Our Sustainable Farm and Agricultural Practices

Whether it’s traditional practices like crop rotation or modern initiatives such as solar power, sustainable farming is the present and future for Gold Dust and Walker Farms.

You probably hear and read the phrase “sustainable farming” a lot these days.  As consumers become more savvy about the products they buy and the effects of those purchases on the environment, marketing people everywhere are trying to associate their farm or business with sustainable agriculture and farming practices.  Saying you’re a sustainable farm is one thing – being one is another.

For Gold Dust Potato Processors and Walker Farms, we prefer to let our farming practices and techniques speak for our commitment to protecting our local environment and ensuring we’re growing chipping potatoes, wheat and alfalfa into the future.  From our Solar Power Initiative to tried-and-true practices such as crop rotation, we’re constantly trying to find ways we can increase our yields while leaving as little of an impact on the environment as possible.  Some practices require an investment while others are simply finding a new way to do things.  All of these practices make our environment – and our communities – better.

Are you wondering which practices and techniques we employ or what is sustainable agriculture?  Please visit the pages we’ve linked to below to learn more about Gold Dust and Walker Farms’ sustainable farming practices and initiatives.

• Solar Power Initiative – We installed six solar stations at various facilities in the Malin-Merrill area that will cumulatively produce as much power our packing shed uses in a year.
• Organic Farming – Not only are our organic crops environmentally friendly, they also naturally put a lot of nutrients back into the soil for our potato crops.
• Preserving Wildlife Habitat – How we plant some of our fields provides habitat and feed for birds heading South along the Pacific Flyway as well as local wildlife.
• Water Conservation –  From the fields to our potato processing plant, we’re trying to find ways to conserve one of the Klamath Basin’s most precious resources.
• Soil Conservation – We need the rich soil found in the Basin and are doing our best to make sure it stays where we need it most.
• Pest Management – Whether it be a bug or a weed, we’re working on keeping pests under control naturally with Integrated Pest Management.
• Green Manure –  By tilling cover crops back into the soil, our fields are getting important nutrients while cutting down on our use of conventional fertilizer.
• Investing In Our Community – Gold Dust is very proud to be a part of the Klamath Basin community and support a variety of local causes and clubs while providing competitive wages and benefits to our employees.