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SATURDAY, MAY 10
FARMS WE WILL VISIT ON OUR FIELD TRIP TO WHATCOM COUNTY
We will visit four farms today, at the approximate times given below. This list will give you just a little basic information to know before we dismount from our vans and start touring and asking questions. At the three dairy farms, you should be prepared to ask the questions given in the interview guide. At the methane plant, we're on our own. You might, if you have time, do a little internet exploration about how these plants work in general.
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VeenHuizen Farms. This is a conventional dairy with about 700 cows, owned jointly by the Van Weerdhuizen and Van der Veen families, both long-time dairy families in the Lynden area. They have recently been cited for their environmental stewardship, and Debbie VanderVeen, one of the owners, has been active in farm community planning and advocacy.
- Twin Brooks Farm, owned by Larry Stap. Larry has another farm with 250 cows elsewhere in the county, and started this small, 18-cow dairy last year, where he bottles pasteurized, unhomogenized milk in glass bottles and sells it locally. We will probably eat lunch on or near Larry's farm.
- Darryl Vander Haak's methane digester plant. Darryl is a longtime dairy farmer who recently worked with an environmental engineering firm to set up a plant that derives energy, in the form of methane, from cow manure. I don't know much about it, but Darryl has been kind enough to agree to give us a tour and answer questions.
- Hans and Colleen Wolfisberg's Edelweiss Dairy. Hans emigrated from Switzerland, where he grew up on a small dairy farm in the Alps. He has about 200 Jersey cows, grazes them rotationally in the summertime, dries them up in winter, and sells his milk to Organic Valley. He was the first farmer in Whatcom county to produce large quantities of organic milk.
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