Sustainability taught in the classroom

By Jamie Keyes

Different perspectives on sustainability were shared on Tuesday morning in the David G. Sant Engineering Innovation Building on Utah State University’s campus. Marlene Israelsen, a clinical assistant professor in the dietetics program, invited four diverse speakers to speak to her Science and Application of Human Nutrition class. Many students attended the class to listen to Denise Stewardson, Bob Ward, Kristi Spence and Jake Miller speak on their different perspectives of sustainability.

Denise Stewardson, the director of Utah Agriculture in the Classroom, talked about the farm to fork aspect.

“When you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, think about where it’s coming from,” Stewardson said. “On average, food travels 1,500 miles to get to our plate.”

Stewardson pointed out a wide variety of foods that are grown in the United States.

“On average, a farmer feeds about 154 people around the world,” Stewardson said. “They do that with a sustainable system.”

Bob Ward, an associate professor and director of food science in the Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences Department, explained what sustainability means to food companies.

“The food market is competitive and very responsive to consumer demands,” Ward said. “There is a lot of interested effort of making things sustainable because they know they can sell them to you.”

Ward also talked about how genetically modified organisms are a new way of becoming more sustainable.

“It is unlikely that adding one gene to a plant is going to make it toxic,” Ward said.

Kristi Spence, a registered dietitian, gave a health professional view on sustainability. She talked about community supported agriculture programs and how, as a dietitian, she should know the facts of agriculture sustainability.  

“The role of a health professional is to look at all the different perspectives,” Spence said. “Consumers should have a choice in the food they buy, and a health professional can help inform that choice.”

Jake Miller, a senior in the Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Science Department at USU, spoke about the producers' view.

“Agriculture is an industry and culture of people making their livelihood off of food products, animal products and fiber products,” Miller said. “The animal industry is working towards a good product to feed you.”

Megan Wagstaff, a freshman at USU who is going into the nursing program, attended the class and enjoyed the discussion and hopes to implement these lessons into her profession.  

“I think agriculture sustainability should be emphasized in nutrition and health careers because a lot of issues with patients have to do with food related problems," Wagstaff said. 

USU professor teaches about animal behavior

By Jamie Keyes

During the past 35 years, students and faculty in the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University have conducted research on animal behavior. Beth Burritt, extension assistant professor, traveled this past week to a Natural Resource Conservation Services workshop in Lafayette, La to discuss this research with animal producers.

“This is a really interesting topic, and as far as I know we are the only place that really focuses on behavior,” Burritt said.

Throughout experimentation and research, Burritt and her colleagues have discovered that animal behavior depends on consequences. Animals learn to eat from their mom and from feedback, and they also prefer variety.

“The best thing about talking about behavioral science is that people can relate,” Burritt said. “Ranchers know about this stuff, they just can’t put it into words.”

Grazing conditions in Utah and Louisiana are extremely different, something that Burritt had to remember as she did her presentation.

“In Louisiana they graze in marshes, and if the animals don’t know about the marsh they won’t graze in it,” Burritt said.

Burritt talked with the producers about teaching their cattle to eat marsh grass by drawing them in with something they will eat, just to get their head down grazing.

“The first generation may not ever do it, but I would think their calves would,” Burritt said.

In Louisiana they deal with problems concerning wet pastures, a problem ranchers in Utah have never thought of.

“People who run cattle in harsh situations understand that they have to have cattle from that area, people who run on just grass pasture think a cow is a cow and any cow would be fine,” Burritt said. “If a Louisiana cow was placed in Utah it would look around and say, where’s the food?”

Through Burritt’s research, animal producers are able to teach their animals to eat a wide parameter of different foods. Just by teaching them through consequences and feedback.

“People just figure animals will know what to do,” Burritt said. “Animals don’t innately know what is good and what is bad.”

Lyle McNeal, a professor in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at USU, thinks this research is important and hopes someday it will be taught in the classroom.

“What Beth is doing should’ve been done years ago, it is long overdue,” McNeal said. “We need to bring back animal psychology classes, it will help improve land management.” 

Veteran boot repairman starts building saddles

By Jamie Keyes

White Pine Boot & Shoe Service has had a busy year. Lloyd Walker, owner of the business, recently has had many customers coming to him for leather work, but not for their boots. This past year Walker has built 10 saddles, more than he ever has.

“People just started wanting them,” Walker said. “They like the thought of having them hand made.”

Chesley Tracy, who lives in Cache Valley, has gone to Walker for his repair services and was impressed to find out he now builds saddles.

“He does great work, I would buy a saddle from him if it is anything like the boots he did for me,” Tracy said.

Walker learned to work with leather by moonlighting for a shoe repair shop while he was a police officer in Provo, Utah.

“The boot repair is the backbone of the business, I’ll stop anything to work on boots,” Walker said. “But now I will make saddles on order.”  

Each saddle takes 60 to 80 hours of work, a detailed task.   

“I won’t hurry when I build quality is important because my name is on it,” Walker said. “I am going to do the best work I can.”

Walker has been working with leather for more than 40 years and, at the age of 75, is still working full-time in the shop in Richmond, Utah. Cache Valley and Southern Idaho residents frequent Walker’s shop.

“Something I have learned over the years is that people don’t do business with businesses,” Walker said. “They do business with people.”

Walker’s business has a lot to offer, along with repairing boots and building saddles, he also builds chaps, spur straps and other leather goods.

Saddles that Walker has built or collected line the walls of his shop.

“I just love saddles, I find one that I like and I collect it,” Walker said. “I just like the whole cowboy mystique.” 

Aggie Ice Cream releases new flavor

By Jamie Keyes

True Aggie Night is the newest flavor added to the “famous” Aggie Ice Cream menu. It is sold by the scoop at the Aggie Ice Cream shop, but containers will soon be available for customers to buy and take home. It is named after a popular Utah State University homecoming tradition.

The ice cream flavor became available this summer, the busiest time for Aggie Ice Cream. It is a vanilla based ice cream with raspberry swirls and dark chocolate hearts filled with raspberry.

“The flavor debuted back in August and was a screaming success, far more than we ever anticipated. Now it's being added to the permanent line of flavors,” said Sam Taylor, an Aggie Creamery employee that helped create the flavor. 

“At first we introduced 55 gallons, and it sold within six days,” said David Irish, the Aggie Creamery manager. “The next time we make it, we will put it into ½ gallon containers to sell for people to take home. That should be by the first of December.”

True Aggie night is a popular USU homecoming tradition for couples to kiss on the campus quad on the “A” at midnight, giving the ice cream flavor a romantic vibe.  

The marketing for the flavor is different from any others. The sticker representing the name is heart shaped instead of the normal oval.

“We just want to keep things fresh and make flavors that are not an everyday thing,” Irish said. “We want it so people can remember it, and it means something to them.”

The Aggie Creamery attempts to create a new flavor every couple of years.  

“At first we make ice cream on small scale, and manipulate it to find the right combination and ingredient blend,” Irish said. “If people like it, we manufacture it and put it on the shelves.”

The milk used to make the ice cream comes from USU’s Caine Dairy. The ice cream is made on campus in the Aggie Creamery located in the Nutrition and Food Sciences building. 

Local farm continues to grow in business

By Jamie Keyes

What was once a small family farm in Benson, Utah, Johnson Family Farms now produces fruits and vegetables for local businesses across Cache Valley. Brothers Kelby and Braydon Johnson took over operation of the farm in 2006. They never thought they would expand to where they are now.

“My brother and I realized we need to go in a different direction then just growing alfalfa,” Kelby Johnson said. “So we have been dabbling in produce and it just keeps growing and keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

The brothers began selling their produce at farmers markets and to roadside stands and then, in 2010, they began selling to Utah State University Dining Services. Now, they help supply Lee’s Marketplace, Caffé Ibis, Smith’s Marketplace and Sunshine Terrace.

This summer, the brothers opened up their first roadside stand. The farm now produces 62 different products ranging from apples to eggplants.

“We started with 1/10 of an acre and now we have 10 acres,” Kelby Johnson said. “We grow anything you can grow in Cache Valley, and a few things you probably shouldn’t be able to grow but we figured out how to do it.”

The brothers have built most of the systems and machines they use on the farm. They constructed an automated greenhouse where temperatures can be controlled to grow vegetables such as lettuce and spinach. It is a full time job for the brothers to maintain and grow the produce. 

“We are not certified organic, but what we really try to do use is common sense, we don’t spray pesticides if we don’t need to,” Kelby Johnson said. “If we really have a problem that we need to control, we use a specific application or let nature take its course.”

After the crop has been harvested and taken to the farmers market, the extra produce is donated to the local food bank.

The Johnson’s realize that most consumers desire organically grown foods and always keep that in mind when dealing with chemical sprays.

“Last year, we did the math and 96 percent of our crops weren’t sprayed with anything because they just didn’t need to, it doesn’t make any sense to spray something that doesn’t need it,” Kelby Johnson said. “It’s not what the consumer wants and why put things out there that don’t need to be out there.”

The Johnson’s farm land has been in the family for four generations. For Kelby, who is 27, and Braydon, 22, farming and gardening has not been a career choice, but a way of life.    

“As long as I can remember I have wanted to farm,” Braydon Johnson said. “It started really young for both us, and we just haven’t slowed down at all.”

Kelby Johnson graduated from USU with a degree in agronomy and Braydon is now working toward the same degree with a minor in agriculture business.

The brothers are always looking for new methods to improve their produce. During the winter months they spend their time getting certified in different farming skills, ordering seed, and making deliveries three times a week to clients.

“Great-grandpa had a great big garden, grandpa had a great big garden, Dad has a big garden and now ours is just a really big garden,” Kelby Johnson said. “We are doing what we have done for our family for the last 100 years, but now for everybody else.”

USU 4-H students give back to the community

By Jamie Keyes

The Collegiate 4-H club hosted “The Gift of Giving” in the Agriculture Sciences Building on Utah State University’s campus Wednesday night.

Students put together homemade Christmas stockings filled with hygiene products to donate to the Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency home in Cache Valley.

“You know you have a lot of service projects that are sent across the world to people in Haiti, but it’s nice to be able to do something locally,” said Niccole Haslam, a club member.

CAPSA is a shelter for women escaping from domestic violence or sexual assault.  

“There are women who need these things in Cache Valley, and it is a nice gesture around Christmas time,” said Kenna McMurray, a club member. “This can help impact someone’s life.”

The various hygiene products were donated by different businesses around Cache Valley.

“We like to help out locally so kids can feel like they are contributing,” said Cassie Breeding, president of the club. “Kids can drive by the home now, and know they helped the people there.”

Many members attended the event to do the service project and then enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner.

“We have way more than enough people to get the project done. There are over 70 people here tonight,” Breeding said. “A lot of kids aren’t from the valley and this is a chance for them to serve and feel connected. Cache Valley is their home now.”  

USU veterinarian speaks to agriculture education students

By Jamie Keyes

Utah State University’s Alpha Tau Alpha fraternity hosted a seminar for agriculture education students to learn about basic veterinarian practices. USU Extension’s veterinarian Kerry Rood explained to the students some important topics they can implement into their careers as agriculture educators. The event was held on Wednesday night in the ASTE Building.

Animal welfare and bio-security were the main subjects that Rood expounded upon. He spoke specifically on how to minimize and prevent diseases. 

Most agriculture educators are involved in livestock gatherings where disease is easily spread.

“I’m trying to bring this back to where you are going to be as agriculture educators,” Rood said.

Rood explained the correct way to administer vaccinations to prevent the spread of diseases at livestock events and the deterioration of muscles. When dealing with cattle, all shots should be given in the neck to assure beef quality. 

Always stored in Rood’s truck is hand sanitizer, a thermometer and plastic shoe covers for animal-checkups and emergencies. He suggested the students do the same to always be prepared.

“This helps me know what to take with me and what to look for as I do my supervised agriculture visits to 4-H kids,” said Ashlee Diamond, a student in the agriculture education program at USU.

USU is the only university in Utah that offers the agriculture education degree. It certifies students to become teachers and advisers in high schools.

“You are supposed to educate people to be good stewards of animals and stewards of the land,” Rood said. “More people in agriculture need to get involved and tell their story.”

Alpha Tau Alpha is a professional development fraternity for agriculture education students at USU.  

Local farrier promotes wooden clogs as a cure for lame horses

By Jamie Keyes

                                                                                           Scott McKendrick photo

Ranch and recreational horses are vulnerable to chronic laminitis, also known as founder. Founder is a painful condition that effects a horse’s hoof and often results in death. Scott McKendrick, a Cache Valley farrier who is certified by the American Farriers Association, uses wooden clogs as horse shoes to solve this problem and save horses’ lives.  

“This is an alternative for lame horses, rather than putting them down,” McKendrick said.

McKendrick and Son Horseshoeing is one of the few certified farrier services in Cache Valley. Scott and his son Chansey McKendrick service horsemen by taking care of all their hoof care needs, including healing a foundered horse, an unfamiliar practice in Cache Valley. McKendrick discovered the idea three years ago.

“It’s pretty simple,” McKendrick said. “You get a ½ inch piece of plywood and put it together for height, and then shape it to the horse’s foot.”

Founder can be caused by toxins in the bloodstream which flow to the hoof. The coffin bone, the lowest bone in a horse’s foot, begins to swell and rotate. The hoof begins to deteriorate causing pressure and pain.

According to McKendrick, the wooden clog takes pressure off the hoof and makes it like “walking on a cushion for a horse.”

“The clog stimulates production of the sole,” McKendrick said. “It is a way to remodel a hoof.”

Plastic clogs are available commercially, but McKendrick said he would rather use wood.

“Wood is more shock absorbent, and wears naturally,” McKendrick said. “It forms to the horse’s foot.”

Screws are used to attach the clog, preventing pain of hammering a nail into the hurt hoof. Wooden clogs can also be used for horses with thin soles.

Freeda Lashley, a native of Cache Valley, owns a horse with thin soles. She said that her mare is proof of the “incredible work” that wooden clogs do.

“The vet said my horse had some pretty serious issues going on,” Lashley said. “She was a competitive barrel horse and the vet said to lay her off.”

McKendrick applied the treatment to Lashley’s mare and within two days she was moving again. 

“It provided constant protection necessary for the hoof to heal,” Lashley said. “Now she has structural soundness to her hooves and she is back running.”

McKendrick has applied the wooden clogs to approximately two dozen horses and he said it is now his go to remedy.

“We have a great rate of recuperation of foundered horses,” McKendrick said. “You’ll know the success in the first treatment.” 

McKendrick is confident in the treatment and hopes to have the opportunity to educate people about it.   

“The old time rancher’s mentality is if a horse founders, it’s done,” McKendrick said. “We just want to share it with more people and, as a result, help save more horses.”

USU dietetic students teach Smart Bites to senior citizens

By Jamie Keyes

Utah State University dietetic students visited the Cache County Senior Citizens Center on Friday morning to teach the elderly how to hydrate themselves through healthy eating.

“Older people are more at risk for dehydration because the body metabolism is fighting against hydration storage,” said Raulon VanTassell, a senior in the dietetics program at USU.

VanTassell made the senior citizens a salad containing lettuce, spinach and strawberries making it high in water content. Lettuce is 95 percent water and strawberries are 92 percent.

“Eating different foods is another way to hydrate, rather than just drinking water,” VanTassell said.

The senior citizens enjoyed the salad, but not the homemade olive oil dressing.

“I would add a little more zing to it,” said Ed Merrill, a senior citizen who attended the event. “Don’t get me 

wrong, it was good but it just didn't have the right vocabulary so to speak.”

Merrill has attended the class the past two weeks and plans on attending next week.

“I’m the head chef in my house these days, and I can always use new recipes,” Merrill said.

The weekly class started in the middle of October and will end next Friday.

The same four dietetic students have attended each week to educate and share recipes.

“This is simply an education course to teach the senior citizens healthy eating,” VanTassell said.

 The student’s volunteer time will go toward their internship hours.

“This is good for our hours but we enjoy it,” said Laura Watkins, a senior in the dietetics program. “We've 

met a lot of cool people.”

Lee’s Marketplace celebrates the start of the holiday season

By Jamie Keyes

Holiday cooking and cheer was spread throughout Lee’s Marketplace in Logan, Utah on Thursday night. Lee’s hosted the event “Celebrate the Season” to promote holiday foods with special sales. Customers 

crowded around the entrance to get out of the cold and enjoy the food.

 “This is to kick off the holiday season and invite people to come to our store,” said Landon Wiley, Logan store director.

Food sample tables were set up around the store while customers filed through and sampled each dish. Meats, cheeses, roasted peanuts, and artisan breads from the bakery were some of the various samples.

“We expect two to three thousand people throughout the night,” Wiley said.

As customers shopped, they could win prizes by answering trivia questions or entering raffle ticket drawings.

“This is a great way to bring together the community,” said Carolyn Hardy, who was at the event and is a frequent Lee’s shopper. “I don’t know any other supermarket that does this.”

Lee’s Marketplace is based in Cache Valley and sells numerous local products.

“We pride ourselves in our wide selection of local Cache Valley and Utah products,” Wiley said. “We make things in store as well.”

Cox Honeyland honey, Caffe Ibis Coffee, Pepperidge Farm, and Gossner cheese are some of the numerous local products that are offered. 

Lee’s recently has partnered with Gossner Foods and now is making its own cheese products. 

Auctioneer legacy lives on at the Smithfield Auction barn

By Jamie Keyes

It is nearing the end of the year and cattle ranchers are selling their calves to feedlots and packing plants. This makes fall the busiest time of year for the Parker family, who own and operate the Smithfield Livestock Auction in Smithfield, Utah.

Lane Parker and his son Jared Parker are the auctioneers, while Susan Parker, Lane’s wife, works in the office. The family has been in the auction business for 16 years.

The livestock auction is every Thursday at 10 a.m. and the father-son auctioneer duo spend the day auctioning off mostly cattle, but occasionally sheep and horses. Four-hundred beef and dairy cattle were sold on Thursday.

Lane Parker has been in the auction business all of his life.

“My dad, Dean, started in the auction yard at 16 years-old,” Lane Parker said. “I started auctioneering at 25 years old.”

Dean Parker was an auctioneer and managed the horse sale production, Dean H. Parker and Associates. Then in 1996, Dean and his son bought the auction barn in Smithfield.

Lane and his son, Jared, currently operate the business.

“We had lived here in the valley for over 20 years and just decided to buy the local auction,” Lane Parker said.

Jared Parker graduated from auctioneer school two days before he graduated from high school. He stayed in Cache Valley and now shares the auctioneer job with his father each week.

“I was just raised in it,” Jared Parker said.“Whether it’s out fixing fence or going around talking to people, there is always something different to do.”

According to Lane Parker, in the auction business there are “so many different ways” to sell an animal.

“There are different needs in the market, and the auction facilitates that,” Lane Parker said.