On Thursday, the Klamath Water Users Association, or KWUA, took 35 people from government, education, media and other sectors of the community to seven sites associated with agriculture during its third annual farm tour.  

   “The purpose is to show people the agricultural operations happening in their backyard and teach them about the importance of agriculture in the economy,” said Belinda Stewart, program and outreach coordinator at KWUA. “It’s great to get out and talk to farmers on the ground, and let them talk to people who may not otherwise see agriculture as it’s happening.”

   Agriculture is worth $600 million annually in the Klamath Basin, the second-largest industry in the area behind wood products, said Willie Riggs, director of Oregon State University’s Klamath Falls office. He added that including Northern California, the local agriculture economy is worth close to $1 billion per year.

   Stops on the tour included:  

Oregon State University’s Klamath Falls extension office

   What: Riggs, an agricultural economist, talked about agriculture’s impact on the local economy.

   In 2009, livestock production was worth $139 million and crop production was worth $241 million. Crops in 2008 were worth $300 million, but “agriculture is not immune to recession,” Riggs said.

   “That’s why everybody jumps up and down whenever there are policy decisions that could impede those industries, because that’s everything here,” he said.  

   Federal policies for water and environmental impact affect that economy, as do free-trade agreements, which have made local agriculture part of the worldwide economy, Riggs said, noting how failed wheat crops in Russia have recently increased wheat’s value in the Klamath Basin.     

Eco Solar, Balin Farms in Klamath Falls

   Who: Eric Andrews, certified installer for EcoSolar Inc.

   What: Andrews talked about how farmers can use solar panels to power well pumps. The solar panels on Balin Farms power pumps that irrigate fields. Normally those pumps cost thousands of dollars in electricity to run.

   “Power costs for irrigators are out of control right now,” said Greg Addington, director of KWUA. “(Solar panels) are symbolic of a lot of other things. They’re not going to sit around and wait to see what policy does, they’re being proactive.”     

   The solar panels cost $200,000 to install, but the project was fully paid for by government incentive programs. Andrews said the panel has a 25 year lifespan, and that the Balins’ panels will pay for themselves in about three years.

Staunton Farms, Tulelake, Calif.

   Who: Marshall Staunton, owner

   What: Staunton said his operation cut back by 1,800 acres because of water shortages. The fields that were planted with onions, wheat, and peppermint are yielding about 80 percent of normal.

   The operation shifted its onion fields closer to water to make sure it would be able to fulfill its contracts, Staunton said, so fields meant for potatoes are growing onions instead, and other fields are in Alturas. Staunton said those types of adjustments make the companies that buy from them nervous, and said the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement would help stabilize business.

   “They would have to look to a safer resource to get their product,” Staunton said. “Frito Lay executives were comforted by (the KBRA), the community plan to deal with water.”

Winema Lodge, Tulelake, Calif.

   Who: Greg Addington, director of Klamath Water User Association

   What: Addington gave an overview of the KBRA, the controversial restoration agreement signed in February that is meant to stabilize water as a resource in the Klamath Basin.

   “What we had to fix was the insecurity of the water supply, not knowing what you’re going to get or when you’re going to get it,” Addington said. “Right now it’s a judge in San Francisco deciding how much water a farmer gets.”

   To the agreements’ detractors, Addington said, “Will it work perfectly? Probably not. But it can’t work worse that what we have now.”

Seus Family Farms, Tulelake, Calif.

   Who: Scott Seus, owner

   What: Seus on Thursday was in the midst of harvesting horseradish, a two-year crop that has to be treated by hand after it is harvested. The field he was harvesting had become diseased, which he didn’t discover until the tubers were pulled from the ground. When employees trim the tuber to send to the horseradish processor, they’ll also trim away the diseased parts.

   The operation, which also grows dehydrator onions and peppermint for tea, sells horseradish to companies worldwide — Thailand, Germany, and Czechoslovakia — and employs 100 workers during its peak season. The finicky crop, the roots of which run 20 feet deep, is expensive to grow and impossible to get rid of, so Seus only grows enough horseradish to fulfill contracts.

   “You can’t afford to plant it unless you have someone to sell it to,”   Seus said.

Three M Mint, Tulelake, Calif.

   Who: Lee McKoen and Rob Crawford, owners

   What: After years of trial and error stumbling through mint growing, McKoen and Crawford now grow 1,800 acres of “excellent quality” peppermint that garners $4 million a year.  

   The farmers also grow grains, potatoes and onions, but peppermint oil is their big business. Since their peppermint oil is exceptional quality, it’s in high demand to combine with low quality peppermint oil to make good quality oil, they said. One of their major contractors is Colgate, the toothpaste maker.

   They distill peppermint to oil at their operation. One 400-pound drum of mint oil can produce 400,000 tubes of toothpaste, 5 million sticks of gum, and 20 million   mint candies, they said.

Diamond S Meat Company, 7400 Kings Way, Klamath Falls

   Who: Dayle Robnett, owner

   What: For six months Diamond S Meat Company has sold nothing but Country Natural Beef — a no antibiotics, no hormone brand — at its shop, and has switched over to no-chemical curing. The company sells hotdogs, brats, steaks, and sauces to go with them.

   Country Natural Beef may cost more, Robnett said, but she knows the beef is from the United States and from local farmers, “and that’s worth it to me.”

   The business also goes to local ranches and butchers and processes their livestock for them; they process about 500 head of cattle a year, Robnett said.