Now that the September wheat harvest is in full swing, Jim Nollmeyer has bees on his mind. Thousands of bees. Owners of Nollmeyer Farms, one of the Northwest family farm suppliers to Stone-Buhr, Jim and his wife, Barb, have been raising wheat in Reardon, WA since 1976, and farming sustainably nearly just as long.

Though he was drawn to farming life as a young boy, Jim left home to become a Lutheran minister. Missing rural life and always seeking a new challenge, he left college and purchased land in Eastern, WA. Jim noticed immediately that his farm was losing rich topsoil to erosion and adopted a ten-year plan to slow the erosion by introducing new practices of no till farming. Direct seeding was still in its infancy, but had a huge impact, changing the ecosystem on the farm. Once more water was available, other positive changes slowly followed. “Even the ducks stayed,” Jim recalls.

With the recent decline of the bee population and the Nollemyer’s crops in danger of losing their pollinators, Jim decided to bring back the bees. He is planting 100 acres designated as pollinator areas for bees in an attempt to allow plants like shrubs and wild flowers to bloom during three seasons. Jim took 1,300 acres out of production for the Conservation Reserve Program, a program funded by the government that provides financial assistance to farmers who plant vegetative cover crops to stop erosion. “Investing in an effort to recapture the bee population has value for our neighbors, as well as to the greater world, ” said Jim.

In addition to trying to rebuild the bee population, Jim sees pheasant, wild turkeys, moose and elk sharing his habitat. “We have to look at the entire watershed and all the good that direct seeding is doing for the land,” said Jim. Currently in the preparation stage for his bee experiment, Jim hopes to see large numbers of bees return in the spring of 2013. “From improved air and water quality to less soil erosion, farming practices that benefit the land are crucial.” And of course, the bees are happier too!

Stone-Buhr is proud to work with small family wheat farmers like Read and Jeremy Smith of Cherry Creek Farm in St. John, Wash., who are committed to sustainable agriculture and to making native plants and wildlife part of their farming practices.

The father-son team of Read and Jeremy Smith has never strayed too far from their land. With six generations of farmers in the family, both 31-year old Jeremy, and his father, Read, are committed to farming and land management practices that challenge the norm.

Located 55 miles from Spokane, WA along the Palouse River, the Smith’s Cherry Creek Farm is Food-Alliance certified. Food Alliance third-party certification means Cherry Creek adheres to certain requirements in their farming practices and stewardship of the land. “My duty is to go beyond conventional farming and be concerned with how everything on my land is interconnected,” says Read. He refers to Cherry Creek Farm’s natural resources as SWAPA, or soil, water, air, plants and animals. Their holistic approach to farming costs the Smiths extra time and money, and demands a true commitment to weaving together all aspects of farm life, right down to the deer, elk and moose who also call the farm “home.”

Their focus on sustainability is best demonstrated by the Smith’s direct-seeding crop system, implemented 30 years ago to help maintain soil quality. The Smiths are also proud of the work they’ve done to restore the indigenous plants to more than five miles of stream banks on their property. “Native plantings like willows and cottonwoods stabilize the stream banks against erosion and recreate the landscape from more than a century ago,” says Read.

Water quality and conservation are two of the main challenges the Smiths face living in a region with less than 15” of annual rainfall. With most of the rain falling during the winter and early spring, capturing the rainfall on the steep hillsides of the Palouse is difficult. A combination of direct seeding, grass buffers, divided slopes and strips and precision spray systems contains the rainfall where it falls and protects water quality. “I am trying to be responsible by using all available technology to grow the best, most nutritional crops I can while protecting and preserving our precious and fragile topsoil.”

Read and Jeremy also built 14 wildlife water stations and planted 100,000 trees and shrubs to provide the animals who live on their land with winter protection and summer shade. “If I provide food, water and shelter for animals, they will come,” says Read. “Every time we make a decision about this farm, we consider all our resources.”

Meet all the farmers who grow the wheat in every bag of Stone-Buhr All Purpose Flour at www.findthefarmer.com

The Spokesman-Review, March 16th

Organic food grower Full Circle Farms of Carnation, Wash., has expanded its farm-to-table delivery service to include Spokane.  The farm, in the Snoqualmie Valley east of Seattle, offers subscribers a weekly or biweekly delivery of organic produce to one of 11 local pick-up sites.  Full Circle Farms was founded in 1996 by Andrew Stout and Wendy Munroe. They grow 50 different crops and 200 varieties on the 400-acre farm.  The Farm-to-Table boxes include produce grown at Full Circle Farm as well as fruits and vegetables from an international network of other organic growers. Subscribers can accept a …

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Northwest Flour Company Brings Renewed Purpose to Baking

San Francisco, Calif. – February 28, 2011- However ubiquitous All Purpose Flour may seem, it is one of the most sought after ingredients by individuals who rely on emergency food boxes to feed their families. Recognizing this need, Stone-Buhr, a 100 year-old wheat flour brand based in the Pacific Northwest, aims to give away up to 100,000 pounds of flour in 2011 through its new All Purpose with a Purpose initiative. Starting today, every purchase of Stone-Buhr Flour by a customer will trigger a flour donation to partner food banks located in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

“As 2010 came to a close, I was really impacted by reports on the rise in the use of food stamps, and the number of people who go hungry in our country,” said Stone-Buhr CEO Josh Dorf. “We’ve always donated flour on request, but the donations didn’t have a focus or involve our customers in a meaningful way. Stone-Buhr’s All Purpose with a Purpose initiative will do just that.”

Stone-Buhr is kicking off the All Purpose with a Purpose program by donating an initial 10,000 pounds of flour to Oregon Food Bank, Northwest Harvest and Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank in Wash., and San Francisco Food Bank. Each quarter, based on sales, additional pallets stacked high with five-pound bags of Stone-Buhr All Purpose flour will sift their way into thousands of food boxes. Donations will be tracked on Stone-Buhr’s website and on the company Facebook page.

Stone-Buhr is distinguished for its support of regional family farmers and sustainable agriculture. Two years ago, the company began selling the first Food Alliance certified All-Purpose Flour grown by Northwest family farmers who are responsibly managing their land with no-till farming practices. At the same time, Stone-Buhr launched a special website, “Find the Farmer” (www.findthefarmer.com), designed to re-connect home bakers with the source of their flour and teach them more about these impassioned farmers.

“I am proud that we are working hard to buy responsibly produced regional wheat and supporting the health and prosperity of the fields and family farms,” said Dorf. “But social equity is about nurturing people too.”

Now home bakers who use Stone-Buhr flour will not only be supporting Northwest farmers who are dedicated to no-till and direct-seed practices that are good for the soil, air and water, but will also be helping to feed hungry families.

“We are beyond grateful that Stone-Buhr’s commitment to preserving the health and prosperity of the environment is extending to include hundreds of thousands of individuals in need,” said Oregon Food Bank Food Resource Manager Mike Moran. “A generous donation of a staple like flour allows us to give our clients a much needed ingredient to sustain themselves.”

Available in major retail grocery stores throughout the Western United States, Stone-Buhr All Purpose Washington White is the only major wheat flour product to be certified sustainable by Food Alliance, the nation’s leading third-party certifier of agricultural producers and processors. Other products sold under the Stone-Buhr label include the leading 100% Whole Wheat Flour, milled from the entire spring wheat berry, promising 100% of its fiber and nutrients and Unbleached White Bread Flour from 100% hard red winter wheat. Packed with flavor and protein, this flour is ideal for bread baking.

Additional information and track-ability is available on Stone-Buhr’s Find the Farmer website, which invites customers to enter a unique code from their bag of flour in order to meet the family farmers who grew the milled wheat inside.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Amy Brown
amyb@seed-pr.com, 503.341.3795

PORTLAND, Ore. – January 21, 2011 – Nothing says “I love you” like a home-baked goodie. This Valentine’s Day, treat your sweetie to a jam heart cookie and all the tools to make them at home. On Saturday, February 12, 2011, Stone-Buhr Flour, one of Northwest’s oldest flour companies, and the beloved Grand Central Bakery are teaming up to offer a Valentine treat any home cook would love.

Stop by the Hawthorne , 2230 SE Hawthorne Blvd., or Multnomah, 3425 SW Multnomah Blvd., bakery café and pick up a copy of The Grand Central Baking Book for the sweet price of $20 (list price $30) and take home a free two-pound bag of Stone-Buhr All Purpose Flour, the same Food Alliance certified flour used in the bakery’s nine Portland and Seattle locations. Visit between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and meet the authors Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson, gather pearls of baking wisdom as well as two previously unpublished recipes for the bakery’s classic Goldendale loaf and a Valentine’s Day favorite, jam heart cookies. More than 800 two-pound bags of Stone-Buhr Flour will be available for Portlanders to take home and enjoy. No purchase is necessary. Signed copies of the specially-priced baking books will be available at all Portland Grand Central Bakery locations.

About Stone-Buhr Flour
One of America’s oldest flour brands, Stone-Buhr’s Washington White All-Purpose Flour is the first major brand to be certified sustainable. Milled from wheat sustainably-grown and harvested by Shepherd’s Grain, a group of Oregon, Washington and Idaho family farmers dedicated to “no till” and “direct seed” practices, the Food Alliance certified flour demonstrates Stone-Buhr’s commitment to preserving the health and prosperity of family farms and the environment. Additional track-ability is available on Stone-Buhr’s Find the Farmer website www.findthefarmer.com, which allows customers to enter a unique code from their bag of flour in order to identify the farm where the milled wheat inside was grown.  Follow Stone-Buhr on Facebook and Twitter for news, recipes and updates.

About Grand Central Bakery
At Grand Central Bakery, everything starts from scratch, because fresh, locally grown ingredients just taste better.  Regional produce inspires the rotating menus and the baked goods reflect the best of the season. Grand Central’s eclectic bakery cafés are places where customers can enjoy a diverse selection of hand-made pastries, scratch-made soups and salads, and delicious, made-to-order sandwiches. In addition to its six Portland retail locations, Grand Central’s artisan breads can be enjoyed at many of Portland’s finest restaurants and purchased at many of Portland’s markets, including Zupan’s, New Seasons, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods and PastaWorks. Learn more about Grand Central Bakery at www.grandcentralbakery.com, follow the bakery on Twitter @GrandCentralPDX or become a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/grand-central-bakery .

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact: Amy Brown
amyb@seed-pr.com, 503.341.3795

Northwest Flour Co. Gives Home Bakers a Dozen Chances to put a Cookbook from Portland’s Favorite Bakers under their Tree

PORTLAND, Ore. — December 3, 2010 – The holiday countdown is on! For the home baker, that means there are cookies to swap, gingerbread houses to build, and fruitcakes to bake. To honor those keeping the sweet tradition of holiday baking aglow, Northwest-grown Stone-Buhr Flour is giving away a dozen signed cookbooks by beloved Northwest pastry chefs between December 12 and December 23.

Three copies each of Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce, owner of Golden Oven; The Grand Central Baking Book by Grand Central Bakery owner Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson; Urban Pantry by Amy Pennington, founder of GoGo Green Garden and UrbanGardenShare.org; and Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson, owner of Baker & Spice and Sweetware, will be gifted to 12 bakers baking.

To enter to win, simply visit Stone-Buhr’s Facebook page, “Like” them, and answer that day’s question.  One winner will be chosen each day from all those who correctly answer the question.  For assistance in answering each day’s question, brush-up on Stone-Buhr’s flour and farmers at www.stone-buhr.com.

One of America’s oldest flour brands, Stone-Buhr’s Washington White All-Purpose Flour is the first major flour product to be certified sustainable by Food Alliance. Milled from wheat sustainably-grown and harvested by family farmers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho dedicated to no-till agricultural methods, the Food Alliance certified flour demonstrates Stone-Buhr’s commitment to preserving the health and prosperity of family farms and the environment.

Bakers can track the origins of their Stone-Buhr Flour at the company’s Find the Farmer website www.findthefarmer.com, which allows customers to enter the unique code from the top of their bag of All Purpose flour in order to identify the actual farms where the milled wheat inside was grown. Follow the company on Facebook and Twitter for news, recipes and updates.

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