CAREY, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Shaylin and Eric Heywood said they dreamed of owning reindeer, and last year, it came true when they opened the Sawtooth Reindeer Ranch in Carey.

“Seeing all the kids just in awe that reindeer actually exists makes all the work worth it,” Eric Haywood said.

Since then, they’ve learned how to take care of these unique creatures, and it’s a lot of work.

“I was full-time, we were both full-time, but now I am a stay-at-home-reindeer mom full-time,” Shaylin Heywood said. “These guys do require quite a bit, it’s out here all day every day.”

Their business centers around tours of their ranch and bringing their reindeer to events across the Magic Valley. Another one of their goals is to spread the knowledge of how important these animals are to agriculture.

“The huge culture and history they actually have in agricultural life,” Shaylin Haywood said. “Idaho recognizes that, but like how we have horses, cows and dogs, the Sami people they have reindeer, that is their livestock animal.”

Eric Heywood said that raising reindeer comes with unique struggles.

“When they’re not feeling good, they really do a good job at disguising it,” Eric Heywood said. “Because they don’t want to show weakness, because if they show weakness in a herd environment, they are usually the ones that get cut out or taken out.”

With their reindeer’s success over the years, the Heywoods said they know the community is there for them.

“Everybody has been awesome, and it’s been really cool to see kind of like cheer and happiness that they bring no matter where we go or who comes here, it’s been awesome,” Shaylin Haywood said.

The ranch is preparing to welcome some new additions next year.

“Also, keep an eye out because this spring, we are expecting our first round of calves, so we will have a bunch of baby reindeer running around,” Shaylin Heywood said.

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RUPERT, Idaho — Magic Valley farmers and food producers are always innovating, making the region a “Mecca” for food production. Bare Beans in Rupert is one company that is bringing a fresh approach to a classic food staple

• Bare Beans produces cooked, ready-to-eat beans farmed in the Magic Valley.
• Unlike canned beans, Bare Beans have no liquid, preservatives, or additives.

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Business is booming at Bare Beans in Rupert

“We go through about five of these a day,” Huff said.

Beans have been grown in Idaho as long as there’s been agriculture. And Huff’s husband has farmed them most of his life.

Huff founded Bare Beans in 2018, after looking for a product she could produce using her family’s agricultural commodities

“We simulate the whole scratch homemade process. We do a batch-made kettle-cooked bean that has a great quality, great taste, great smell, but we don’t have all the icky stuff that’s in a can,” Huff said.

The project was no overnight matter.

“Michelle has been in the food industry for like 20 years or so, and we keep seeing this term ‘value-added,’” said Bare Beans marketing director Beth Cofer. “And so when she knew there was something that her husband was already growing that she could revalue back to she thought of this and started talking about it and worked on it until she was able to perfect it into what it is today.”

After the research and development had been sorted out, they started product testing.

“We kind of did a little grassroots marketing and brought to school districts in the area and we just gave the beans away,” Huff said. “And we got some great feedback and we were like ‘Okay, we’re onto something here.’”

The process is just like you’d make beans from scratch at home — they soak beans in batches to rehydrate them, then cook them.

“After they’re done getting cooked, they get all the way out up here to the shakers up there,” Huff said. “They get pumped up there onto our shaker, and then they come down here and get packaged into our packaging.”

The beans are an ingredient in many products, and they distribute nationwide. And they’re revamping their retail product, so you should be seeing Bare Beans in your grocer’s aisles by late 2025.

“We’re just trying to get back to our the original way of rehydrating them all night, open batch kettle cooking, and getting back to the quality of good food,” Huff said.

The Idaho Transportation Department closed State Highway 21 from Idaho City to Lowman on Thursday afternoon due to high avalanche risk.

ITD says that the current weather pattern is likely to trigger avalanches in this section of the highway. Motorists needing to use the roadway after Thursday afternoon will have to use an alternate route, such as State Highway 75.

There are nearly 70 avalanche paths in this 11-mile stretch of SH-21, according to ITD, and avalanches are often triggered without warning, so there is no parking or stopping within this section of the road throughout the winter.