​Derek and Susan Schafer Family,
The Schafers are fifth generation dry-land farmers. Their family farm was homesteaded on 80 acres in 1889 between Lind and Ritzville, WA. The Schafers are descendants of a group of Volga-German pioneering families that settled in Eastern Washington in the late 1800s. The original homestead house was a 1 room structure without electricity or indoor plumbing. Mules were once used to pull equipment and much of the work on the farm was done by hand. Derek and Susan returned to the family farm in 1999 after graduating from the University of Idaho and have 2 children that along with Derek’s parents are actively involved in the farming operation.
​Contact Derek and Susan
Kirk & Mellissa Dugger Family
Jake and Alisha Klein Family,
Farming is a way of life for Jake and Alisha Klein and their three children, Julia (13), Zachary (9) and Joel (5).  Jake was raised on a family farm in Edwall, WA while Alisha was raised on her family farm in Ritzville, WA.  Jake received a Bachelor of Science Degree and minor in Business while Alisha received her BA in Education and minor in Speech Communications.   The couple was married and returned to Ritzville in 2000.   Jake began farming with Alisha’s father on the family farm located 10 miles south of Ritzville, WA.  Walli Farms, Inc. / LaRitz Farms, Inc. grow dryland wheat and raise beef cattle.  Their three children are the 5th generation on the farm and they also have a love and enthusiasm for farming.
Jarod and Denise Wollweber Family,
We are blessed to be 5th generational wheat farmers. Our farm's head quarters was the original homestead of my great great grandpa. Today my wife, three kids and I farm with my Dad and my brother.  We are using the latest farming technology including direct seeding, yield mapping, aim command pro spraying, and prescription fertilizing to help us be the best stewards of the land as possible.
Randy and Lois Gust Family, 
The Gusts are owners of Gust Farms, Inc. and farm fifteen miles south of Ritzville, WA. They grow several varieties of dryland wheat. They are a 4th generation farm family and live on the original homestead site where they raised two daughters. 
Steve and Connie Taylor Family,
We are the third and fourth generation on a farm that was first operated by my grandparents. My grandfather, as a young man, left Missouri headed West, finding employment on a farm near Washtucna, known as Rattlesnake Flat. My grandmother had just obtained her teaching certificate in Wisconsin, and answered an advertisement for a teaching position in a one-room school in Washington (1910). She was boarded at a ranch near where my grandfather worked. They became acquainted, married, and had two children. During this time they were able to realize their dream of purchasing an adjoining farm.

She continued to teach; each morning taking her two infant children in a buckboard wagon to the school house three miles away. Times were difficult, with no savings or local family members for security, a two year draught that resulted in a four bushel crop, hand dug wells, no electricity, and later the depression—to name a few hardships. Now as we farm, we are reminded of the subtle lessons they transferred to the following generations.

We now focus on conservation and stewardship through the use of small dams, terraces, filter and border strips, tree and shrub planting, food and pollination plots, and remote water collection sites—all designed to keep wind and water erosion in check, encourage the appreciation of wildlife, and strengthen our commitment to protect and promote a delicate, well-balanced ecosystem. In summary, we farm with memory and respect for those who came before us, and are dedicated to preserve the viability and the beauty of the family farm to those that follow.