CHEHALIS — Homemade cow and goat cheese from Twin Oaks Farm and Creamery has been a staple at the Olympia Farmers market for three years.
Now with all but one of the farm’s goats dead, and several of its cows dead or sick, it’s uncertain when the popular cheese will return.
“I’m just a little cheese maker,” said Heather Howell, who owns the creamery with her husband, Gary. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to get back. That’s the hardest thing. I know people love my cheese.”
The creamery and other small farms that were hit hard by this month’s devastating flood are still assessing their damage and hoping they can recover financially and get back to work.
“Farming … we do it because we love it,” Howell said. “Our time and effort, we’re not paid to do that. That’s the hard thing, you can’t really put a price on it.”
Department of Agriculture Director Valoria Loveland said the state doesn’t yet have a good figure on the total damage suffered by farms, but initial reports show that livestock losses alone numbered about 1,600.
Loveland encouraged farmers to go to their local farm services agencies and report their losses to ensure they get the help that they need.
“I certainly hope that people are able to stay on the farm,” she said. “Anything I can do, I’m gonna help them do that.”
Howell estimates her damages are close to $500,000 when she counts the loss of livestock and feed and about 500 pounds of cheese, as well as the flood damage to their home on the farm. She cried as she recounted how, before she and her family were forced to evacuate the rising waters, she locked her 30 goats in the barn, thinking they were on high enough ground to be safe. One goat, now named Lucky, was the sole survivor.
“I raised all those babies,” she said. “It’s just terrible.”
Charlie Haney, general manager of Olympia Farmer’s Market, has raised thousands of dollars for about a dozen of her vendors whose farms were damaged or completely devastated.
“I’ve been here 17 years,” Haney said, choking back tears. “These are my family and friends.”
She said that the market has been providing items the farms need for cleanup, including gravel. Donations are being collected at the market as well, with 100 percent of them going to the farmers. So far, more than $12,000 has been raised.
The Washington Farm Bureau has raised nearly $20,000 so far for flood relief, and recently toured several farms in the area along with legislative leaders.
Lewis County and Grays Harbor counties were recently declared federal disaster areas, which allows up to $28,800 in aid for each uninsured household, plus low-interest federal loans.
But many are going to need more.
“In terms of the survival of a farm itself, some of them have lost everything,” said Dan Wood, a spokesman for the farm bureau. “It’s not that they’re shut down temporarily. They don’t have any livestock. It’s incredibly devastating.”
At John and Traci Brunoff’s organic dairy farm in Chehalis, a 6 foot-high water line on the shop building marks the water’s high point. The Brunoffs’ milk, which they sell to Wisconsin-based Organic Valley, came from the 272 Holstein and Jersey cows that lived on their 100-acre farm. Only 14 survived.
John estimated that there’s more than $1 million of damage to the home and farm, with the livestock loss alone at $650,000.
Brunoff said he’s waiting to hear about what aid might be available to him before deciding whether his family can afford to stay on the farm.
“It’s tough for me as a farmer,” he said. “My pride gets in the way. I never like to ask for anything except in a desperate situation. It’s a totally humbling experience.”
Jennifer Belknap, who runs Rising River Farm with her husband, Jim McGinn, in Rochester said they lost about $6,000 worth of produce in the flood but managed to get much of their equipment to higher ground.
“It could have been much worse,” she said.
The cabbage, kale, onions, carrots, potatoes and other assorted vegetables that they grow on their 20-acre farm were under water and are now covered with mud — and are now a loss.
The organic produce farm sells to the Olympia Farmer’s Market and to the city’s co-ops and does direct sales to customers through community supported agriculture shares.
“It’s a very abrupt end to the season,” Belknap said. “It’s like someone pulled the plug and that’s that.”
Much harder hit was Boistfort Valley Farm in Curtis, where acres of produce was buried under a foot of mud.
A busy team of volunteers was spread across the farm: using back hoes to push away the mud, hand washing tools found buried in the mud, and keeping up the spirits of owners Mike and Heidi Peroni.
Of the 35 acres that are currently being farmed, Peroni said there’s about 15 acres of salvageable crops. The problem is they have no potable water and can’t wash the vegetables. Pallets of stored vegetables were all lost, as were thousands of dollars worth of supplies like plastic bags, digital scales and plastic crates.
“We’re effectively out of business,” he said, estimating the damage at about $800,000. “We’re at a standstill.”
The Peronis sell their goods at several farmers markets, including Olympia and Seattle, to co-ops in Olympia and directly through community supported agriculture shares.
He said his first focus is cleaning up his farm, then dealing with the paperwork to see what type of aid he’s eligible for. No matter what, he wants to be up and running as soon as possible.
“I’m scared,” he said. “But I remain hopeful. If I consider this a tragedy and walk away from it, it will be a tragedy for the rest of my life. I’m not willing to live like that.”
To cement that sentiment, friend and volunteer coordinator Hannah Johnson hung the farm’s large metal sign above the garage, which was serving as volunteer headquarters, with food, bottled water, spare pairs of mud boots, and cleaning tools.
“There, back in business,” she said.
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