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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2017)
April 14, 2017 CapitalPress.com 15 Family orchard, co-op packing house work together For the Capital Press CALDWELL, Idaho — The Mountainland Cooperative was originally formed in Utah to provide long-term storage, packing and marketing of fruit produced by member growers. The co-op does no direct sales; all sales are to the retail, foodservice and wholesale trade, mainly in the Intermoun- tain area, but some of the fruit is shipped to other regions of the U.S. Brad Goodloe manages the Idaho packing house at Cald- well. “The orchards were start- ed in Utah. We are now the third generation of our family orchard business. A packing shed was started by the co-op in Utah. As the co-op grew and some of the growers grew in size, they moved to Idaho about five years ago and start- ed a packing shed here, rather than shipping the fruit to Utah,” Goodloe said. Mountainland Idaho works with orchards in the area, in- cluding Williamson Orchards and Gary Garret, a grower near Homedale, he said. “We also pack a lot of fruit for Cald- well Idaho Orchards. They are Diamond Halsey, OR Courtesy of Mountainland Apples From left, Jeff and Sean Rowley and Brad Goodloe of Mountainland Apples. part of the co-op but located here in Idaho. They are part of a welfare program for the LDS Church, supplying fruit to needy people. As members of the co-op, they use us to pack- age their fruit.” On the farming side, his cousins Sean, Jeff and Daniel Rowley grow fruit at Cherry Hill Farms. “At the beginning of harvest we do apricots, then peach- es and nectarines. The apples ripen later,” he said. Different varieties of apples ripen at dif- ferent times, spreading out the harvest. Their family orchards in Idaho grow Gala, Honeycrisp, Fuji and Reds. After being sorted and packed at Mountain- land, the apples are shipped to Wal-Mart stores and Associat- ed Foods. “We also sell apples to a few smaller outlets. Wal-Mart likes to promote local growers, however. We see our products in many grocery stores around here. Associated Foods distrib- utes our products in Utah and the Northwest,” he said. Goodloe and his cousins all have children, and though they are still young, some of them are interested in the fruit busi- ness. Daniel’s children range from 1 to 10. “They enjoy coming out to the farm, especially the boys. I have all girls and they come with me whenever possible, but are mainly exposed to the packing side of things because that’s what I do,” said Goodloe. “There may eventually be a fourth generation involved with the fruit business.” Their orchards include long- term leases as well as land they own. “We look for opportunities to keep expanding. This means buying ground and finding leas- es. We try to get 20-year leases, to give enough time to get trees into production,” he says. Some trees today can come into full production quicker than traditional varieties, he said. #1 RODENT BAITS for Rodent Problems Big & Small Strychnine Baits Available Squirrels Gophers Dispenser Moles Tools Voles Prairie Find a Dealer Dogs 1-800-214-2248 The Valley’s Leading Source for CHAINS, BEARINGS & SPROCKETS • Chains • Sprockets • Bearings • Belting • Sheaves • Pulleys www.Rodent-Baits.com ONV17-4/#5 By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS RCO International, Inc. 503-769-1500 1079 Wilco Road, Stayton, OR 97383 www.agchainsplus.com ONV17-4/#7 Trailer Sales Your All Service Dealer 541-369-2755 or 541-740-5135 or 541-953-7548 View our inventory: diamondksales.com ONV17-4/#5 ONV17-4/#14