LIFESTYLES
WEEKEND, FEBRUARY 25-26, 2017
“The problem
in America
is that we’re
teaching our
kids how to be
collectors, and
that doesn’t
work. You al-
ways have to
be a produc-
er. Once they
fi gure out that
they get paid
more based on
how much they
produce, they
are on their
way to being
producers and
it will never end
from there.”
EO Media Group photo by Sean Ellis
Farmer Jeff Smith stands on a large mound of earth that is used each June to re-enact the D-Day invasion of German-
occupied France. He uses that event and others to get people on his 200-acre farm and teach them about agriculture.
— Jeff Smith,
Twin Oaks Farms
CULTIVATING MORE
THAN JUST CROPS
Idaho farmer raises knowledge about agriculture and history
could ever dream of, and he appre-
ciates Smith’s emphasis on teaching
people about agriculture and old-fash-
ioned hard work.
“Everything we do out here I feel is
part of the United States growing up,”
he said. “We need to bring back some
of the old into the new generation.”
By SEAN ELLIS
EO Media Group
EAGLE, Idaho — Jeff Smith’s
Twin Oaks Farms are about so much
more than just making money.
It’s also about benefi ting wildlife,
youth development, educating the
public about agriculture and, often,
sheer fun.
Smith grows crops such as pump-
kins, sweet corn, clover hay, corn for
silage, sunfl owers and Idaho’s famous
potatoes. He also raises livestock on
his 200 acres.
But this is not your average farm.
For Smith, providing habitat for
wildlife comes fi rst, followed by
teaching Treasure Valley residents
about agriculture.
It’s also about youth development
— and setting world records.
Making a living and having a blast
in the process are all part of life on the
Eagle, Idaho, farm.
Setting records
Submitted photo
Competitors in the Tater Dash Mud Run at Twin Oaks Farms in Eagle,
Idaho, dig into a world record serving of french fries in 2014. The record
involved 1,003 pounds of french fries made from 1,256 pounds of raw
potatoes cooked in 110 gallons of cooking oil.
‘D-Day’ on the farm
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One unlikely event takes place
each summer on the farm. Every June,
to commemorate the D-Day landing
during World War II, Smith uses a
large mound of earth on his farm to
re-enact the day American and allied
troops invaded German-occupied
France.
The
re-enactment
involves
hundreds of paint ball guns. Anyone
50 and over is a “German” and
stationed at the top of the hill while
any participant under 50 is an “Amer-
ican” and has to try to take the hill.
When an American is hit, he goes
back to the bottom of the hill and starts
over. When a German is hit, he’s out.
The action doesn’t stop until the
hill is taken, no matter how long it
takes.
For the battle, Smith, 55, ordered
a custom-built, fully automatic World
War II-era German replica paint ball
machine gun. It can shoot 300 rounds
a minute.
The battle rages for hours, and
about 60,000 paint balls are fi red
before the hill is taken, said Smith,
whose father fought on Utah Beach
during the historic assault.
“They have to take the fl ag. There’s
no backing down,” he said. “The war
will not end until the battle’s over.”
That experience gives participants
a small appreciation for what Amer-
ican troops endured during the D-Day
landings, he said.
“We will never again experience
... the horror and terror that those
great men experienced, what kind of
courage it took to keep running into
those bullets,” he said. “After getting
shot for four hours by a paint ball
gun, you’re going to survive but, holy
smokes, do you have an appreciation
for (what those men went through).”
“At the same time, we have a
frickin’ blast,” he added.
78
Capital Press graphic
western Idaho’s Treasure Valley from
the highest spot on Twin Oaks Farms.
Smith also believes he has a
responsibility to use his farm to teach
urban residents of the valley about
agriculture and the value of hard
work.
Originally from Ohio, Smith,
who lives on the farm with his wife,
Toni, came to Idaho when he was 19
and has been involved in farming his
entire life. He grew up knowing the
value of hard work and how important
farming is to society, but fears most
Americans have now lost touch with
those concepts.
He tries to reach people at an early
age and employs a couple dozen
youngsters on his farm each year.
He starts by teaching them how
to plant pumpkins in a straight line
with no machinery, so they appreciate
modern farm equipment.
The oldest kid drills a hole with a
stick, the next one drops the seed into
the hole and “the next one, usually
the (youngest) because he’s closest
to the ground, pats the seed into the
ground.”
He said that whether or not they go
into farming, “if nothing else, (they’ll)
appreciate production agriculture.”
The kids get paid depending on
how much they produce.
“The problem in America is that
we’re teaching our kids how to be
collectors, and that doesn’t work,”
he said. “You always have to be a
producer. Once they fi gure out that
they get paid more based on how
much they produce, they are on their
way to being producers and it will
never end from there.”
He also introduces the youngsters
to some of the many advanced career
opportunities involved with farming
and reminds them, “(J.R.) Simplot
was our fi rst billionaire in the state
and he was all agriculture.”
Races and festivals
Smith holds annual events such
as the Tater Dash Mud Run, which
takes participants on a zig-zag course
around the entire farm, and Halloween
Land, a corn maze and harvest festival
to attract as many people as he can
to his farm and give them a taste of
agriculture.
“My goal is to get every kid and
mom and dad on the farm. At least
to touch it, smell and taste it,” Smith
said. “That means they’re not sitting
in front of a television or texting.
They’re out being real humans.”
The Halloween Land event
includes a “bunny hill” that involves
a large mound of dirt covered with
straw and 50 bunnies being chased by
dozens of excited youngsters.
Wendell Livengood, 74, a retired
farmer, lives in a trailer on Smith’s
property and takes care of a lot of
Twin Oaks’ farming-related tasks in
the same 1946 tractor that he bought
when he was 12 years old.
He said it’s the best retirement he
Several years ago, while organizing
the annual Tater Dash footrace, Smith
learned from one of his employees
that the Guinness world records for the
largest serving of french fries, mashed
potatoes and baked potatoes were all
held by groups in other countries.
Idaho is the potato state and
those records belong here, he told
his employees, and they set about
researching how they could bring the
records to Idaho.
They used the Tater Dash, which
attracts about 1,300 people, as the
setting for attempting the world
records.
In 2014 they set the french fry
world record and just missed setting
the mashed potato record in 2015.
A plaque from Guinness recog-
nizing the french fry record hangs
in his offi ce. The record was 1,003
pounds of french fries made from
1,256 pounds of raw potatoes cooked
in 110 gallons of cooking oil.
“We’re going to train harder and
try (for the mashed potato record)
again next year,” Smith said. “The
following year, we’ll go after baked
potatoes.”
“That’s great,” Idaho Potato
Commission member Randy Hardy
said of Smith’s potato world record
efforts. “Idaho is the potato king
around the world and it’s only right
that we should have those records.”
The commission donates potato
sack bags, potato pins and potato
recipe handouts for the event and
hands out Tater Dash promotion
material during the IPC’s annual
Famous Idaho Potato Marathon.
Wildlife fi rst
For all his focus on teaching about
farming, Smith said wildlife come
fi rst on his farm and every inch of it is
designed to benefi t them.
For example, he’ll mow only one
strip of hay at a time so the remaining
crop provides cover for ground-
dwelling birds during nesting season.
He also created “Loghenge,” a play
on the famous English Stonehenge
landmark, by placing ancient, dead
trees in the same layout. Each tree
also provides dens for wildlife.
He has also planted thousands of
trees as habitat for wildlife.
As a result of his efforts to make
his farm wildlife friendly, it is a home
to mule deer, elk, coyotes, foxes,
weasels, badgers, skunks, water fowl
and other birds.
“The entire agricultural portion
of (the farm) is designed for wildlife
habitat,” Smith said. “The two can
absolutely be done together.”