systems in existing buildings to updating pumps and water distribution systems for agriculture.  As you can see, they’re trying to make it easy for businesses of all shapes and sizes to curtail some of their power usage, which in the end benefits us all.

Walker Brothers participated in an energy efficiency program for commercial and industrial customers.  Through Pacific Power’s Energy FinAnswer Program, we installed variable frequency drives on two of our potato storage cellars.  As you may be aware, potato cellars can use a lot of energy, and with variable frequency drives (VFD) installed we will be able to cut down a little on our electricity bill.  Along with energy savings, hopefully the VFDs will cut down on the where and tear of the heating and cooling equipment in those cellars!

If you’ve looked at our Sustainable Farming Pages, you know and understand our commitment to sustainable ag and doing things that will not only help the environment when possible, but also help us continue farming in the long run.  Cutting down on our energy consumption partnered with the savings from it is just another way we’ll be able to remain profitable while leaving less of an impact on our local environment.  We recommend checking out Pacific Power’s wattsmart Program to see how you can save energy – and money.

Gold Dust Hits The Road For The Food Bank and SOOF

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A truck and trailer operated by Gold Dust Potato Processors delivers potatoes to the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank.
Last stop – The Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank!

On our way from our cars and pickups through the front doors of the stores in town, we hear the familiar ringing of the kettle-minders’ bells encouraging us to give whatever small amount we can afford.  The newspaper headlines proclaim the economy is eating into charitable giving and the newsreaders back up the claim in their nightly newscasts.  Yep, it’s tough out there.

With that in mind, this year Gold Dust decided to help two organizations help families in need by not just opening our check book, but by offering some logistics.  Rich Wright, our dispatcher, organized a food run over the weekend to help out not only the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank, but also Southern Oregon Outreach Foundation (SOOF), an organization that we’ve been working with to bring food and supplies back to the Klamath Basin. But not only did we donate the time and fuel of one of our semis, we also threw in some pallets of potatoes to help fill their pantries.  How many potatoes, you ask?  40,000 pounds.  And yes, they were potatoes we grew and processed right in Malin as well as some we purchased from another local grower.

After heading over the hill to Grants Pass to SOOF’s warehouse, Gold Dust’s truck swung by the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank to drop off two pallets of potatoes and three pallets of groceries from SOOF.  Though Mother Nature covered our mountains (and the roads as well) with much needed snow, James Anderson, the driver, made the 300 mile round trip safely and with no incidents.  The groceries and potatoes will help families in Klamath and Lake Counties over the Christmas holiday and into the new year.

While we’re proud of that accomplishment and being able to help both of those organizations during a time of year they need it most, we’re also proud of what our employees are doing around the packing shed.  If you go into the office, there’s a jar that our office and floor employees have been filling.  It’s hard to say what the current tally is, but when the period of giving is over, the funds will be matched by Gold Dust and then split between the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank and Toys For Tots.  If you’ve read this blog much at all, you’ll see we constantly say we have a high caliber of people working for us.  The giving these folks are doing is yet another example of why we’re proud of the people that are in our offices, out on the processing plant floor and out in the fields.  And we can’t wait to see how much is raised!

We hope everyone is having a happy Christmas season, and if you want to help, we highly recommend visiting the Web sites of the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank and Southern Oregon Outreach Foundation.  On the Klamath Lake Counties Food Bank site, they have a page showing how you can help the food bank.  And if you’d like to get in touch with Southern Oregon Outreach Foundation to see how you can help, visit SOOF’s contact page.  And be sure to read our press release!

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