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Open House Field Day 2018

September 6, 2018 By Gold Dust Farms

Gold Dust & Walker Farms' guests at the Reames' Country Club for the 2018 Open House Field Day.
Thanks to everyone who could make it our 18th Annual Open House Field Day!

Another August was almost over. Grain and hay were being cut, and chipping potatoes were already being dug and shipped. Earlier in the month we had a Leadership Meeting and Employee Appreciation Picnic, making this August a touch busier than normal. And as always this time of year, we opened our doors and headed to the fields for Gold Dust & Walker Farms’ 18th Annual Open House Field Day!

This year, the festivities began the night before at Bill and Jan’s house, where Gold Dust and Walker Farms staff mingled with our visitors. Though the past few months in the Klamath Basin were incredibly smokey, the air cleared and everyone was able to enjoy a gorgeous evening outside with cold drinks, great food and good company. A feast of roast, fresh tuna, shrimp and scallops was put together by Jan, Ken Hibbard and Casey Lammers, followed by German chocolate cake and ice cream. Visiting carried on past sunset, and with a touch of smoke still in the air, gave our guests an amazing Klamath Basin sunset. Frankly, we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening.

Jan Walker, Ken Hibberd and Casey Lammers prepping dinner near Malin, Oregon.
Cheers to our chefs – Jan, Ken and Casey!
Bob Gasser, Drew Huffman and Kyle Patterson visiting at Bill and Jan Walker's Malin, OR home.
Bob Gasser is having a pretty serious conversation with Drew Huffman and Kyle Patterson.
Weston Walker and Rob Unruh visiting with Jaap Langenberg at Bill and Jan Walker's house outside Malin, OR.
Weston and Rob Unruh visiting with Jaap Langenberg of Luke’s Organics.
Bill Walker Mike Henard, Jim Boone and Erin Plumb visiting at Bill and Jan Walker's home.
Looks like Bill is telling a pretty good story!
Sanjay Prasad and Gurvinder Johal from Frito Lay visiting with Matt Thompson at Bill and Jan Walker's Malin, Oregon house.
Sanjay, Gurvinder and Matt enjoying a couple of cold ones.
Gold Dust & Walker Farms' guests visiting at Bill and Jan Walker's Malin, Oregon home.
Everyone enjoying the good company and roast beef, tuna and shrimp.

The next morning, everyone met at Mike & Wanda’s restaurant in Tulelake. After a welcoming speech from Bill, Lexi introduced Klamath County Museums Manager, Todd Kepple. At our Open House Field Day breakfast, we usually have a speaker, and this year Mr. Kepple put together a presentation about the history of Klamath Basin agriculture. From the Reclamation Project to drawing homesteads from pickle jars to the Bucket Brigade of 2001, Todd’s presentation gave us and our guests incredible insights to how farming and ranching not only changed over the years, but how it changed the Klamath Basin itself.

Bill Walker and Lexi Crawford welcoming Gold Dust & Walker Farms' guests at Mike and Wanda's Restaurant in Tulelake, CA.
Bill and Lexi warmly welcoming our guests at breakfast.
Klamath County Museum Manager, Todd Kepple, giving a presentation about Klamath Basin agriculture during Gold Dust & Walker Farms' 18th Annual Open House Field Day breakfast.
Todd Kepple, Manager of the Klamath County Museum, gave our group a great historical perspective of Klamath Basin ag.
Gold Dust & Walker Farms' guests boarding a bus used for the 2018 Open House Field Day.
All aboard!

Following breakfast, it was time to head to the potato fields! Like last year, our growers showed off their fields and dug up a few spuds to show our group. If you’ve read past posts about our Open House Field Day, you’ve seen pictures of long trains of cars and pickups parked along the fields. This year, we decided it would be more efficient and effective to rent a bus instead of everyone driving to the fields on their own. With everyone on the bus, on the way to the fields our growers were able to provide their family’s history of farming in the Klamath Basin as well as answer questions about potato varieties, the ins-and-outs of potato farming and anything else that came to mind. Not only was this a more efficient way for us to get everyone on the field tour, it provided a great way for our guests to chat while learning more about us and our growers.

Which growers’ fields did we visit?

We started with Luke Robison’s field of 2137 potatoes located just outside of Tulelake. After that, we headed to the leases where Matt Huffman had some 1867 chipping potatoes dug and ready for inspection. Next, we headed back to Tulelake where we visited Sid Staunton’s field of Waneta potatoes. Though we weren’t able to swing by his field located near Lower Klamath Lake, Kyle Patterson shared a bit about his experiences with growing Dakota Pearls, which was fitting because it was on the way to a sandy field of Dakota Pearl chippers grown by Rob Unruh, just a bit north of Gold Dust’s campus. On the way back the shed, Tricia shared a bit about her and Weston’s Basin farming lineage and what brought her back home to farm.

Sid Staunton, John Walker and Luke Robison discussing chipping potatoes in a potato field outside of Tulelake, CA.
In Luke Robison’s field, John enjoyed a fresh potato
Matt Huffman, John Walker and Danny Lopez talking about chipping potatoes in a field on the Tule Lake Leaselands.
Matt Huffman, John and Lays Modesto plant manager Danny Lopez talking quality in Huffman Farms’ field in the Leases.
John Walker, Ed Staunton, Sid Staunton and Bill Walker in Staunton Farms' chipping potato field outside of Tulelake, CA.
Ed and Sid Staunton shared their grandfather’s desire to make Tulelake look a little more like West Virginia during their field visit.
Rob Unruh digging up Dakota Pearl potatoes in a potato field north of Gold Dust Potatoes' Malin, OR campus.
Those are some pretty good looking potatoes, Rob!

By the time we made it back to the packing shed, the plant had ended shipping for the day and Matt had samples of the chipping potato varieties Gold Dust and Walker Farms can provide laid out on the production floor. To make this visit even more interesting, Frito Lay reps Sanjay Prasad, Gurvinder Johal and Danny Lopez brought along some fresh potato chips from the Lays plant in Modesto. And yes – these were made with our potatoes we dug this week!

Lays potato chips next to a sample of 1867 chipping potatoes in Gold Dust Potatoes' packing shed for the 2018 Open House Field Day.
It’s pretty cool to see fresh potato chips next to a sample of chipping potatoes of the same variety.
Danny Lopez, Bill Walker and Todd Kepple in Gold Dust Potato Processors' packing shed in Malin, Oregon.
Danny Lopez talking chip quality with Bill and Todd Kepple.
Matt Thompson, David Thackery and Mark Thomas talking at Gold Dust Potatoes' 2018 Open House Field Day.
When you get three processing plant guys together, what do you think they’re talking about?
Tricia Hill and Kyle Patterson with an unknown guest at Gold Dust's processing plant during the 2018 Open House Field Day.
Tricia and new grower, Kyle Patterson, checking out the chipping potato samples.

Following the shed tour, our guests made their way to Reames Country Club for a fun golf scramble. Once the ceremonial shots of Crown had been taken, the teams made their way to the golf course for a shotgun start. Around 6:30 pm, the teams began to make their way from the golf course to the club house to enjoy cocktails and a dinner put together by the Reames staff.

Katie Walker and Billy Conrad of Pape' Machinery with a plaque honoring Pape' Machinery for their support of Make-A-Wish Oregon at Gold Dust's 2018 Open House Field Day dinner.
On behalf of Make-A-wish Oregon, Katie gave Billy Conrad of Pape’ Machinery an award for their continued gifting.

The Open House Field Day has presented itself as an opportunity to raise money for our local Make-A-Wish chapter, and this year was no different. Katie Walker, Weston’s wife, took this as an opportunity to recognize some of our guests who have given year after year with a plaque to recognize their company’s generosity. After handing out recognition, it was time to start raising pledges.

Last year, between the generosity of our guests and Gold Dust and Walker Farms’ matching their pledges, we were able to raise $30,490 along with 135,000 airline miles. This year’s goal was to raise $35,000.  After a heartfelt thank you from Make-A-Wish Oregon’s Corporate Alliances Manager, Mallory Tyler, and short video about a Wish recipient, our guests gave generously. When it was all said and done, after Gold Dust matched everyone’s pledges, our crowd raised $45,000 for Make-A-Wish! When we say we work with good people, we don’t just mean they’re good at they do. Their pledges for Make-A-Wish is proof of that.

At the 18th Annual Open House Field Day dinner, Gold Dust and Walker Farms' guests watched a movie about a Make-A-Wish wish recipient.
Before our Make-A-Wish fundraiser, there was a short movie about a wish coming true.
Gold Dust and Walker Farms 18th Annual Open House Field Day guests raising money for Make-A-Wish Oregon.
Lexi and Katie led a great round of fundraising for Make-A-Wish Oregon. Well done to our guests!
Make-A-Wish Oregon’s Corporate Alliances Manager, Mallory Tyler, thanking guests for generosity at Gold Dust & Walker Farms' 18th Annual Open House Field Day.
Mallory Tyler, Make-A-Wish Oregon’s Corporate Alliances Manager, thanking our guests for their generosity.

We also went over which teams won the golf scramble and who took home top honors for their skills with the clubs. This year, we had a tie for first and second place – both teams shot a 64. After going over the cards and comparing the performance of the front nine, the back nine and doing some other fancy golf math, the team of Matt Thompson, Sanjay Prasad, Erin Plumb and Ty Hulse came out on top, which left second place honors for Rob Unruh, Steve Parkinson and Drew Huffman. Destiny Huffman had an amazing day as she took home not only the Ladies Longest Drive, but also the Closest to the Pin! Jared Marshall crushed the ball to take home Men’s Long Drive while Jeff Dahl drove his ball Closest to the Pin to take home the other golf club.

Lexi Crawford with Gold Dust Open House Field Day Longest Drive winner, Jared Marshall.
The Man With The Big Club – Jared Marshall
Lexi Crawford with Gold Dust's 18th Annual Open House Field Day Men's KP winner Jeff Dahl.
Jared Dahl showed all the men what accuracy is about with a KP on his last hole.
Lexi Crawford with Destiney Huffman, who took home Women's KP and Long Drive honors at Gold Dust & Walker Farms' 18th Annual Open House Field Day golf scramble.
The gal with all the gifts – Destiney Huffman!
1st place team for the Gold Dust & Walker Farms' 18th Annual Open House Field Day golf scramble Erin Plumb, Ty Hulse, Sanjay Prasad and Matt Thompson.
Here’s your 1st Place Winners – Erin, Ty, Sanjay and Matt!
2nd place team for Gold Dust and Walker Farms' Open House Field Day golf scramble Drew Huffman, Rob Unruh and Steve Parkinson.
After a heartbreaking first place tie, here’s our second place winners – Drew, Rob and Steve.

Before the night was over, the senior partners passed the mic to thank everyone for coming. Tricia took this opportunity to highlight five folks who have been attending our Open House Field Day since the beginning – Ron Marshall, Jim Boone, Paul Sproule, and Chris Moudry. Weston thanked the crowd for their generosity and Bill thanked everyone who attended for their continued support and attendance to our Open House Field Day. John wrapped it up with a rousing thank you and pep talk that pointed out that what has made our businesses successful isn’t just us – it was everyone in the audience who got up every morning and did what they do best. His mic drop drew loud applause and was a fitting end to the evening.

Bill Walker thanking guests at Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 18th Annual Open House Field Day.
Bill thanking everyone for making our 18th Annual Open House Field Day another success.
Weston Walker thanking guests at Gold Dust & Walker Farms' 2018 Open House Field Day.
Weston thanking our guests for their continued support of Make-A-Wish Oregon.
John Walker thanking guests at Gold Dust's 18th Annual Open House Field Day.
John bringing the house down with a raucous thank you!

We always enjoy this opportunity to get together with the growers, suppliers, financiers and customers who have helped us become successful, and this year was no different. Gold Dust and Walker Farms are successful in no small part due to the people we work with. When we say we work with the best – and most giving – we mean it. We hope everyone had a safe trip home and that we’ll see everyone once again next year. Last, but not least – thank you. Thank you for helping us become the amazing businesses we have grown into and thank you for your continued support.

Filed Under: customers and clients, Gold Dust Potato Processors, Make-A-Wish Oregon, open house field day, potato chips, potato customers, potato shed, walker brothers

Tis The Season at Gold Dust and Walker Farms

December 21, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

The 161 presents Gold Dust and Walker Farms donated to Klamath Falls Toys For Tots.
Thanks to our employees, carriers and growers, Gold Dust and Walker Farms donated 161 gifts to Toys For Tots

Yesterday, December 20th, Gold Dust held its annual office Christmas party at Bill and Jan’s house just north of our campus. The atmosphere was merry and there was lots of laughs and cheer over the white elephant gift exchange. Good food, good times and great people always make the holidays a special time of year!

While on the topic of great people, Gold Dust and Walker Farms are blessed to work with the most generous folks. If you look through our farm’s blog, you’ll find post after post about giving and donating. This year alone our companies and the people who help us succeed raised $31,000 and 135,000 airline miles for Make-A-Wish Oregon. So, it goes without saying that when the holidays roll around, we also experience the generosity of the people coming and going from our packing shed.

Marion Harp, Melissa Olsen, Suzanne Wallace, Matt Thompson, Salvador Vera, Erick Vera and Jesse Turner enjoying lunch at Jan Walker's house for Gold Dust's 2017 Office Christmas Party.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Gold Dust and Walker Farms!
Salvador Vera showing off his new office pet goldfish at the Gold Dust Potatoes 2017 Office Christmas Party.
Salvador and his “prize” – a goldfish for his office!
Weston Walker, Tricia (Walker) Hill, Jan Walker, Nayeli Pena, Katie Walker and daughter Madison at Gold Dust Potato Processors' 2017 Christmas Party at Jan's house outside of Malin, Oregon.
Happy Holidays from Nayeli and the Walker Family
Photo credits Lexi Crawford

Years past, we’ve held food drives for the Klamath and Lake County Food Bank and adopted a family for Christmas. More recently, we’ve been holding toy drives for our local Toys For Tots. For example, last year between what our employees donated and what the company matched, we were able to fill the back of Tricia AND Lexi’s SUVs! This year, with Nayeli Pena leading the charge, we held another successful toy drive for Toys For Tots.

And this year was amazing! As usual, our farm, shed and office crews contributed with toys and cash. Truck drivers that work for the various carriers that deliver our chipping potatoes and hay to our customers also contributed. Then our growers stepped up, with Luke Robison’s family donating $500. Our office was filled with toys and bicycles, and the cash donation bucket was filled with a variety of bills. Overall, 25 toys, four bicycles and around $1,000 was donated by the incredibly generous people we work and do business with. And yes, Gold Dust and Walker Farms matched it!

On Tuesday, December 19th, Tricia and her husband made the trek to Fred Meyers in Klamath Falls to fulfill Gold Dust’s end of the bargain. Fred Meyer’s manager also stepped up, offering discounts to help our contributions go even further. In the end, we were able to drop off 161 gifts to the Klamath Falls Toys For Tots.

Tricia Hill with Toys For Tots volunteers at their Toys For Tots Drop Station in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
When dropping off the gifts, Toys For Tots volunteers told Tricia about the 2,000 kids these presents would go to in the Klamath Basin

That donation was very much needed. When dropping off the gifts, one of the Toys For Tots volunteers told Tricia that this year they were trying to provide gifts for 2,000 local kids – 500 more than they expected. When you consider how many households are in the Klamath Basin, that’s a lot of families that are affected. All the donations to the Klamath Falls Toys For Tots program stay local – which means when you give a gift in our community, it stays in our community.

Gold Dust Potato Processors employee Suzanne Wallace helping load a truck with donated chipping potatoes.
Suzanne Wallace helping load one of our donations of potatoes. Photo credit Lexi Crawford.

Along with Toys For Tots, we also donated truck loads of potatoes to area charity groups and organizations. Those groups included Integral Youth Services, Women Infant Health, Malin City Hall, Tulelake-Newell Family Center, Klamath KID Center, Klamath Lake Community Actions, Henley High School FFA, Bonanza High School FFA, Bonanza Community Church, Livingsprings Church, Klamath Senior Center, Faith Tabernacle Church and Marta’s House in Klamath Falls. All of these organizations give back to community and we’re happy that we’re able to help them with their causes during the holidays.

We are proud of our employees and the people we do business with and the amount of generosity they showed with this year’s giving. Though we focused our holiday giving on our local Toys For Tots, there are lots of other ways to help. Consider those 2,000 children – their families likely also need help providing food, paying the power bill and more. Whether you slip something into one of the Salvation Army’s red kettles or take canned food to the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank (you can donate online too!), every little bit helps someone in our community.

Before we wrap this up and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year, we’d like to give Nayeli a big thank you for her work on this. We’d also like to thank Luke Robison’s family for their generous donation and to thank everyone who donated cash or toys. We’d also like say thank you to the Fred Meyer’s managers and cashier who helped make our donations go further. And of course, thank you to Toys For Tots for providing the spirit of Christmas to kids in our community. When you think about our company slogan, “where together we grow”, it’s evident that it extends beyond our sheds and farm and into the community as well. It’s part of what makes the Klamath Basin a great place to live.

And now, may everyone have a happy and safe holiday season and here’s to an amazing 2018!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, community, gold dust office, Gold Dust Potato Processors, holidays, walker brothers

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

December 4, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

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!

Consumer purchasing Kettle Brand potato chips at a store.
Step 1: Locate and procure bag of Kettle Brand Potato Chips
An image of Kettle Brand potato chips' Tater Tracker grower code.
Step 2: Locate the Tater Tracker code just below the “Best Before” date. Yes, the last four digits too.
A photo of a Samsung Chromebook and Kettle Brand's Tater Tracker page opened with a chipping potato grower code entered in it.
Step 3: Enter the entire code into the Kettle’s Tater Tracker. As you see, the last four digits are entered at the end.

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!

 

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, customers and clients, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, Organic Potatoes, potato chips, potato customers, potato harvest, potato shed, sustainable farming, walker brothers

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

17th Annual Open House Field Day

September 28, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

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.”

Bill Walker thanking chipping potato growers at Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 17th Annual Open House Field Day breakfast at Mike & Wanda's restaurant in Tulelake, CA.
Bill thanked our elite growers for helping Gold Dust and Walker Farms succeed
Lexi Crawford sharing her inspiration for the new company motto and unveiling the new logo at the 2017 Open House Field Day breakfast at Mike & Wanda's Restaurant in Tulelake, California.
Lexi shared our new slogan – “where together we grow” – with our guests
Klamath County Commissioners Donnie Boyd, Kelly Minty-Morris and Derrick DeGroot answering questions at Mike & Wanda's Restaurant during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 17th annual Open House Field Day.
The Klamath County Commissioners shared the work they’ve been doing as well as answered community concerns.

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.

Klamath Basin potato grower Donnie Heaton bringing a sample of chipping potatoes for the field tour during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 2017 Open House Field Day.
Donnie Heaton took a sample of chipping potatoes from his field
Donnie Heaton's sample of chipping potatoes for Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 17th Open House Field Day.
Donnie pulled out some really great chipping potatoes
Potato grower Donnie Heaton answering questions from Gold Dust and Walker Farms' guests at the 2017 Open House Field Day.
Though he let the potatoes do the talking, Donnie answered questions from our guests

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.

Mark Staunton, potato grower, sharing his family's history in the Klamath Basin in a potato field near his family's original homestead outside of Tulelake, CA.
Before digging up sample, Mark Staunton shared his family’s farming history and thoughts on sustainability
Mark Staunton holding sample chipping potatoes from his field near Tulelake, CA at Gold Dust's 2017 Open House Field Day.
Though he downplayed his potatoes, Mark’s chippers look pretty good
Gold Dust and Walker Farms' guests visiting Staunton Farms' field of 2137 chipping potatoes near Tulelake, California.
Despite the smoke, Staunton’s field of 2137s looks pretty good.

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.

Matt Huffman and his son, Drew, standing in a field of organic chipping potatoes near Tulelake, CA and Malin, OR.
Matt Huffman and his son, Drew, dug up organic Lamoka chipping potatoes
Weston Walker, of Gold Dust and Walker Farms, and Ryan Burge, of Kettle Brand potato chips, inspecting organic Lamoka chipping potatoes while Matt and Drew Huffman watch.
Weston and Ryan Burge inspected Matt and Drew’s organic chipping potatoes
Matt and Drew Huffman digging up organic Waneta chipping potatoes in a field near Malin, OR and Tulelake, CA during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 17th annual Open House Field Day.
Matt and Drew Huffman tag-teamed digging up organic Waneta chipping potatoes

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.

Rob Unruh, fourth generation Klamath Basin farmer, digging up Dakota Pearl chipping potatoes in a field near Malin, Oregon.
Rob Unruh looked pleased with the Dakota Pearl chipping potatoes he dug up
Rob Unruh carrying a shovelful of Dakota Pearl chipping potatoes from a field near Malin, OR during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 2017 Open House Field Day.
Rob found quite a shovelful of Dakota Pearls
Ryan Burge of Kettle Brand potato chips inspecting Rob Unruh's Dakota Pearl chipping potatoes in a field near Malin, Oregon during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 2017 Open House Field Day.
Ryan couldn’t wait to get a look at Rob’s Dakota pearls

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.

Potato farmer Luke Robison digging up 2126 chipping potatoes in a field outside of Malin, OR during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 2017 Open House Field Day.
Luke Robison dug up samples of 2126 chipping potatoes
Malin potato farmer Luke Robison piling samples of 2126 chipping potatoes for Gold Dust's guests to examine during the 2017 Open House Field Day.
As Weston pointed out, with this variety “if you can’t beat ’em with size you beat ’em with quantity!”
Ryan Burge inspects 2126 chipping potatoes grown by Luke Robison in a field near Malin, Oregon.
Judging by this pile of chipping potatoes, Luke has quantity and quality in this 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.

Guests for Gold Dust and Walker Farms' Open House Field Day parked their cars outside Cellar 1 for lunch and shed tours.
After the field tours, our guests met us at Cellar 1 on our Malin campus
Kettle Brand potato chips' Jeep parked on Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin Campus during the 2017 Open House Field Day.
Anyone guess which customer this Jeep belongs to?
Sample of chipping potatoes grown by Walker Farms are laid on the floor of Cellar 1 on Gold Dust's Malin campus at the 2017 Open House Field Day.
Samples of chipping potato varieties were laid out on the floor for our guests to check out
Tricia Hill of Gold Dust and Walker Farms talking with head accountant Dianne Spires in Cellar 1 during the 17th annual Open House Field Day.
Tricia and accountant Dianne Spires talked numbers and spuds before lunch
Gold Dust and Walker Farms' guests enjoyed lunch in Cellar 1 during the 2017 Open House Field Day.
Lunch time!
Tricia Hill, Jeremiah McElligott,, Destiney Huffman and Lexi Crawford visiting during lunch at Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 2017 Open House Field Day.
Guests visited with Gold Dust and Walker Farms management during lunch

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.

Gold Dust and Walker Farms' guests were taken on a tour of Gold Dust's processing plant near Malin, OR during the Open House Field Day.
Plant Manager Matt Thompson led our guests on a tour of the potato packing shed while it was running
Chance McAuliffe watching chipping potatoes being sorted by the Odenberg optical sorter during the 2017 Open House Field Day.
Seeing the optical sorter in action was one of the many benefits of the shed running potatoes
Kathy Poppe from Rusth, Spires & Associates watches potatoes being manually sorted during Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 17th Annual Open House Field Day.
Aside from the mechanical sorting, our guests also saw how much manual sorting and labor takes place in our potato packing shed

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?

The first place team for Gold Dust and Walker Farms' 17th Annual Open House Field Day Golf Scramble was Drew Huffman, Thomas Sitzer, Matt Thompson and Joel Strunk at Reames' Country Club in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
First Place: Drew Huffman, Thomas Sitzer, Matt Thompson and Joel Strunk
Second place team Billy Conrad, Marc Staunton, Weston Walker and Jeremiah McElligot for Gold Dust and Walker Brothers' Open House Field Day at Reames' Country Club golf course.
Second Place: Billy Conrad, Marc Staunton, Weston Walker and Jeremiah McElligot
Gold Dust and Walker Brothers' Open House Field Day Golf Scramble Last Place team of Suzie Frederickson, Tammie Staunton, Dianne Spires and Tricia Hill at Reames' Country Club.
Last Place: Suzie Frederickson, Tammie Staunton, Dianne Spires and Tricia Hill
Open House and Field Day longest drive for the women Destiney Huffman and Suzie Frederickson posing with Matt Thompson and Lexi Crawford at the 2017 Open House Field Day dinner at Reames' Country Club.
Ladies’ Longest Drivers Destiney Huffman and Suzie Frederickson
2017 Open House Field Day Men's Longest Drive winner Matt Huffman at Reames' Country Club.
Men’s Longest Drive: Matt Huffman
Gold Dust 2017 Open House Field Day Lady's KP winner Dianne Spires posing with Lexi Crawford at Reames' Country Club in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Ladies’ KP: Dianne Spires

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!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, Gold Dust Potato Processors, Make-A-Wish Oregon, open house field day, Organic Potatoes, potato chips, potato customers, potato shed, potato shipping, sustainable farming, walker brothers

Making A Wish Come True

August 21, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Krue Johnston, a Make-A-Wish recipient from Klamath Falls standing in front of a limousine before heading to Medford Regional Airport to have his wish granted.
Krue Johnston getting ready to leave for his wish – the kid’s riding in style to MFR!

If you’ve followed our blog at all, you’re aware that for the last several years at our Open House Field Day that we have held a fundraiser for our local chapter of Make A Wish. We sincerely appreciate the charity and giving spirit of our guests. However, rarely do they get to see how their generosity impacts any of the children they’re helping.

Recently, Jan Walker, Gold Dust CEO Bill’s wife, was helping grant the wish of a local boy when things went slightly sideways on them at the Medford Airport. But it does have a happy ending. What’s great about this story is the franchise of one of our customers (not knowing Jan’s affiliation with Gold Dust or In-N-Out’s generosity at our annual event!) was more than giving in helping make his wish come true. Now, in Jan’s words, here’s how In-N-Out’s Medford, Oregon store manager helped her and a friend make a boy’s wish even sweeter:

Gold Dust has held Make A Wish fundraisers at our Annual Open House each August. Our participants have helped raise money for the many wishes that the Oregon Make A Wish Organization have provided to children facing life threatening health conditions. Katie Walker (Weston’s wife) and I have been active wish grantors and are often asked at our annual fundraiser about some of the wishes that the fundraiser has helped. Some of those are local children that are granted wishes. This is a story of one recent wish that was granted to a local boy, Krue Johnston.

Make-A-Wish wish grantors Kay Ratliff and Jan Walker standing with Krue Johnston at Medford Regional Airport.
Krue with wish grantors Kay Ratliff and Jan Walker

Krue was diagnosed with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy in 2015. A friend of mine, Kay Ratliff, who is also a wish grantor, and I took on Krue’s wish. After meeting Krue it was discovered his wish was to go to a sandy beach, snorkel, fish and swim with dolphins in the Bahamas. The magic of granting wishes to a wish child becomes real when wish grantors are able to announce to the child that his wish has come true. Krue’s wish to go to the Bahamas happened last May. He and his family flew to Nassau from Medford. One of the duties of wish grantors is to be at the airport to help the family on to their flight and intercept any problems. We were happy to be part of the excitement of beginning Krue’s wish.

While waiting for their plane, they planned to eat dinner. Unfortunately the airport restaurant was closed. Krue said he would love to have an In-N-Out Burger and Fries. This is where we come in to grant one more WISH!

As you may be aware, we supply In-N-Out with potatoes for their delicious french fries, and luckily for us there was a newly opened In-N-Out store in Medford. I took the families’ orders and drove over to the In-N- Out for their dinner. While there, the wonderful store manager helped prepare Krue’s special wish. She asked what size t-shirt Krue would wear and gave a coveted In-N-Out t-shirt to deliver to Krue. She provided Krue’s meal, an In-N-Out hat, stickers and games. Sadly we did not get the Medford store manager’s name, but we sincerely thank her and In-N-Out for the kindness to Krue.

Make-A-Wish wisher Krue Johnston at the Medford Airport with lunch provided by In-N-Out's manager.
Not saying airport food is bad, but In-N-Out does sound a bit better!
Krue Johnston enjoying an In-N-Out hamburger at the Medford Regional Airport.
Krue, is that a good burger?
Make-A-Wish wish grantor Jan Walker with Krue Johnston showing off In-N-Out t-shirt and hat donated along with dinner by Medford, Oregon's In-N-Out store manager.
Thank you, In-N-Out Medford!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have participated and so generously contributed to our cause for Make A Wish. You have made a dramatic difference is many children’s lives who become Wish children. Krue had a wonderful trip and was able to swim with his dolphins, he got to snorkel and be in the white sand that he was so looking forward to. Thank you and hope to see you all again at Gold Dust’s Open House this August.

Krue Johnston snorkeling in the Bahamas as part of his wish granted by Make-A-Wish.
Krue enjoying the blue waters of the Bahamas
Krue Johnston with a manta ray in the Bahamas as part of his Make-A-Wish wish.
Krue got to swim with dolphins and manta rays as part of his wish!
Krue Johnston and his mother, Tracy, swimming in the waters in the Bahamas.
Krue and his mom, Tracy, enjoying floating in the warm, beautiful waters of the Bahamas.

As Jan said, we hope to see all our guests at this year’s Open House and Field Day, and thank you to all for supporting Make A Wish. This story shows the caliber of people we do business with and the quality of folks they hire. Thank you again for helping make wishes come true!

One final thank you before wrapping this up – thank you to Krue’s mom, Tracy, for sharing his story and pictures from his wish. It’s a joy to see what Make-A-Wish is about!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, cooking with jan, customers and clients, Gold Dust Potato Processors, Make-A-Wish Oregon, open house field day, walker brothers

KCC Ag Marketing Class Visits Gold Dust & Walker Farms!

June 16, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Klamath Community College's ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class with John Walker and Bart Crawford at Walker Farms' Merrill, Oregon mechanical shop.
KCC’s Ag Marketing Class started the day in Merrill

As one of the most dynamic farms in the Klamath Basin, from time to time we get to share what we do with local schools. These field trips (some of them are literally out to fields) give us an opportunity share our love for farming with the community and expose young minds to agriculture.

On June 1st, we had another such opportunity, but this time it was a bit different. Instead of grade-schoolers, Professor Keith Duran brought his ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class from Klamath Community College to learn more about what Gold Dust and Walker Farms do and what it takes to be successful in agri-business.

John Walker addressing the KCC ARE 221 Agriculture Marketing class at Walker Farms' Merrill, Oregon mechanical shop.
John Walker dispensing a bit of good advice – “It’s all logic.”

Their visit started at 8:30 in the morning at our Merrill shop, where John Walker and Bart Crawford met with the class. Though the conversation started out discussing what it takes to produce an organic crop, it quickly turned what it takes to actually run a farm. John talked about the amount of time and support it takes to ensure your employees have what they need to be able to be successful in their tasks. Adding to it, Mr Duran recommended his students to “Be a border collie, not a pit bull”, that leadership is more than hovering over your workers. Before our guests headed to Malin for the second part of the field trip, John left them with one more piece of advice. “Always remember one thing – it’s logic. It’s all logic,” he said, going on to explain that most of the problems, whether with the crops or equipment, can be figured out by stopping and thinking.

Klamath Community College student and Gold Dust & Walker Farms employee John-Rian Watson leading the ARE 221 Ag Marketing class on a tour of Gold Dust's potato processing facility.
KCC student and Walker Farms employee John-Rian Watson gave the KCC Ag Marketing class a tour of packing shed

Upon arriving at Gold Dust’s Malin campus, the KCC students were given a tour of our potato processing plant by Walker Brothers employee and ARE 221 student John-Rian Watson. After the shed tour, they met with Bill Walker and Lexi Crawford in the conference room, where, along with a discussion about the potato markets, our CEO gave them more advice on how to succeed at Gold Dust and in agri-business. While recommending the students need to pay attention to detail and possess a desire to work, he stressed it was important for the students to finish their schooling. “A college education does matter, “ he said, pointing out that it shows they can follow-through with what they started and complete tasks.

Gold Dust Potato Processors CEO Bill Walker addressing Klamath Community College students in the conference room of Gold Dust's Malin, Oregon packing shed.
Bill Walker giving the KCC students a bit of advice – “Pay attention to details, want to work and a college education DOES matter!”

Lexi also spent some time talking about the potato market and what it takes to provide excellent customer service, but when asked about her background, the conversation turned into what it takes to run a modern farm. Without a background in agriculture, the Albany-native’s family business was engineering, not farming. However, the advice of her family to study business, a chance meeting with Weston Walker and marrying Bart (who is also from a Basin ag family) led her down a winding path to Gold Dust and Walker Farms. Her education and experience has more than helped make her a key player in our marketing and farming operations.

Lexi and the Agriculture Marketing students shifted their talk to about how the next generation of farmers is changing – as well as the opportunities today’s farms offer. A problem our local farms and ranches have is young people are leaving and not coming back. One of the students, Victoria Flowers, is a part of a solution. She’s helping to establish Junior Farm Bureau at KCC to help educate area students about the future of Basin ag and job possibilities it offers. If the enthusiasm of the Ag Marketing class are any indicator, there’s a good chance we may be able to reverse this trend.

For Gold Dust and Walker Farms, one of the most important aspects of Professor Duren and his class’s visit it that we got an opportunity to show the next generation of farmers and ranchers the possibilities available in ag. We appreciated them visiting our shop in Merrill and shed in Malin to see what we do, and hope it was educational for them as well!

KCC's ARE 221 Ag Marketing class from left to right: Johnathan Rohrbacker, John-Rian Watson, Christina Wallace, Allen Hess, Johnathan Lopez, Ty Rajnus and Keith Duren in front of Gold Dust's Malin, OR packing shed.
KCC’s ARE 221 Ag Marketing class from left to right: Johnathan Rohrbacker, John-Rian Watson, Christina Wallace, Allen Hess, Johnathan Lopez, Ty Rajnus and Keith Duren

Thank you again for coming out visiting us!

Filed Under: community, farm, gold dust office, Gold Dust Potato Processors, potato shed, walker brothers

The Chipping Potatoes Are (finally) In The Ground!

June 9, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

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.

A chipping potato seed farm outside of Worden, Oregon, near the Oregon California Border
Some of our last fields to be planted
A tractor and planter plant chipping potato seed in a field near Worden, Oregon.
It’s a good day to plant chipping potato seed
A tractor and planter plant chipping potato seed in a field near the Oregon California border north of the Klamath Wildlife Refuge.
That chipping potato seed field is looking good!
A potato planter prepares to be filled with chipping potato seed in a field near Worden, Oregon.
Time to fill the planter
Two Walker Farms employees walking in a freshly planted potato field after checking the planting depth.
Coming in from checking planting depth
A chipping potato field being planted near Worden, Oregon with the Cascade Mountain range in the distance.
One benefit of farming in the Klamath Basin is the lovely surroundings

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.

A tractor and planter planting chipping potatoes in a field north of Malin, Oregon.
This chipping potato field was planted April 26th, 2017
A chipping potato field with potato plants sprouting near Malin, OR.
Here’s the same chipping potato field on May 31st, just a little over a month later

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!

A tractor plants grain in a field at the Running Y Ranch outside of Klamath Fall, Oregon.
Now we can focus on our grain fields
A tractor creates furrows for a planted chipping potato field on the Running Y Ranch outside of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Yes, there’s still more to do to the potato fields after they’re planted

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust office, Gold Dust Potato Processors, potato shed, Running Y Ranch, sustainable farming, walker brothers

2016-17 Potato Shipping Season Is Over!

June 2, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

A photo of the driveway at Gold Dust Potato Processors' potato processing plant after shipping season.
During shipping season, this driveway was packed with semis waiting to be loaded with chipping potatoes.

Another shipping season has come to an end. Normally humming with the din of machinery, forklifts and conveyor belts, the inside of the great white packing shed is all but silent. Except for the comings and goings of spud trucks hauling chipping potato seed to the fields and the haying equipment parked in the field, the driveway is all but empty.

How long did shipping last this season? On July 12th (2016), we started shipping potatoes from Boardman, OR, which lasted up until August 25th. As shipping from up north slowed, we fired up our processing plant on August 23rd. If you think about the timing, that’s when we started potato harvest, not to mention we likely had alfalfa being bailed and grain being cut as well. As you can see, then end of August tends to be an incredibly busy time of year for us! Though, it was only slightly less busy when we stopped shipping on May 16th – spring farming was well under way with planting grain and chipping potatoes as well as getting ready for our first cutting of alfalfa hay.

In that time, we shipped chipping potatoes to customers in Arizona, California, Oregon and Nevada. When we mention we’re an international company, we’re not kidding. Last shipping season we sent spuds to Costa Rica, Guatemala, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan.  We also crossed the 500 days with no time-loss injuries in the packing shed, which in and of itself is impressive as well!

It’s pretty amazing to consider how many chipping potatoes passed through our plant, the places they were shipped to and the things that happened around the shed in those 10 months. While looking into those details can be fun, there’s a story behind them that isn’t often told.

Starting with the first faces you see in our front office and the spud truck drivers getting the chipping potatoes from the cellars to our shed to the crews sorting, packaging and loading them, there’s

A Gold Dust employee performing maintenance on equipment at their Malin, Oregon potato packing shed.
The key to no mechanical failure down-time is properly maintained equipment.

a lot of diligent, hardworking people behind the scenes that help make Gold Dust look good. For example, for a packing shed to efficiently and effectively  run for 10 months, it requires someone making sure our equipment is in good shape and repairs, when needed, are performed as quickly as possible. According to plant manager Matt Thompson, the only days the shed was shut down were on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. There were zero down days due to mechanical issues, which if you look around our shed and see how much equipment there is, that’s incredible!

To get the chipping potatoes into the shed, you have to have a cellar crew that loads our spud trucks, plus all of the drivers that haul the chippers from storage to the plant. Once they arrive at our plant, there are people making sure the potatoes are cleaned to the customers’ requirements, not to mention the crews on the lines that are manually inspecting potatoes for defects that are occasionally missed by our sorting equipment. After the potatoes are sorted there’s another crew that packages them and then loads them in the trucks.

As you can see, it takes a lot of people just to get the potatoes from the cellars to the trucks – but we’re still not done! In the front office, our staff not only greets customers and answers the phones, but they also weigh the potato trucks before they unload. We also have employees who help broker the loads and, if needed, help work on the arrangements to get the orders loaded onto boats headed overseas and deal with the various customs laws abroad. It also requires diligent people to make sure the orders as well as the freight are billed correctly. Not to mention quality control people to make sure our chipping potatoes are meeting our high standards, a human resources department to make sure our employees’ concerns are met, and people making sure our employees get paid on time as well as our growers and vendors.

We also have the marketing team which not only tries to increase sales but also give our customers the service and attention they deserve. And last, but certainly not least, is the management team that makes sure all of the work gets done so we can continue to grow and ship chipping potatoes!

Gold Dust Potato Processors' packing shed during shipping season.
The shed during busy times . . . .
Gold Dust Potato Processors' Malin potato processing plant after shipping season.
. . . . and during less-busy times.

Speaking of growing potatoes, we also have to give credit to the farm crews who put in the long hours during planting season and harvest as well as watch over our fields during the growing season to make sure they’re getting the right amount of water and the pests aren’t hindering growth. If Walker Farms’ crews didn’t work hard growing an amazing crop of conventional and organic chipping potatoes, frankly we wouldn’t be here.

Sometimes in agriculture, we take for granted how many people and hours it takes to produce a crop. Too often the thought of farming is condensed down to a simple image of a guy on a tractor. There is some truth in that icon – it does take a guy (or gal) on a tractor to get the crop in the ground and out again. But it also takes a lot of other people doing their job – in the office, in the shed, in the truck, in the cellars –  to help feed America and the world. And as we reflect on the end of shipping season, we feel we need to give all the hard workers in our shed, offices and on our farm the credit they deserve. We’ve said it many times, but it’s still true: We have the best crews in the Basin, and if it wasn’t for their attention, dedication and determined employees, we wouldn’t be here.

A photograph of Gold Dust's sorting crew in the Malin, Oregon chipping potato processing plant.
Our hard-working sorting crew helping provide high-quality chipping potatoes.

Thank you to everyone for their time and commitment to Gold Dust and Walker Farms. And here’s to a great growing season!

Filed Under: chipping potatoes, farm, gold dust office, Gold Dust Potato Processors, potato shed, potato shipping, walker brothers

Gold Dust At The Mazama Career Fair

April 20, 2017 By Gold Dust Farms Leave a Comment

Students from around the Klamath Basin filled Valhalla Court at Mazama High School for the 2017 Mazam College and Career Fair held in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
About 1,100 high school students from across the Klamath Basin attended the Mazama College and Career Fair on Wednesday, April 12.

One of the challenges every small rural community in America faces is the loss of great talent to cities and areas with more opportunities. The Klamath Basin is no different. Being located in a place that’s as beautiful as our little corner of Southern Oregon and Northern California isn’t enough to keep young people interested in staying if there aren’t any opportunities. A career fair is the perfect opportunity to reach out to our community’s young people to show them the possibilities that are available in their backyard.

As you read in our blog post from last week about spring farming, two of our top hands, Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner, were at the first annual Mazama College and Career day that took place on April 12th. Around 1,100 students from Mazama, Henley, Bonanza, Lost River, Falcon Heights Academy, Great Basin Home School, Klamath Union and Brixner Junior High showed up to Valhalla Court to see the various options available to them after High School. From schools such as Klamath Community College, Oregon Institute of Technology and Northwest College of Cosmetology to  businesses such as Diamond Home Improvement, Pacific Crest Credit Union and of course, Gold Dust and Walker Farms, there were plenty of options for everyone to explore and consider.

Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner representing Gold Dust and Walker Brothers at the Mazama Career Fair in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Lexi Crawford and Toby Turner at the Mazama High School Career Fair looking for some fresh recruits

Our booth was located by the front door, which posed a challenge as students made their way into Mazama’s gym to check out the other booths while bypassing Gold Dust’s. Thanks to Lexi’s quick thinking, she and Toby were able to wrangle students with something every teenager desires – food. Not only was providing chips from Kettle and Lay a great way to get the kids’ attention, it also provided a conversation starter about where our potatoes go. We also shared a booth with the Klamath Water User’s Association (KWUA), and with Chelsea Shearer’s help, our team was able to give the students a better idea of the opportunities available in local ag.

Snack chips are laid out on top of an agricultural drone at Gold Dust Potato Processors' booth at the 2017 Mazama College & Career Fair.
A sure fire way into students’ hearts, er, bellies and minds – a drone and potato chips!

KWUA was also handing out information for an intern program they have available this year. Called Generation h2.o, according to KWUA’s flier, they’re looking for “8 students from around the Basin to participate in a 5 week program complete with tours, presentations and actual work experience.” Not only will Generation h2.o give students a great education on water policy and hands-on experience, it also fulfills senior project requirements. If you’re a student interested in this program or know a Basin student in the class of 2018 that would be interested, please check out KWUA’s site for more information about the requirements and download an application. The deadline to apply is May 26th – so do so quickly!

Lexi and Toby had a good time at Mazama’s College and Career Day. It was a great experience to show local high school students how many opportunities our community has available in Southern Oregon, as well as hopefully see some of these kids working in our offices, shed or fields. For Toby, it also offered a chance to go back to his old stomping grounds as a Mazama Viking as well as meet a current Viking that was born the year he graduated!

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers employee Toby Turner standing in Mazama High School for the 2017 Mazama College & Career Fair.
This young man was born the year Toby graduated from Mazama High School – 2001!

Thank again to Mazama High School for putting the event on!

Filed Under: community, Gold Dust Potato Processors, klamath employment opportunities, KWUA, walker brothers

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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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