Preserving Wildlife Habitat

With a little give and take, farming and wildlife can co-exist.

When you live in the Klamath Basin, it’s hard not to appreciate the abundance of wildlife that make their home here.  From antelope to bald eagles, some days what we see on our way to our offices in Malin or from the seat of a tractor can be quite distracting.  So it goes without saying that helping preserve habitat for these creatures when we can is important to us.

Gold Dust and Walker Brothers strive to find ways to help wildlife on the ground we farm.  For example, we have created berms around 500 acres of farmland specifically for wildlife.  These berms give native birds and animals places to hunt, feed and nest while giving them less incentive to enter our fields.

Every grain harvest, we also leave some of our crop in the field so migratory birds that are passing through have a little bit of feed for there stop on the long trip south.  While we may be able to get a few more loads of grain from those fields, the benefit to the birds makes it worthwhile to bird-watchers and hunters alike.  We also leave “crop residue”, such as wheat chaff, undisturbed and in the fields as well.  Doing so provides nesting material for wildlife and provides another source of food.

We love what we do and we love where we do it.  Farming in the Klamath Basin is an honor, and part of what makes it wonderful is are the birds and animals we see everyday. The little bit we can do to promote habitat for the wildlife that make this their home is worth doing.