For Galen Smith, a financial decision as simple as replacing a pickup truck is made with sustainability in mind.
“We try to find something with a little bit better fuel mileage that matches our needs so that, again, we can have a win for us and a win for the environment,” Smith said. “There’s always small-scale stuff that we try to improve on.” There’s bigger stuff, too.
Roughly a 20-minute drive from the U.S. border with Canada, Coldstream Farms is just outside of Deming, WA. The family-owned dairy covers approximately 1,500 acres with 1,800 milking cows and about 4,000 total animals, including dry cows and youngstock. The farm was started by Jeff and Vickie Rainey in 1978, but over time their daughter, Laura, and their son-in-law, Galen Smith, have become majority owners, with other family members as partners. For the rest of the Coldstream Farms story and others in our Farmer Focus series, check out NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page.
