June 1, 2018
CapitalPress.com
13
Dairying in a unique environment
By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
Ben Smith has been farming and dairy-
ing on the Olympic Peninsula of Washing-
ton state his whole life.
“Our family farm was started in 1930 by
my great-grandfather,” Smith said.
His brother and his wife, Troy and
Becky Smith, now own the farm with Ben
and his wife, Jacki.
They are the fourth generation on the
dairy and milk about 400 Holstein cows
and farm about 700 acres.
“I take care of the cows and my brother,
Troy, grows most of our feed — about 90
percent of our forage, and about 500 tons of
barley. We buy a little alfalfa hay,” he said.
Their farm is a member of the Dari-
gold co-op, which is owned by more than
500 dairy farm members of the Northwest
Dairy Association in Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, Northern California and Montana.
“Darigold quit hauling milk for its pro-
ducers in the mid-1980s and we bid for the
hauling contract, to help support our dairy,”
Smith said. “At that time we were picking
up milk from 14 dairies in our area. Now
those dairies are gone and we just haul our
own milk,” Ben says.
Their milk goes to the Darigold plant in
Chehalis, Wash., a 250-mile round trip.
“We fill a set of double tankers ev-
ery other day. En route we supply milk to
the Mt. Townsend Creamery, an artisan
producer of handcrafted cheese in Port
Townsend, Wash.,” Ben says.
Even though the region gets a lot of
moisture, their farm is fairly dry.
“We live in what is called a rain shad-
ow, so we only get about 17 inches of rain
a year,” he says. “If you go 20 miles in any
direction you’ll have 45 or more inches per
year. If you go 70 miles to the coast, it’s a
rain forest with 120 inches per year.”
The weather is mild year-round.
“We are on the Straits of Juan de Fuca
(the farm goes nearly down to the water),
which gives our area a moderate climate.
We are warmer in winter and cooler in sum-
mer than most places, so this a phenomenal
place for cows,” Ben says. “We don’t have
to worry about heat stress in summer or
frostbitten teats in the winter.”
Maple View Farm has 10 full-time em-
ployees at the dairy and 5 full-time employ-
ees in the crop operation.
“We raise our own heifers and sell sur-
plus heifers into the diary market,” Ben
says. “About 80 percent of our cows are
registered Holsteins, so we sometimes get a
premium selling them to registered breed-
ers.”
Courtesy Photo
Maple View Farm on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state
is run by two brothers and their wives. From left are Becky, Troy,
Jacki and Ben Smith.
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