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CapitalPress.com
Friday, February 1, 2019
People & Places
Herbal interest grows into full-time business
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Established 1928
BUHL, Idaho — Just like
a puzzle, all the pieces in
Mickey Young’s life fit with
him becoming an equine and
canine herbalist. But also
just like a puzzle, it was hard
to see the big picture until
the pieces interlocked.
Today, that picture is a
successful business pro-
moting the health of horses
and dogs through herbal
nutrition.
But the story started even
before Young was born.
His father, LaVern, grew
up in Utah, picking up tips
on doctoring animals with
medicinal herbs from the
Navajos who lived in the
area. He later had a career
with Bureau of Land Man-
agement as a range rider and
wild horse and burro spe-
cialist, learning more about
the plants those animals
chose to graze.
Young’s mother, Ruth,
was a successful naturopath
at a time when naturopathy
was little known.
“I learned some from
each of them,” Young said.
And as a professional
cowboy, champion bare-
back rider and stock contrac-
tor for the National Finals
Rodeo, Young knew horses
and the dogs that are inevita-
bly a cowboy’s companion.
His parents moved to
Idaho, where Young had set-
tled during his rodeo days
and opened a health store.
His mother helped people
with herbs and when they
asked for help with their
horses or dogs, she’d send
them to Young.
“It grew from there, but
it didn’t happen overnight,”
Young said.
After selling his rodeo
stock company, he was look-
ing for something he could
do to make a living.
“I had done the herb thing
for many years, but I didn’t
know there was a living in
it,” he said.
A chance meeting with
Heather Mack, a veterinar-
ian who practices holistic
horse health, would change
his way of thinking.
Mack was impressed
with the health of Young’s
horses and started referring
clients to him for his herbal
mixtures. That gave Young
the confidence to start tell-
ing people about the benefits
of herbs.
Later, Mack started carry-
ing his mixtures and was his
first large, consistent client.
Word spread quickly due
to the quality of the herbs and
the effectiveness of Young’s
formulas. Everything from
wounds and digestive issues
to kidney and liver ailments
seemed to benefit from the
herbs, Young said.
He and his wife, Lori,
officially started Silver Lin-
ing Herbs 20 years ago.
Back then, “people
weren’t that accepting of
herbs for horses. It was a
hard sale, but Mick started
educating people,” Lori said.
The business went from
mixing herbs in his mother’s
shop to outgrowing a base-
ment, then a garage and then
a large shop to building a
commercial facility.
SATURDAY, FEB. 2
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6
Pesticide Collection Event:
8 a.m.-3 p.m., Valley Agronom-
ics, 986 N. Holladay St., Corne-
lius, Ore. For questions, contact
Mike Mason of Clean Harbor
Environmental Services at (503)
742-7105 or mason.michaelr@
cleanharbors.com.
Soil Health Workshop:
9 a.m., Best Western Burley Inn,
800 N. Overland Ave, Burley, Idaho.
Jay Fuhrer, a soil health specialist
with the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service in Bismarck, N.D.,
will talk about regenerative agri-
culture. Also featured is a presen-
tation on carbonics by Keith Burns,
a no-till farming and seed expert
in Bladen, Neb. ewcswcd@gmail.
com, 208-572-3369.
Spokane Ag Expo and
Pacific Northwest Farm Forum:
9 a.m.-5 p.m., Spokane Conven-
tion Center, 334 W Spokane Falls
Blvd., Spokane. Spokane Ag Expo
provides a showcase for agri-
cultural equipment and related
products. Pacific Northwest Farm
Forum spotlights major speaker
events and seminars ranging
across a wide spectrum of current
topics. http://AgShow.org.
North American Strawberry
Growers Association Confer-
ence: Wyndam Orlando Resort,
8001 International Drive, Orlando,
Fla. http://www.nasga.org.
tices on the farm. Instructors will
discuss a safety plan’s parts and
how to start writing one. They will
detail the rule’s requirements and
how to meet them. $35. https://
bit.ly/2CDMr2L.
Walla Walla Food Producers
Workshop: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Walla
Walla County Fairgrounds Com-
munity Center, 363 Orchard St.,
Walla Walla, Wash. The meeting
with food producers will include
a discussion on the feasibility of
a Walla Walla food hub, covering
a 400-square-mile distribution
area. Jeff Mathias, jeffm@bma-
cww.org, 509-524-5218. https://
slcceep.wufoo.com/forms/wal-
la-walla-food-producers-work-
shop-registration/.
Board of Directors
Western
Innovator
MICKEY AND
LORI YOUNG
Occupation: Owners,
Silver Lining Herbs
Location: Buhl, Idaho
Business: Equine and
canine herbal health
products
Facility: Production,
packaging and distribu-
tion
Employees: 15
Sales: $1.5 million
annually
Silver Lining Herbs
Mickey and Lori Young, owners of Silver Lining Herbs, on their ranch in Buhl, Idaho.
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Chance Schuknecht, sales and marketing manager at
Silver Lining Herbs, talks about the numerous herbs
used in the company’s nutritional formulas at its
processing facility in Buhl, Idaho.
It kind of started by acci-
dent but grew little by little
into a full-grown business,
Lori said.
Silver Lining Herbs pro-
duces about 30 herbal com-
binations for horses and 20
for dogs, ranging from daily
health maintenance and early
wormer to joint and lym-
phatic support. The com-
pany uses 80 to 100 dif-
ferent ingredients, sourced
from five main suppliers
in North America, Chance
Schuknecht, the company’s
sales and marketing man-
ager, said.
The company has strict
quality-control practices and
is audited by the National
Animal Supplement Council,
which has awarded the busi-
ness its Quality Seal.
The formulas are meant to
provide the variety of health-
ful vegetation horses and
dogs had when they could
range freely to improve their
quality of life, he said.
Young said his goal is
SUNDAY, FEB. 3
North American Straw-
berry Growers Association
Conference: Wyndam Orlando
Resort, 8001 International
Drive, Orlando, Fla. http://www.
nasga.org.
MONDAY, FEB. 4
Oregon Blueberry Confer-
ence: 7:55 a.m.-6 p.m., Salem
Convention Center, 200 Commer-
cial St., Salem. A season recap and
market projections, export mar-
kets, trade show and industry
reception are among the many
topics and events scheduled for
this year’s conference. http://
oregonblueberry.com.
North American Strawberry
Growers Association Confer-
ence: Wyndam Orlando Resort,
8001 International Drive, Orlando,
Fla. http://www.nasga.org.
TUESDAY, FEB. 5
Spokane Ag Expo and
Pacific Northwest Farm Forum:
9 a.m.-5 p.m., Spokane Conven-
tion Center, 334 W Spokane Falls
Blvd., Spokane. Spokane Ag Expo
provides a showcase for agri-
cultural equipment and related
products. Pacific Northwest Farm
Forum spotlights major speaker
events and seminars ranging
across a wide spectrum of current
topics. http://AgShow.org.
North American Strawberry
Growers Association Confer-
ence: Wyndam Orlando Resort,
8001 International Drive, Orlando,
Fla. http://www.nasga.org.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13
TUESDAY, FEB. 12
Changing Hands Workshop
on Farm/Ranch Transfer and
Access: 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m., Geiser
Grand Hotel, 1996 Main St., Baker
City, Ore. Join Rogue Farm Corps
for “Changing Hands: A Workshop
on Farm Transfer and Access to
Land.” This workshop will bring
together retiring and aspiring
farmers for a full day of train-
ing on land access and succes-
sion planning. If you are a retiring
farmer, come learn from experts
about how to pass on your busi-
ness to the next generation and
assess its profitability. If you are
an aspiring farmer, come learn
about creative ways to start your
farm business with topics on find-
ing and leasing agricultural land,
business planning and accessing
financing. Ashley Rood, ashley@
roguefarmcorps.org, (971) 409-
6806.$20. https://bit.ly/2MexZlW.
Produce Safety Rule Course:
8 a.m.-5 p.m., Clarion Inn Ontario,
1249 Tapadera Ave., Ontario, Ore.
The course will cover identify-
ing microbial risks, reducing risks,
and how to best start using rec-
ommended produce-safety prac-
Organicology 2019: Hilton
Portland and Executive Tower,
921 SW Sixth Ave., Portland.
Organicology seeks to bring all
of the stakeholder groups to the
table to not only develop skills in
THURSDAY, FEB. 7
Spokane Ag Expo and
Pacific Northwest Farm Forum:
9 a.m.-3 p.m., Spokane Conven-
tion Center, 334 W Spokane Falls
Blvd., Spokane. Spokane Ag Expo
provides a showcase for agri-
cultural equipment and related
products. Pacific Northwest Farm
Forum spotlights major speaker
events and seminars ranging
across a wide spectrum of current
topics. http://AgShow.org.
THURSDAY, FEB. 14
FRIDAY, FEB. 15
Organicology 2019: Hilton
Portland and Executive Tower, 921
SW Sixth Ave., Portland. http://
www.organicology.org/welcome/
PNW Pollinator Summit and
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.,
CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Ore-
gon State University, 725 SW
26th St., Corvallis. https://
www.oregonbeeproject.org/
pnwpollinators2019.
Harvest and Hearth Farm
and Heritage Workshops:
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., College of
Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd., Cald-
well. The Ada Soil & Water Con-
servation District is hosting the
first Harvest and Hearth Farm
and Heritage Workshops for local
farmers and small acreage own-
ers. This all-day workshop features
four tracks: livestock, farmstead
management, crop production,
and enterprise diversification.
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Chief Operating Officer
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Chief Financial Officer
Capital Press Managers
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Elizabeth Yutzie Sell ... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ............ Production Manager
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mal Supplement Council
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published every Friday.
to help as many horses and
dogs as possible.
“There’re a lot out there
that need it, and owners don’t
know it,” he said.
He knows of cases where
a horse or dog was eutha-
nized because the practi-
tioner or the owner didn’t
think a problem could be
fixed. In many cases, herbs
are the answer, he said.
“I have seen what people
would call miracles (using
herbs) many years now,” he
said.
And he hears it all the
time from his customers —
animals in advanced stages
of illness completely recov-
ering with herbs, he said.
“It’s pretty cool when you
see it happen, and it happens
a lot,” he said.
Silver Lining Herbs has
hundreds of testimonials,
but is unable to print them
or advertise with them under
Food and Drug Administra-
tion regulations, he said.
“I’ll always be an advo-
cate for what it does. We’re
all pretty passionate about
this at Silver Lining,” he
said.
Unfortunately,
people
have lost a lot of the knowl-
edge they had before mod-
ern medicine, but it’s pretty
hard to improve on nature,
he said.
“God put everything we
needed here; all we have to
do is access it,” he said.
CALENDAR
their own areas of activity but to
gain exposure to the challenges
and accomplishments of those
in other areas of the trade and
movement. http://www.organi-
cology.org/welcome/.
PNW Pollinator Summit and
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.,
CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Oregon
State University, 725 SW 26th St.,
Corvallis. A two-day conference
and an additional day of work-
shops designed to “connect-the-
dots” between research, exten-
sion and application. This meeting
is for extension agents, natural
resource professionals, land man-
agers, educators, as well as pol-
linator enthusiasts who want to
develop or enhance the pollinator
programming in their area. Con-
ference talks will be mixed with
discussion sessions, allowing par-
ticipants to network and identify
local knowledge and education
gaps. https://www.oregonbee-
project.org/pnwpollinators2019.
Mike Forrester
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Susan Rana
Harrison Forrester
Mike Omeg
Cory Bollinger
Jeff Rogers
Special guest speakers are the
Muller family from Full Belly Farm
in Guinda, Calif. They will deliver
the morning keynote speech and
join local farmers on several of the
panels. http://www.adaswcd.org.
SATURDAY, FEB. 16
Organicology 2019: Hilton
Portland and Executive Tower,
921 SW Sixth Ave., Portland.
http://www.organicology.org/
welcome/.
PNW Pollinator Summit and
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.,
CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Ore-
gon State University, 725 SW
26th St., Corvallis. https://
www.oregonbeeproject.org/
pnwpollinators2019.
2019 Organic Agriculture
Research Forum: 9 a.m.-7 p.m.,
Hilton Portland and Execu-
tive Tower, 921 SW Sixth Ave.,
Portland. The forum will fea-
ture innovative presentations
from researchers across all dis-
ciplines related to organic farm-
ing and food systems. https://bit.
ly/2ChDV9w
Farm Transition Play and
Workshop: 4-8 p.m., Jessie Mays
Community Hall, 30975 NW Hill-
crest St., North Plains, Ore. Join
the Tualatin Soil and Water Con-
servation District, Rogue Farm
Corps, and instructors from Ore-
gon and Iowa to learn how to
plan for the future of your farm.
Free dinner included. Agenda
includes an performance of
“Map of My Kingdom,” a play
about the issue of land transi-
tion. It will be followed by a dis-
cussion and a presentation
and Q&A with attorney Maria
Schmidlkofer of Schwabe, Wil-
liamson & Wyatt. Charlotte Trow-
bridge, charlotte.trowbridge@
tualatinswcd.org, 503-277-3709.
https://www.swcd.net/event/
farm-transition-workshop/.
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Index
Dairy .......................................................6
Markets .................................................13
Opinion ...................................................6
Water ................................................... 8-9
World Ag Expo ................................. 10-11
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