Announcing Thundering Hooves as 2005 Award Winner
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Thundering Hooves ranch of Walla Walla has been selected as this year’s winner of the annual Vim Wright Stewardship Award. The 4th generation family farm owned and operated by the Huesby family, was chosen for their outstanding stewardship of the land, air and water, as well as their tireless leadership in educating the public about why those practices are important.
The Vim Wright Stewardship Award recognizes and rewards farmers and ranchers whose exemplary stewardship practices are protecting the quality of our food and the long-term health of Washington's ecosystems. Named after the late Vim Wright, a tireless advocate for protecting Washington’s environment and keeping family farms in business, the award publicly recognizes and financially rewards Washington state stewardship farmers.
In early September, F&E’s Stewardship Committee composed of farmers and environmentalists, reviewed a competitive pool of award applicants who successfully met 70% of F&E’s Stewardship Principles.
The Stewardship Committee then made personal tours of those top farms whose practices exemplified these principles and further evaluated them based on the following Award Criteria:
Stewardship Criteria for Awards Selection:
· Long-standing stewardship ethic.· Well known & documented dedication and commitment to good stewardship on their Agricultural operation.· They share their knowledge and experience with their peer groups and others and constantly strive to improve the stewardship of their operation.· Management decisions on the operation always include evaluating the ultimate impact on the natural resources.· Employees are trained to recognize and appreciate the extra effort necessary to constantly protect and enhance the environment.· All best available science is utilized, and an ongoing development of new, untried management practices or systems is never-ending. |
Given the inspiring, dedicated and successful work of four impressive farms, F&E is proud to recognize three finalists and our award winner, The Huesby Family of Thundering Hooves, at our second annual Vim Wright Stewardship Award Dinner on October 2, 2005.
Huesby Family Earns 2005 Award
The Huesby Family has successfully metamorphosed their fourth generation family farm located in the fertile valley of Walla Walla, from a struggling dryland wheat farm, to a thriving pastured livestock operation that follows the natural laws governing the relationships between grazing animals and grassland. Today, the Huesby family raises 100% grass-fed beef, free range chickens, turkey, lamb, pork, and goat on 399 acres of lush, organic alfalfa and grass pastures.
For the Huesby’s, an integral part of good stewardship is bringing operations back to the local level, developing relationships with the folks who eat their food, and educating their communities. The Huesby motto is: "You know your dentist, you know your doctor, but do you know your farmer?"
To this end, they are actively engaged with community groups across the state and beyond, opening their farm up for tours & classes and speaking at countless civic and church meetings, conferences and other venues, about their stewardship values and practices. They believe the number of miles from farm to fork must be drastically reduced from the 1,500 mile average that food travels today.