Murphy:
Five Minutes With Jeff & Randy Emtman, Owner-Innovators, Emtman
Brothers Farm
The
Emtmans are wheat growers operating a fifth-generation, 10,000-acre
family farm in Valleyford, Wash., near Spokane in the northeast corner of
the state. The pair was recently recognized with the prestigious
2007 Vim Wright Stewardship Award, given in recognition of
“exemplary stewardship efforts” and to reward farmers “who are role
models for working the land in environmentally responsible
ways.”
The
Emtmans have successfully implemented direct seed, no-till
wheat growing, are testing the use of 90 percent biodiesel in their
combines and are participants in an EPA farm vehicle emissions
reduction program.
They’ve
diversified their operation by running a herd of about 300 head of
Piedmontese cattle, a whitish-gray breed originally from northwest
Italy that is marked by
unique “double-muscling” genetics and the ability to produce finely
marbled beef with only minimal grain finishing. The Emtmans are now
selling a premium grassfed, natural beef product line to several
regional resort and foodservice operators.
Along
the way, the brothers, along with their parents Roy and Della
Emtman, have maintained profitability while continuing to invest in
innovative farming techniques and progressive conservation efforts.
During a break in the Vim Wright Award ceremonies, Randy and Jeff
and their families sat down with AgNetwork.com’s Dan Murphy to talk
about their farm, their environmental focus and how they plan to
face a future where long-term viability is far from
certain.
AgNetwork.com:
First of all, tell us a little more about your
operations.
Randy
Emtman:
Well, our farm was originally established in 1887 by John Emtman,
who had immigrated to eastern Washington from Germany. Since then,
the original homestead has grown to 10,000 acres of no-till wheat
and Kentucky bluegrass and is now being farmed by myself and Jeff,
plus our parents and our families.
AgNetwork.com:
Your acreage is primarily dryland wheat production, but you’ve
managed to develop other complementary businesses, including beef
cattle. How did that happen?
Randy
Emtman:
We first began raising beef back in 1998. Honestly, it started after
we were no longer permitted to burn the bluegrass fields after
harvest. We decided to cut and bale the straw and brought in
cattle to graze the stubble and consume the baled residue. We did a
lot of research, and settled on a Piedmontese-Angus cross that
produces a flavorful, marbled beef on a primarily grass-based diet,
although we do feed some oats.
AgNetwork.com:
And now you’re marketing a “natural beef” throughout the
area?
Randy
Emtman:
Yes, Farm-Direct Piedmontese locker beef and beef sausage, produced
with no growth hormones or antibiotics. We’re not selling at retail,
but our customers include various foodservice operators in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
AgNetwork.com:
Beef is only one of the farm products you direct market,
correct?
Randy
Emtman:
Yes. We also direct market oats, hay, barley and other specialty
crops and we’re part of the Shepherd's Grain organization that
supplies bread products made from wheat grown on local farms to
restaurants and grocery stores. One of our biggest sellers is bagged
whole white oats, sold primarily to owners of horses, since whole
oats don’t compact like rolled oats inside the horse’s
intestines. We direct seed the oats into our bluegrass fields,
and that helps eliminate the wind and water erosion that often
occurs in conventionally tilled fields.
AgNetwork.com:
Direct seeding has always offered tantalizing potential, yet it by
no means is the preferred method of tillage. Yet your farm has been
very successful with the no-till method. Why is
that?
Jeff
Emtman:
We made it work, because we found that direct seeding really lowered
some of our operating costs. For example, we’re averaging about 1.25
gallons of fuel per acre during seeding and fertilizing, which we do
in one pass. That compares with about seven gallons an acre with
conventional planting. And we get comparable, if not superior,
yields on wheat. Of course, a lot of that is due to the improvements
in technology. The newest generation of no-till seed drills is
vastly improved, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve been
successful.
AgNetwork.com:
Plus, you’re benefiting by being able to capture more moisture from
rainfall, right? How does that work?
Randy
Emtman:
I’ll share a story. We participated in a farm tour in the area last
spring. It had rained pretty good the day before, and when we walked
around the conventionally tilled farms, you didn’t dare go out in
the fields, or else you’d be up to your knees in mud. You could see
the runoff and erosion cutting channels where the ground had been
tilled. But we were able to walk out into our fields and stand right
on the stubble. No mud, very little runoff, and a lot more rain
actually percolating down into the soil, instead of washing it
away.
AgNetwork.com:
Your success with no-till is one of the primary reasons you received
the Vim Wright Stewardship Award, isn’t
it?
Randy
Emtman:
I must say, we’re very proud to be nominated, not to mention
winning. I think it’s not just the no-till approach – although that
makes a big difference in terms of maintaining soil fertility. It’s
also because we believe that our way of farming helps preserve
wildlife habitat and reduces the need for inputs, as well. You know,
most people today assume that years ago, the areas where farming now
predominates were just teeming with wildlife. But I remember our
grandfather telling us that back in the 1900s, he went years never
seeing any elk. It was really a big deal when he finally saw his
first one. Now, there are large elk herds in our area and so many
deer they’re almost becoming a nuisance.
AgNetwork.com:
Are you upbeat about the future, given that you’re kind of pioneers
in what people are calling “sustainable
farming?”
Randy
Emtman:
Well, I know my own son Andrew, who’s in high school, has already
said he doesn’t want to go into farming. He’s grown up with it, but
he’s interested in other things. Out where we are, it’s troubling. I
don’t know how many farmers are willing to scale up to the size they
need to justify investing in no-till equipment – because it’s not
cheap – when they don’t have someone in the next generation to take
over for them. We know sustainable is the way to go, but it’s still
going to be challenging to keep a lot of today’s farms in business
in the years to come.
Dan
Murphy is a veteran food-industry journalist and
commentator
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