2
CapitalPress.com
September 2, 2016
People & Places
Firm markets WSU grain varieties
Marci Miller also
helps farmers,
others understand
ag options
Western
Innovator
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
RITZVILLE, Wash. —
Marci Miller remembers
a plaque on the wall in her
grandmother’s farm house in
Ralston, Wash.
The lettering said, “He who
plants the seed beneath the sod
and waits to see believes in
God,” and it depicted a farm-
er and his wife looking across
their land.
“I always remember look-
ing at that and thinking to my-
self, ‘I love that thought, that
theory,’” Miller said. “It takes
faith to farm.”
But, she said, “it also takes
hard work, a lot of knowledge
and education.”
That’s what Washington
Genetics LLC, the company
Miller owns with her husband,
Mike, helps to provide farmers
and others.
The Ritzville, Wash., com-
pany markets Washington
State University’s grain variet-
ies, including answering ques-
tions about the varieties and
licensing seed dealers.
“When I think of the word
‘genetics,’ I don’t necessarily
think of the chemical makeup
of something,” Miller said.
“To us, it’s more technology
advancement and research.”
The information highway
is two-way. Washington Ge-
netics also provides informa-
tion from customers to WSU,
helping breeders select the
Marci Miller
Age: 38
Occupation: Co-owner,
Washington Genetics LLC
Hometown: Ritzville, Wash.
Education: Associate
degree in applied science,
agricultural chemical science
and agricultural business
science, Spokane Communi-
ty College
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Family: Husband, Mike, is
also an owner of Washington
Genetics, a member of the
Washington Grain Commis-
sion and an oficer of U.S.
Wheat Associates. Three
children.
Marci Miller stands outside the ofice of her company, Washington Genetics LLC, in downtown Ritz-
ville, Wash., on Aug. 11.
right lines for release and de-
velop a strategy for increase to
get new varieties to growers
more quickly, said Jim Moyer,
director of WSU’s Agricultural
Research Center.
The company also works
with the Washington State
Crop Improvement Associa-
tion to manage royalties so ev-
eryone understands and meets
contract conditions.
“We are exceeding our ex-
pectations in terms of market
penetration for our new vari-
eties, and this in turn adds to
our bottom line for royalty col-
lection,” Moyer said, crediting
Washington Genetics’ market-
ing efforts. “It has almost im-
mediately raised the stature of
our breeding program with the
private breeders based on the
relationships we are develop-
ing with the companies.”
Making sure growers are
aware of and can access the
best WSU varieties increases
the industry’s investment in
the university, Moyer said.
“Every university ap-
proaches commercialization
of their varieties differently,”
he said. “We are in a deinite
minority as far as this ap-
proach goes, but a lot of our
peers are watching us very
closely.”
The company goes beyond
marketing. It also serves as a
resource to help clients rang-
ing from growers to cities
and other government entities
working with agriculture.
“At some point, everything
has some type of agricultural
perspective to it,” Miller said.
“Every city, big or small, has
agriculture on the outlines of
it. That does affect anything
that goes on in the cities.”
Farmers might be looking
to explore new crops or de-
velop a new product. A school
might be leasing some farm
ground but need help under-
standing what the farmer is do-
ing or sorting through USDA
paperwork.
“There’s a deinite gap be-
tween who understands who
and how they can work togeth-
er,” Miller said. “Even grow-
ing up, I would recognize the
struggles my dad would have
trying to connect with ‘big ag’
industry-type things and how
he could get that to apply to
his farm.”
Miller applies the same
theory to her current work.
“Tell me what you need,
and I will tell you what we
can do, or I can point you in
the direction of someone who
Website: http://www.wash-
genetics.com/
Associated Press
LOS BANOS, Calif. — A
drone whirred to life in a cloud
of dust, then shot hundreds of
feet skyward for a bird’s-eye
view of a vast tomato ield in
California’s Central Valley, the
nation’s most productive farm-
ing region.
Equipped with a state-of-
the-art thermal camera, the
drone crisscrossed the ield,
scanning it for cool, soggy
patches where a gopher may
have chewed through the bur-
ied drip irrigation line and
caused a leak.
In the drought-prone West,
where every drop of water
counts, California farmers are
in a constant search for ways
to eficiently use the increas-
ingly scarce resource. Cannon
Michael is putting drone tech-
nology to work on his ields at
Bowles Farming Co. near Los
Banos, 120 miles southeast of
San Francisco.
About 2,100 companies
and individuals have feder-
al permission to ly drones
for farming, according to the
drone industry’s Association
for Unmanned Vehicle Sys-
tems International.
Federal regulators relaxed
the rules Monday on commer-
cial drones, a move that could
spur even greater use of such
aircraft on farms.
Michael is descended from
Henry Miller, a renowned cat-
tle rancher, farmer and West-
Calendar
Scott Smith/Associated Press
Danny Royer, vice president of technology at Bowles Farming Co.,
prepares to pilot a drone over a tomato ield near Los Banos, Calif.
The farm hired Royer this year to oversee drones equipped with a
state-of-the-art thermal camera.
ern landowner who helped
transform semi-arid central
California into fertile farmland
150 years ago by building irri-
gation canals, some still low-
ing today.
Six generations later, Mi-
chael farms a 17-square-mile
portion of that same land,
growing melons, carrots, on-
ions, cotton and almonds,
while carrying on in the same
pioneering spirit as Miller.
“I’ve always been a big fan
of technology,” said Michael,
44, mindful of how climate
change is making water more
precious. “I think it’s really the
only way we’re going to stay
in business.”
On his 2,400-acre tomato
crop alone, Michael estimates
that this year his leak-detect-
ing drones could save enough
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Friday, Sept. 2
Washington State Fair, 10 a.m.-
10 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puy-
allup. (253) 845-1771, http://www.
thefair.com/
Washington State Fair, 10 a.m.-
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lup. (253) 845-1771, http://www.
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Oregon State Fair, 10 a.m.-11
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
2330 17th St. NE, Salem, 971-701-
6573, http://oregonstatefair.org/
Saturday, Sept. 3
Washington State Fair, 10 a.m.-
10 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puy-
allup. (253) 845-1771, http://www.
thefair.com/
Eastern Idaho State Fair, 97
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https://funatthefair.com/
Sunday, Sept. 4
Oregon State Fair, 10 a.m.-11
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
2330 17th St. NE, Salem, 971-701-
6573, http://oregonstatefair.org/
Eastern Idaho State Fair, 97
Park St., Blackfoot. 208-785-2480,
https://funatthefair.com/
Monday, Sept. 5
Washington State Fair, 10 a.m.-
9 p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyal-
water to sustain more than 550
families of four for a year.
California endured the dri-
est four-year period on record
before a relatively wet and
snowy winter this year over-
lowed some reservoirs in
the northern part of the state.
Southern California, however,
remains dry, and the statewide
drought has not ended.
Beyond California, drones
are becoming ixtures on farms
in places such as Canada, Aus-
tralia, South Africa and Latin
America as they become more
affordable and easier to use,
said Ian Smith of DroneDe-
ploy, a San Francisco-based
industry leader in drone soft-
ware development.
A farmer can order a com-
mercial-grade drone online
for $2,000 and receive it in
the mail days later, he said. Its
video camera is then paired up
with a smartphone or comput-
er tablet that is used to control
the drone.
“Hook it up to a smart-
phone. Boom. Take off and
you’re in business,” Smith
said.
Many farmers, however,
have yet to grasp the full po-
tential beyond capturing video
images of crops or using in-
frared cameras to spot color
variations in the plants that
can signal a problem.
Few have used technology
and invested in it to the degree
Michael has.
This year he began using
the thermal camera, which
can cost up to $10,000 and
can show moisture variations
in soil. He also created a new
management position at his
company dedicated to over-
seeing drones.
Recently, Danny Royer,
the new vice president of tech-
nology at Bowles, stood at the
tailgate of his pickup studying
live images transmitted to the
screen of his tablet as a drone
buzzed 300 feet overhead.
Rows of mature tomato
plants appeared on the screen
in glowing burnt orange, in-
dicating warmer, drier areas,
while dark patches of purple
showed the cool moist soil
hidden below the plants.
After taking the images
back to his ofice to analyze
them, he decided there were
no leaks to repair, but the
can,” she said.
Besides Washington, the
irm serves clients in Idaho,
Oregon and Montana and
is starting to branch out to
Northern California.
Miller believes the com-
pany is at a “growing pain”
stage: There’s a lot of need,
but she’s trying to balance
the business, family life with
three children and two farms
— the irrigated farm she grew
up on and Mike’s family farm.
“The opportunities to be
able to help the ag industry
are endless,” she said. “I’m
excited about that.”
soil needed to be enriched in
places to help the ield grow
evenly.
The Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration’s new rules say
operators of commercial
drones that weigh less than 55
pounds will no longer need to
go through the long, expen-
sive process of earning an air-
plane pilot’s license.
Instead, they will have to
take a written test — but not
an actual lying test at the
controls of a plane — and will
be issued a drone license for
$150.
The rule change and
emerging technology could
make drones more attractive
tools for farmers, said Bran-
don Stark, director of the
University of California’s
Center of Excellence for Un-
manned Aircraft Systems
Safety, based at the Merced
campus.
However, he said that until
federal regulators clarify parts
of the new rules, commercial
drones must continue to ly
below 400 feet, limiting their
use on very large ields.
Stark is seeking what he
calls the Holy Grail of drone
use in agriculture — enabling
them to directly diagnose
what ails a tree, whether it’s
deiciencies in water or nu-
trients, or a pest — without
having to send a person into
the ield.
“We’re just getting start-
ed,” Stark said. “The research
is really still in its infancy.”
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
20 Northwest Locations
1-800-765-9055
492-4200 or bgr@ricedairy.com
Oregon State Fair, 10 a.m.-10
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
2330 17th St. NE, Salem, 971-701-
6573, http://oregonstatefair.org/
the relationship between soil and
plants, hand versus mechanical
tillage, soil structure and texture,
the cast of characters in the soil
and how to improve soil. https://
secure.oregonstate.edu/osuext/
register/1064
Eastern Idaho State Fair, 97
Park St., Blackfoot. 208-785-2480,
https://funatthefair.com/
Eastern Idaho State Fair, 97
Park St., Blackfoot. 208-785-2480,
https://funatthefair.com/
Eastern Idaho State Fair, 97
Park St., Blackfoot. 208-785-2480,
https://funatthefair.com/
Tuesday, Sept. 6
Upgrade Your Dairy Decisions
Workshop and Lunch, noon-2
p.m. Darigold headquarters, 1130
Rainier Ave. S, Seattle. Learn how
a growing number of dairy farms
are using Vault Technologies to
save time and make financial de-
cisions with greater confidence.
One type of financial manage-
ment on a dairy farm is hedging.
Rice Dairy LLC will be there to
share ideas and experiences on
how dairies are using technology
to become better hedgers. 312-
Upgrade Your Dairy Decisions
Workshop, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Snipes
Mountain Brewery, 905 Yakima
Valley Highway, Sunnyside, Wash.
Learn how a growing number of
dairy farms are using Vault Tech-
nologies to save time and make
inancial decisions with greater con-
idence. One type of inancial man-
agement on a dairy farm is hedging.
Rice Dairy LLC will be there to
share ideas and experiences on
how dairies are using technology to
become better hedgers.
lup. (253) 845-1771, http://www.
thefair.com/
Practical Application of Soil
Management Principles: Down
and Dirty, 5:30-8:30 p.m. SOREC
Extension Building Auditorium, 569
Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore.
Wear your work clothes and bring
gloves for this two-session class.
Move beyond theory and learn
about the Rogue Valley soils. Our
instructors will guide you through
discussions and demonstrations of
how different management practic-
es and equipment affect soil quality,
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Drones help California farmers save every drop of water
By SCOTT SMITH
Capital Press
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