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About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2018)
14 CapitalPress.com June 1, 2018 BUYING or SELLING Dairy Property? Heather Smith Thomas/For the Capital Press The Korn Family. From left are Dave, Kim, Richard, Becky and husband, Brian. Farm a family operation By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS For the Capital Press Your best pick is FarmSeller.com More than 1080 rural property listings from 70 rural property professionals. • AG BUSINESSES • BERRIES • CROPS • LARGE & SMALL ACREAGE • RANCH PROPERTIES • LIVESTOCK • RECREATIONAL / RESORT • NURSERY/ GREENHOUSE • DAIRIES • FARM PROPERTIES • HOBBY FARMS • ORCHARDS & VINEYARDS • RURAL RESIDENTIAL • TIMBER Buyers can search by type, price, location, acreage, bedrooms, baths, crops, livestock, water, irrigation and more. BROKERS: for more information contact your FarmSeller sales rep today 800-882-6789 farmseller@capitalpress.com D18-3/HOU TERRETON, Idaho — Richard Korn’s family started dairying in the Treasure Val- ley near Nampa, Idaho. After he and his wife, Kim, were married they formed a part- nership with his father and brother until 2004. “At that time we had 120 cows and farmed 350 acres,” Kim said. She and Richard met in 4-H and FFA, she said. “I grew up at Eagle, Idaho. My dad worked for Fish and Game but we had a 32-acre farm behind the Eagle Fish Hatchery and a few Angus cows. Richard and I saw each other twice a year at fairs. He showed dairy heifers and I showed sheep, a beef and pigs. After we graduated from high school we started dating, and got married in 1977,” Kim said. She attended Boise State University for one year, but wanted to work with live- stock. “I got both my wishes — a good husband and life on a dairy farm,” she said. “Then his dad decided to retire. Our farm ground was encroached by development.” Her sister lives near Mud Lake and found a farm there for them. “We moved our share of the cows (55) here in October of 2004,” Kim said. She and Richard now have 100 cows — registered Hol- stein and registered Brown Swiss. “The Brown Swiss started as our kids’ FFA projects; they are the result of FFA projects gone wild,” she said. “It’s still a family operation. Their son Dave works with them, and does some work for local farmers. “He bought a semi-truck and between milkings hauls grain and hay,” she said. Their daughter Becky, who is a few years older than Dave, lives near Mud Lake and manages the Stockman Supply store in Terreton. “She owns half the Brown Swiss cows in our herd, and helps whenever we need her,” Kim said. Becky is married to Bri- an Allen, and they have a 2½-year-old son, Bodie. Becky graduated from the University of Idaho with a de- gree in dairy science. “We showed cows when the kids were growing up, and they’ve always been her big thing,” Kim said. Becky recently bought a registered heifer from Iowa. “Our kids’ equity in the herd keeps going up while ours is dropping — because they are bringing in more Brown Swiss,” she said. Most of the heifers that are sold go to youths who want FFA or 4-H projects. “We buy all our feed,” Kim said. “There’s a lot of good feed grown here; ranch- ers with feedlots grow corn si- lage to feed their steers, so we don’t have any trouble finding beautiful corn silage.” Their milk is marketed through the Dairy Farmers of America co-op and currently goes to the Brewster cheese plant at Rupert, Idaho. “They make cheese blocks and ship the cheese to Brew- ster, Ohio, to make Cheez-It crackers,” Kim said. Their cows calve year- round except for the springer heifers. “We don’t calve any heif- ers from late October through mid-March because winters can be severe,” she said. “We sell our bull calves to ranch- ers who like to have some on hand if they need a spare calf to graft onto a cow that loses hers. The guys who get them from me have been doing it for years and know these calves are healthy. We keep those calves for three days and they have colostrum and vaccinations. They don’t get sick.” Kim serves on the Idaho Dairy Products Commission and on the IDEAL (Indepen- dent Dairy Environmental Ac- tion League) board. “This board focuses on research and innovation to protect Idaho’s environment,” she said. “We do a lot of work with research at the Univer- sity of Idaho, trying to make sure dairymen are doing things responsibly to protect the environment.”
