Farm to Fork Tour

This week is the Idaho State Dietetic Association's annual meeting and our pre-conference event was a Farm to Fork tour.  There were 50 of us who toured around the Treasure Valley visiting local farmers starting with a feed lot that raises "natural" beef.   Next was a dairy with 3,000 dairy cows, quite a production.  Then we had lunch at a local winery which was absolutely DELICIOUS!  It was all locally grown/produced foods catered by Brick 29 in Nampa, complete with wine tasting, of course.  On the road again to an organic farm which grows greens all year around in 12 green houses.  Remarkable!  Every little garden was so perfect!  We ended the day at another winery, this one was organic and more beautiful scenery!!  It was such a gorgeous day with such inspirational stories from all these remarkable farmers!

Our first stop was a feed lot with 4700 head of cattle.  It really didn't stink that much and wasn't as depressing as I anticipated about going to a feed lot!  It is a family business and the whole family participates in running the operation.  They work hard to keep everything as sanitary as possible.

The pens had extra straw and they had a sophisticated fly control system.   They take great measures to keep the animals healthy and content.  So, it really wasn't too bad as a feed lot goes.

Here is the owner showing us the corn that the cattle get fed for 150 days prior to slaughter so this is not the "grass fed beef" you might see in the store. We all know that corn is not a natural diet for cattle so it must be emphasized that the term "natural" beef simply refers to the fact that they don't give growth hormones or antibiotics.  The corn must be altered in order for the cows to digest it so it is steam-flaked prior to feeding it to the cattle.  (It looks flattened, not normal, round corn kernels)

Currently, the cattle are eating this silage which is a by-product of corn.  They eat this before they go out to the pasture to eat for the summer.

The cattle love this silage and gain about 2 pounds a day eating this.  When they start eating the corn, they gain 4 pounds a day!

They are trucked to Pasco, WA for slaughter and sold as Painted Hills Natural Beef which is distributed in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. (The only place in the Boise area is Choice Cut Meats on Fairview, east of Eagle Rd.)

Our next stop was Beranna Dairy where they milk  3,000 dairy cows twice daily!  Now that's a production.

Two men prepare the cows to be milked on an elevated, rotating carousel.  Pretty sophisticated.  This milk is bought by Darigold.

Here's where the cows are penned when not being milked.  They eat an all-in-one feed with seven different ingredients for total nutrition while they are milking.  It's a very scientific formula which contains cotton seed (for protein source), flaked corn (same as the beef cattle) canola, soybean meal, corn silage (same as the beef cattle), alfalfa hay, and minerals.

This is the animal nutritionist who visits the dairy twice weekly to make sure all the cows are healthy.  He has a master's degree in Ruminant Health and Reproduction or something like that! Anyway, he really knows his cows.

We took a break in Marsing for lunch at a local winery called Bitner Winery with a beautiful view of vineyards.

Lunch consisted of all locally grown and produced Idaho foods from Brick 29 restaurant and was totally SUPERB!  Complete with wine, of course.  Dessert was the best..,panni cotta with local berries.  Delicious.

We then moved on to Middleton to tour an organic farm, Purple Sage Farm, where they grow organic greens and herbs all year long.  Our salad greens from lunch came from this farm.  They have 12 green houses with perfect little gardens in each one.

 We learned about lots of new greens and herbs.  Above is a type of kale with yellow blooms all edible and delicious.  We were allowed to pick and sample any of their delicious greens.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day to be touring local farms in the Treasure Valley.

Our last stop was an organic winery in Eagle, Idaho... a picture perfect spot.