Category: Agriculture

2013, Whirlwind of Year

This past year has been busy to say the least.  I keep thinking (and hearing from other people) that you don’t have to get all your growing up done all in one year, but that seems to be what I’m accomplishing at this rate!  So as 2013 comes to a close and I raise a glass of sparkling cider at 9pm (east coast New Year’s since I’m asleep by 9 every night…thank you baby in my tummy) I have a lot, and I mean a lot to be thankful for!

The year started out with a big thanks for all the support I received for being chosen as a finalist in the US Farmer & Rancher Alliance’s “Face of Farming & Ranching.”  While I was sad to not get such a wonderful opportunity, I have seen what these four faces have done the past year and I couldn’t be more amazed at the hard work and dedication they have put in to make agriculture closer the fore front of people’s mind.

I also spent a fair amount of time at the Oregon Capital in Salem.  I testified on a number of bills to help our farmers in my local area and statewide.  Although we didn’t win all the battles, we did get some great legislation passed for Oregon Farmers. Just a few of these topics dealt with GMO production; how our state will handle this in the future and why we need to work together as farmers instead of against each other; and a land use issue about a new bypass that would devastate acres and acres of farmland that my neighbors have been farming for generations.

I received an award from DTN, Progressive Farmer & John Deere for being one of the America’s Top Young Farmers & Ranchers!  Which included an awesome trip back to Chicago to meet with other farmers from across the country.

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And on a more personal note I was lucky enough to marry the man of my dreams in June of this past year, and also share the news that we are also expecting our first little farmer kiddo in May 2014! (Yes, for those you doing math…it works!)

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So I just have to say, that yes, farming is tough, brutal at times, stressful just about always, and at times soul testing; but for me I feel like I’m right where I need to be.   Just chugging along into another year of challenges, another year of testifying for farmer’s rights to keep farming, another year of spreading the news of what we’re up to at Kirsch Family Farms, and another year of many more adventures yet to to be seen!  I hope everyone has a wonderful start to what I just know is going to be another great year!

Another Blog…More Farm Stories

Well call me crazy, but I have started another blog.  I was asked a few months back if I would be willing to write for Agriculture.com on their Women in Ag section.  After rolling it around for awhile, and figuring out if I could fit yet another writing assignment into my schedule I kept coming back to how exciting it was to have someone want you to tell your story on their site!  So after a week of hmm-ing and haa-ing, I decided that yes, I could do this.

So I’m excited to say that for the last month I’ve been writing on their website.  I have my own page on there, you can access it by clicking on this link: http://community.agriculture.com/t5/Women-in-Ag-Brenda-Frketich/bg-p/brendafrketich

Agriculture.com Blog

I post once a week and while it will still be a blog talking about this farm, I will usually be covering different issues and stories each week.  I hope you get some time to check it out and let me know what you think!  Thank you for all your support with NuttyGrass and keep on coming back to read.  Like I said…I do love sharing my farmer’s point of view!

Oregon Farm Bureau Ag Tour 2013

A few weekends ago I took the weekend off and headed out on the road with other member of Oregon Farm Bureau to learn a little more about what Oregon agriculture entails.  This tour is done every other year and is put on by Oregon Young farmers and ranchers.  The tours are always focused on different areas of the state, as I’ve said before Oregon is incredibly diverse when it comes to types of farming and crops grown.  This year we were in somewhat my neck of the woods.  Only a few miles to the south and a few miles to the west, the amazing thing though is that I saw so many different types of farms, who are right next door to what I’ve always known.

The tour consisted of 3 days and about 15 stops.  I won’t go into all of them but just wanted to highlight a few and share a few photos and interesting facts.  Our very first stop was Willamette Valley Fruit Company.

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  • Family owned company started in 1999.
  • Work with over 20 local farmers to get ingredients for their products.

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  • Produce 2400 pies in one 8 hr shift.
  • The company itself processes over 20 million pounds of produce every year.
  • Their products also include cobblers, 2-pound bags of frozen fruit, freezer jam, jar jam, honey, syrup and fruit snack bars.

IMG_0043Another stop was in Tillamook Oregon, at the Pacific Seafood Company.

  • IMG_0130Pacific Seafood has a restaurant and oyster processing facility in Tillamook.  They process Oysters year round here.
  • Did you know an oyster can filter up to 30 gallons of water a day?!IMG_0135
  • Oysters can be genetically modified and have been for decades.  They found that by removing the sex chromosome in the oyster it will produce even in the summer months, allowing for a year round season.

IMG_0141Our last stop of the weekend was to the nation’s largest Christmas Tree farm!  Noble Mountain Christmas Tree farm is located in Salem Oregon.

  • IMG_0261This farm covers over 2000 contiguous acres.
  • They will plant 550,000 new trees every year.
  • IMG_0234They will also harvest over 500,000 trees every year on average and in only a 25 day window!
  • Their customers include local vendors around Oregon, but also all over the United States.
  • They also sell to Home Depot, Lowes & Wal-Mart.
  • IMG_0231IMG_0233They revolutionized their ability to harvest thousands of trees by adding helicopters into the list of harvest equipment many years ago.
  • They usually use 2 helicopters during the harvest season.

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So there is just a small peak at what we managed to squeeze into three filled days of touring Oregon.  Our other stops included a winery, flower operation, 2 dairies (one with a robotic milker!), grass seed cleaner, nursery, Portland Wheat marketing center, farm market & apple/pear processing facility,  and a beef ranch.  So as you can see it was a busy weekend, but it was also very interesting!