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.