Farm name:
Z & Z Farms Inc.
Location:
Reardan, WA
Family name(s):
Tom & Wendy Zwainz, Daughter Amanda, Son Joel
Generation:
4th Generation
Farm History:
Tom graduated from the University of Idaho in Ag Education and Ag Economics in 1980. Wendy graduated from WSU in Business in 1982. After college, Tom worked as a farm loan officer for the Farm Credit System. Tom and Wendy began farming with Tom’s parents in 1983. They built their home on the original 1887 Zwainz homestead quarter. Tom and Wendy have two children; Amanda, age 23, a recent graduate from WSU, majoring in Organic Agriculture and currently working for Northwest Farm Credit Bank. Joel, age 21, is a junior at the University of Idaho majoring in Accounting and Agribusiness.
What other crops do you grower?
Tom and his dad were one of the first in the county to raise winter rapeseed. They have since raised canola, mustard, flax, lentils, safflower and corn as well as wheat and barley. In the fall of 1996, after a trip to the Dakota Lake Research farm, they bought a Concord Air Drill. Currently, the farm operates on a four year rotation with some oil seed crops. All fall crops are direct seeded. The spring crops are direct seeded after some fall fertilizing.