Benton City poultry growers join neighborhood of farms

BENTON CITY — Neighbors and friends shared breakfast on a recent sunny Saturday at a Benton City farm in preparation for their weekend task of slaughtering 300 free-range chickens.

Greene Hills Farm owners Jamie Calley and Stephanie Greene had raised the chickens on a rotation of pasture land for eight weeks and had come to rely on the helping hands of nearby farmers to accomplish the task.

"One of the things we promote is community farming," Calley said. "Everybody in the neighborhood comes together for a common cause."

Creating a sense of community wasn't written into the pair's plan when they bought the 30-acre farm about three years ago, but after meeting the neighbors it became clear they all could help each other out.

It's a you-help-me, I'll-help-you thing, Calley said.

The concept of community goes beyond the borders of the Benton City farms. Calley and Greene sell greens, herbs and eggs at local farmers markets and restaurants and try to keep their operation as local as possible.

"I like being able to provide a product to the local community," Greene said. "It's satisfying to see how excited they are about what we've got."

The two also are trying to help other small poultry growers. They recently bought a chicken scalder and plucker with their neighbors Russ and Laurie Staska of CG Ranch to make their four yearly slaughters easier. And they're working to set up a system that allows others to rent the equipment.

"It is really nice being able to have support with other (farmers)," Russ Staska said.

The Staskas are able to take weekend trips from time to time knowing they can count on Calley and Greene to take good care of their goats and chickens, he said.

"It works out really well having farm neighbors, having someone you can rely on," Russ Staska said.

A workshop on June 8 at Greene Hills aims to help those interested in raising a small number of birds for sale learn more about the process.

Heifer International is working with Greene Hills and the Washington State Department of Agriculture on the workshop in response to an increasing number of people interested in raising poultry, said Colleen Donovan, Pacific Northwest program manager for Heifer International in Ellensburg.

As more people become interested in buying local food, small poultry farmers will have more market opportunities, according to Heifer.

The workshop is open to 20 people and is designed to raise awareness about a WSDA license that will allow small poultry farmers to raise, slaughter and sell on-farm up to 1,000 birds per year. Until this year, the license was limited to pastured chickens only.

Participants also will learn about safety issues and animal welfare, she said.

"People have a real need to reconnect with these skills," Donovan said. "This fits in with the whole picture of learning where our food comes from."

Supporting a local farmer and serving flavorful, fresh food is important to Laurie Kennedy, chef at Prosser's Wine O'clock where a variety of Greene Hills Farm's products are served.

"I think local chefs have the responsibility to support, to utilize their local resources," she said. "A lot of people don't realize what wonderful abundance we have in our backyards."

Eggs from one of the farm's 280 laying hens are used in goat cheese tarts, a rich dark chocolate dessert and a savory bread pudding that comes with a salad made of mixed greens from the farm, Kennedy said.

Calley and Greene also sell spinach, arugula, mizuna and other greens and herbs at the Richland and Prosser farmers markets, as well as freshly laid eggs.

It was at the Prosser market that the pair met Frank Magaña, owner and chef at Picazo 7Seventeen in Prosser.

He now buys greens from the farm that go into the restaurant's house salad.

"We really want to know our farmer," he said.

Both Magaña and Kennedy have asked the farm to grow additional vegetables for the restaurants, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and more.

Some of Greene Hills Farm's other neighbors offered 1,200 square feet of their adjacent land for Calley and Greene to begin a vegetable garden at restaurants' requests.

Cultivating community along with land and animals also means operating as sustainably as possible for Greene and Calley.

During its first two years Greene Hills Farm was certified organic, meaning all animals eat organic feed and have access to pasture and no synthetic pesticides are used on crops, among other requirements.

But when the chickens needed more protein in their diet, Calley couldn't find organic fish meal for sale any closer to home than China.

So when Northwest Seafood Market in Richland offered up fish carcasses, the local option seemed to make more sense than shipping feed all the way across the Pacific Ocean, Calley said.

"We continue organic practices but our main focus is sustainability," she said.

Calley, who worked in various parts of the food service industry for 25 years, said the idea for the farm blossomed when she and Greene ran out of space for their herb garden at their old home in Richland.

They scoped out the 30 acres in Benton City and began researching cow breeds, eventually deciding on the smaller, docile, long-haired belted galloways.

Two will be butchered in the fall, she said.

A small herd of goats sold for meat also roams the farm eating thistles, blackberries and other pesky plants.

As Calley and Greene continue to grow their local network, they're also trying to find the magic balance to turn a profit.

Greene works full time as a plant geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Prosser and handles the marketing for the farm, while Calley spends her days watering the plants and animals, cleaning out the chicken coop, weeding, collecting eggs and other farm duties.

Raising chickens for meat and eggs was a quick path to income, Calley said.

Chickens cost $3 a pound and eggs $4 a dozen.

In a few weekends, friends and neighbors again will gather at the farm to slaughter another 200 chickens. Those interested in buying a chicken can visit www.greenehillsfarm.com and plan to pick up their bird that weekend.

The sense of community, the excitement of showing visitors the farm and of providing them with food grown in a way Calley and Greene believe in motivates them to continue their work.

"It reaffirms that we're doing what we should be doing," Calley said.

* Ingrid Stegemoeller: 509-582-1537; istegemoeller@tricityherald.com; Business Beat blog at www.tricityherald.com