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2 CapitalPress.com October 14, 2016 People & Places A different way to farm Ronnie Miller uses hydroponic system to grow year-round crop of lettuce Western Innovator Capital Press Laura Lee Farms Co-founders: Father and son, Ron Miller and Ronnie Miller Entire contents copyright © 2016 EO Media Group dba Capital Press Product: Boston butterhead lettuce An independent newspaper published every Friday. System: Hydroponic Harvest capacity: 1,200 heads per day Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Employees: Two Ronnie Miller, a partner in his family’s Laura Lee Farms, holds a head of lettuce not quite ready for harvest and a bag of the farms’ packaged product. preneurial spirit — an enthusi- asm fueled by the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” Miller said. That enthusiasm was cru- cial given the amount of work Miller and his father had to do to get the place in shape. “There was a lot of de- ferred maintenance. We had to pretty much ix everything,” Miller said. But it gave the father and son plenty of enjoyable time working together, he said. Miller moved to the farm last year and runs the day- to-day operations. His father stays involved, and the two work together to make deci- sions, develop a game plan and hone their time manage- ment, Miller said. “We’re excited to feed peo- ple. We’re excited to serve as many people as possible. That’s why we exist,” he said. The operation has the ca- pacity to harvest 1,200 heads of lettuce a day, and it’s a “su- per clean” product, grown in an inert medium without pes- ticides and using integrated pest management practices, Miller said. The greenhouse is heated by water from a hot spring, which provides 178-degree water. The closed hydroponic system conserves water. The estimated water use at full ca- pacity is 1,000 gallons per day, little compared to a traditional 1-acre greenhouse operation, he said. The business, which start- ed shipping in May, only grows butterhead lettuce now, but the plan is to grow other produce once the Millers work out what the community needs and what retailers want, he said. By BRENNA WIEGAND For the Capital Press Calendar Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press Dylan Wells watches the pumpkins pile up in a warehouse at Au- tumn Harvest Pumpkins. The Hubbard, Ore., online business has shipped 300,000 pounds this year. Their catalog is simple: two types of mini-pumpkins and a white mini variety. Dylan Wells, 28, said the move has enabled them to go from 60 employees to three: Dylan, his mother and one employee. “Our payroll has decreased almost $800,000 so far this year,” Wells said. “This year we’re shipping about 300,000 pounds and are supporting two families. On heavy days Sponsored by: To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www. capitalpress.com and click on “Sub- mit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301. Saturday-Sunday Oct. 15-16 All About Fruit Show, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Clackamas County Fairplex, Canby, Ore. This is an opportunity to taste pears, apples, kiwis and grapes and order a custom-grafted tree. Speakers will answer questions and an ID Team will identify “mys- tery” apples. www.homeorchardsoci- ety.org/events/2016-fruit-show/ Gorge Fruit and Craft Fair. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Hood River County Fair- grounds, 3020 Wy’east Road, Odell, Ore. www.hoodriverfair.org Wednesday-Saturday Oct. 19-22 2016 National FFA Convention Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Location: Bliss, Idaho The lettuce takes about 50 days to mature in optimum growing conditions — humid and 65 degrees. The green- house provides year-round production and a constant cy- cle of planting and harvesting. While the production sys- tem is capital-intensive, it of- fers many advantages, Miller said. “You can get so much done with just a few people. You can grow year-round, and it allows you to change things and mimic nature,” he said. The operation is food-safe- ty certiied by PrimusLabs and primarily sells to distrib- utors that supply restaurants and retailers. The farm is also a member of Idaho’s Bounty and Idaho Preferred, and Mill- er is always on the lookout for ways to grow the demand for the lettuce. Contacts: www.lauraleef- arms.com, (208) 352-3115, Ronnie@lauraleefarms.com The mentor in Hawaii — and another in Canada — have helped the Millers make their dream a reality, and Miller hopes to be able to help others in turn. The mission of the farm is to feed a lot of people high-quality food, but the family also values and pro- motes self-development, i- nancial freedom and helping others ind success, he said. Miller remains involved in the family businesses in Jack- son. His wife, Kristy, handles social-media marketing and graphics for those businesses and lives in Boise, and the two travel back and forth between Boise and Bliss. They are ex- pecting their irst child in Feb- ruary. Family farm grows tiny pumpkins into big business HUBBARD, Ore. — Dylan Wells and his brother, Darren, were just boys when they tried selling the family farm’s excess mini-pumpkins on the internet. Little did they know their efforts would blossom into a thriving business. Their parents, Dan and Diane Wells, established D. Wells Farms near Hubbard, Ore., in 1990. They started a reforestation and Christmas tree seedling nursery and a grafted ornamental tree busi- ness. Brothers Darren and Dylan were in grade school when they started their business, Autumn Harvest, in 1998. “Darren and I sold pump- kins out of a 1965 Chevro- let pickup in the driveway,” Dylan said. By 2015 they were grow- ing 20 varieties of winter squash, 10 mini-pumpkin va- rieties and some larger pump- kins, pickling cucumbers and dill on 220 acres. This year they scaled down to 14 acres and as of next year will be completely out of the farming business, going en- tirely to online retail sales as AutumnHarvestPumpkins. com. Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate oficer John Perry Chief operating oficer By CAROL RYAN DUMAS BLISS, Idaho — Ronnie Miller has embraced his new high-desert farm, marveling at the glorious sunrises and sun- sets that bookend his days as he grows thousands of heads of lettuce — without soil. Originally from Jackson, Wyo., the co-founder and CEO of Laura Lee Farms spends most of his days inside a 1-acre greenhouse, where he plants, monitors, harvests and packages Boston butterhead lettuce. With a degree in inance from the University of Wyo- ming, he is also involved in purchasing, marketing and keeping the books. The hydroponic operation — no soil needed — is named for his mother and spearhead- ed by his father, Ron, who in 2013 purchased the 330-acre White Arrow Ranch that hous- es the greenhouse operation. The greenhouse once raised mushrooms and toma- toes but sat vacant for several years before Miller’s father bought it at auction to pursue an interest in hydroponics. That interest was spurred by a friend and mentor, who grows cucumbers hydroponically in Hawaii. The venture is different from the family’s business holdings in real estate and the hospitality industries in Jack- son but falls within its entre- Capital Press and Expo. Bankers Life Field House and Indiana Convention Center, Indi- anapolis, Indiana. www.ffa.org Thursday, Oct. 20 Oregon Soil and Water Com- mission meeting. 8:30-11:30 a.m. Monarch Hotel, 12566 SE 93rd Ave., Clackamas, Ore. http://bit.ly/2dA- yA0R Urban AgFest. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Parrish Middle School, 802 Capitol St. NE, Salem, Ore. www.aglink. org Conined Animal Feeding Oper- ations Advisory Committee meeting. 1:30-3:30 p.m. Oregon Department of Agriculture, Conference Room D, 635 Capitol St. NE, Salem. http://bit. ly/1vCHJfr Friday-Saturday Oct. 21-22 Montana Farmers Union Con- vention, Best Western Heritage Inn, Great Falls, Montana. montanafarm- ersunion.com UPS drops a trailer here for the day.” The pumpkins Autumn Harvest sells come from a network of growers in Oregon and Washington. “Over the last 17 years that I have been doing this I have built up quite a network of growers,” Wells said. “In the coming years I am going to be relying on that network to supply us with product.” The only farm equipment needed now is a washer for the pumpkins and a forklift. “Other than that we don’t need much else,” he said. At the same time, the world needs pumpkins, espe- cially the East Coast. “New York, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Mary- land … 85 percent of our product is sent to the East Coast,” Wells said. “They try to access them locally but they just aren’t available in their areas. We do a lot of Halloween parties, churches and schools, lots of colleges. And the white mini-pumpkins are very popular for fall wed- dings.” They also sell to birthday parties for toddlers at which mini-pumpkins are scattered across the yard like an egg hunt, he said. “A lot of our customers are event venues and lorist shops; we supply a chain of gyms that want to deco- rate their welcome counters and we have supplied multi- ple Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts for their seasonal events,” he said. Because they’re so easy to ind on the internet, Autumn Harvest Pumpkins receives many requests from maga- zines needing pumpkins for fall photo shoots. “When you Google mini-pumpkins we are one of the top results that come up, and there is no Oregon sales tax, which is a plus for a lot of our customers,” Wells said. They try to keep their pric- es reasonable. “People are often shocked when they ind out it’s $125 for 100 pumpkins, including shipping,” he said. He believes the busi- ness is thriving because the mini-pumpkin is a unique product that can’t be found in many areas. “Not everyone in the coun- try can just walk out and ind it at the farmers’ market or in the grocery store,” he said. “I think we who live in the Pa- ciic Northwest tend to take for granted all the things that we are able to buy fresh and locally.” Wells said retail sales are very different from wholesale. “With wholesale you build a relationship with the buyer; you’re talking every day,” Wells said. “With the online store we only talk to about 10 percent of the people. The or- ders come in and we ill and ship out.” About 25 percent of their customers return each year. “The repeat customers are the institutions with yearly events — schools mostly,” he said. GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com Saturday, Oct. 22 Oregon Agriculture in the Class- room 16th Annual Fall Harvest Din- ner and Fundraiser, 5 p.m. CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Oregon State University, 725 SW 26th St., Corval- lis. The social hour and silent auction start at 5 p.m., dinner at 6:30 and the oral auction at 7:45. oregonaitc.org/ Tuesday-Wednesday Oct. 25-26 Oregon Society of Weed Sci- ence annual meeting, 8 a.m. Best Western Hood River Inn, 1108 E. Marina Way, Hood River, Ore. Wednesday-Friday Oct. 26-28 FSPCA Preventive Controls for Animal Food Course, 8 a.m. Sprin- ghill Suites by Marriott,424 E. Park Center Blvd., Boise, Idaho. The course will cover an overview of the FSMA requirements for animal food, current good manufacturing practice requirements, animal food safety 20 Northwest Locations hazards, an overview of the food safety plan and other related issues. Cost: $650/person for 2 or more peo- ple from the same company register- ing together or $720 per individual. Friday-Sunday Oct. 28-30 Oregon State Beekeepers As- sociation Fall Conference 2016, The Oregon Garden, 879 W. Main St., Silverton, Ore. The theme for this conference is “Beekeeping Out of the Box.” Other topics such as honeybee health will be covered as well. Speakers include Tom Seeley, George Hansen, Ramesh Sagili, John Skinner, Elina Nino, Judy Wu and Miksa Queens. There will be a beginning beekeeping class running concurrently with the main meeting on Saturday. . Sunday, Oct. 30 Farm Succession Planning Workshop. 4-8:30 p.m. Forest Grove United Church of Christ, 2032 Col- lege Way, Forest Grove, Ore. Host- 1-800-765-9055 ed by Tualatin SWCD, Rogue Farm Corps and Dairy Creek Community Food Web. RSVP requested at 971-409-6806 or nellie@roguefar- mcorps.org, http://www.swcd.net/ event/leaving-a-legacy/ Tuesday-Thursday Nov. 1-3 2016 NIAA Antibiotics Sympo- sium. Antibiotic Use — Working Together for Better Solutions. Na- tional Institute for Animal Agriculture conference at Hyatt Regency Dull- es, Herndon, Va. animalagriculture. org/2016-Antibiotics-Symposium, call 719-538-8843 or email niaa@ animalagriculture.org Thursday, Nov. 3 UI Extension Forestry Short Course. 6-9:30 p.m. Centennial Distributing Co. meeting room, 701 W. Buckles Road, Hayden, Idaho. This six-session program continues every Thursday through Dec. 15 and covers many topics. www.uida- ho.edu/extension/forestry Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing ofices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. 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