Upcoming: Two Dairy Farm Walks in WA

[Guest guest]

Tilth Producers of Washington and the WSU Small Farms Team are

Sponsoring Two Dairy Farm Walks:

Monday September 1 - Methow Creamery, Twisp, WA

Monday October 6- Styger Family Dairy Farm, Chehalis, WA

Tilth Producers of Washington and Washington State University's Small

Farms Team offer yearly series of educational Farm Walks for growers.

Farm Walks bring growers and agricultural specialists together to

learn on working farms across Washington.

Together you will:

Observe problems and solutions firsthand.

Share your knowledge.

Discover new tools and techniques for organic and sustainable farm management!

Each Farm Walk includes a tour led by the host farmer, a booklet of

handouts, and on-site specialists to serve as resources.

Farm Walks are a joint program of Tilth Producers of Washington

(www.tilthproducers.org) and WSU Small Farms Team

(www.smallfarms.wsu.edu). The Farm Walk Program is sponsored by the

Organic Farming Research Foundation (www.ofrf.org) and Farm Aid

(www.farmaid.org).

Monday September 1 - Methow Creamery, Twisp, WA

Value-Added Cow Dairy, On-Farm Feed Production

Methow Creamery is a small scale sustainable organic dairy operation

featuring twenty dairy cows and 800 acres of grain and hay production

for the cows and off-farm sales. Owners Ron and Elise Vander Yacht

sell Grade-A organic, non-pasteurized milk and cream at all the

Methow Valley grocery stores and markets, as well as in Spokane,

Chelan and Federal Way. Having been raised on a dairy, Ron will share

a lifetime of well-earned expertise on raising alfalfa. Their organic

hay sales have always been very popular, and when they decided to

start a dairy, they already had the feed lined up! In addition to

discussing the many facets of running a dairy, Ron and Elise will

explain how they negotiated creative funding of their organic

creamery through ShoreBank Pacific. (Organic)

Monday October 6- Styger Family Dairy Farm, Chehalis, WA

Intensive Grazing for Award Winning Milk

Andy and Styger have been farming for 28 years on their

family-operated farm in the Chehalis Valley, where for the past 18

years, they have run a dairy farm using intensive grazing practices.

The Stygers have been shipping organic milk since 2004, and recently

became members of Organic Valley Family of Farms cooperative. The

Styger Family Diary Farm includes an 80 cow Holstein milking herd, in

addition to 60 young stock. The Styger Farm consistently produces

award winning quality milk while making ecologically-conscientious

decisions. They have been recognized for both acheivements by their

cooperative and the Washington State Department of Ecology. (Organic)

Farm Walk Logistics

All Farm Walks are from Noon - 3:30pm; lunch from 12- 12:30 unless

otherwise noted.

Beverages are provided - please bring a brown bag lunch

Driving directions and more information available at www.tilthproducers.org

Cost is $10 for Tilth Producers members; $15 for non-members.

Register on-site or pre-register by mailing a check with your farm

walk choice(s) to Tilth Producers, PO Box 85056, Seattle, WA 98145.

Tilth Producers Membership ($45 regular or $30 low-income) is

encouraged. Member benefits include a subscription to Tilth Producers

Quarterly, a state-wide Directory of organic growers and resources,

discounts for farm walks and the annual conference, free listing on

Tilth Intern Placement Service and optional email notices on

important agricultural issues. For more information:

or nancy@...

WSU programs are available to all without discrimination. Persons

with a disability requiring special accommodation while participating

in events may call WSU's Small Farms Program at . If

accommodation is not requested in advance, we cannot guarantee the

availability of accommodation on site.

This message originated from or was forwarded by:

Chrys Ostrander

Chrysalis Farm @ Tolstoy

Organic Micro-permaculture

33495 Mill Canyon Rd.

Davenport, WA 99122

chrys@...

http://www.thefutureisorganic.net

" From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs "

Louis ph Blanc - " The organization of work " 1839

Karl Marx - " Critique of the Gotha Program " 1875

" The purpose of agriculture is not the production of food, but the

perfection of human beings "

Masanobu Fukuoka - " One Straw Revolution " 1978

" We will never have an organic future and a stable climate until we

pull all the troops out of Iraq

and redirect our annual $650 billion military budget to greening the

economy and guaranteeing

a sustainable environment and economic justice for everyone. "

Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association

at the " Farms Not Arms " public forum and protest in Manhattan, September, 2007