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2 CapitalPress.com September 8, 2017 People & Places New use for old irrigation tubing Ken Carhart recycles plastics to preserve poles in vineyards and hop yards Western Innovator Capital Press Ken Carhart Age: 46 Occupation: Owner of Rot- bloc, a product that wraps around posts to prevent them from rotting Education: Graduated from University of Oregon, studied landscape architecture Courtesy of Jessica Carhart Rotbloc owner Ken Carhart, center, stands in front of irrigation tubing flanked by Austin Carpenter, left, and Colt Carpenter of Carpenter Ranches in Granger, Wash. Carhart recycles the tubing into a product that wraps around posts to keep them from rotting. 20-foot rolls and put them in 23 feed and grain stores. The retailer’s approach seemed to be “throw the rolls on the shelf and see if they sell,” he said. They didn’t. Carhart said he was close to bankrupt. He was also sick. While he was trying to get his business going, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. He underwent sur- gery and chemotherapy. Run- ning the struggling business he started didn’t seem so bad. “It was a good distraction from my sorrows,” he said. Around this time Rotbloc took a different tack. While Carhart was sick, his wife, Jes- sica, with no sales background, cold-called farmers and found customers. “Within 30 days, we were profitable and haven’t looked back,” he said. “She is the hero.” Craig Carpenter, whose family owns Carpenter Ranch- es in Granger, Wash., gave Carhart’s product a try, hop- ing to extend the life of trellis poles. “They would always rot right where they touched the ground,” he said. The waterproof material wraps around the post below ground level and a few inch- es above it. After three years, Carpenter said he sees a differ- ence between wrapped and un- wrapped poles. “You can defi- nitely tell it’s working,” he said. Another customer, Yakima Golding Farms of Toppenish, Wash., hopes to extend the life of its poles by 50 to 100 per- cent, the farm’s manager, Mark Sechser, said. The hop farm, owned by John I. Haas Inc., has 70 poles per acre. “There’s a lot of pole money over there,” Sechser said. “We’re pretty excited about hav- ing our poles last longer.” Last year, the Michigan manufacturer suddenly closed without notice. Carhart ob- tained a loan from a nonprofit lender, Craft3 of Portland, and with the help of an engineer, Larry Braun, opened a manu- facturing plant in Bend. The plant can produce 225 pounds of product an hour, though Carhart said he hopes production can be boosted. The company gets plastic and rub- ber from recyclers in Washing- ton and Oregon. Several months ago, a farm- er asked Carhart if he did any- thing with old irrigation tubing. Carhart said “no,” but got to thinking and researching. Car- hart found out the tubing was made from the low-density polyethylene plastic he needs. Other companies, including several in California, recycle irrigation tubing, but for other products. Besides hops, the Carpen- ters grow wine grapes and other types of fruit. Craig Carpenter estimates the farm has 300 rolls of discarded irrigation tubing, each 2 feet wide by 4 feet tall. The rolls are stashed in several places. A gardener occasionally asks for a strip, but that doesn’t even dent the pile. “We were trying to figure out what to do with it,” Carpen- ter said. “There’s a lot of it out there, and it’s got to go some- Family: He and his wife, Jessica, have five children, ages 23 to 7 Innovation: Found a use for discarded drip irrigation tubing where. I don’t know what other places are doing, but we sure found a way out for us.” He said he’s happy that re- cycling is the way out. “We try to be as green as we can.” Since the first trip to Car- penter Ranches, Carhart has hauled away another trailer load of tubing from another farm. “I’m not sure what oth- er outlet there is for that drip tube,” Sechser said. Carhart said most of his Rotbloc customers are in the Northwest, but he also has shipped the product to several foreign countries. On the ma- terial, he prints instructions in four languages: English and Spanish, Italian and German. The Carharts like visiting Italy, and Germany produces hops. “We’re preparing for suc- cess in Germany,” he said. “The sky is the limit at this point.” Ag community comes together for Oregon State Fair By ALIYA HALL Capital Press SALEM — Alea Minar, 14, has been keeping busy this year at the Oregon State Fair. A 4-H’er for six years, Minar shows in every small animal category. “Rabbit, poultry, cavies (guinea pigs), pigeons and dogs,” she listed off. Along with showing an- imals, Minar, who is from Deschutes County, also com- petes in the static 4-H exhib- its such as fashion, sewing, cooking, food preservation, art, photography and leader- ship. This is her second year at the fair. “It’s really awesome,” she said. “We have helpful stewards and volunteers, and great judges. It’s running smoothly.” Minar enjoys all the oppor- tunities that come with 4-H, and she said that it helps her grow as a person. Although she has many favorite parts, one of them is the lead up to the fair. “Everyone is stressed out, Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Mike Omeg Corporate Officer Heidi Wright Chief Operating Officer By DON JENKINS A little more than a month ago, Bend, Ore., entrepreneur Ken Carhart drove to the Car- penter family’s hop farm in Yakima County, Wash., and hauled away discarded drip ir- rigation tubing. The farm was pleased to be rid of it, and Carhart was hap- py to get it. Carhart will recy- cle the tubing into a material to wrap around wooden posts and poles to prevent them from rotting. Carhart has been manufac- turing and selling his patented product, Rotbloc, for several years. Only recently, however, did he learn that his best cus- tomers, farmers, have a surfeit of the raw material he needs. The serendipitous discovery may give farmers an alternative to disposal fees and open a new phase in Carhart’s venture in agribusiness. “This whole thing has been a blessing and sort of a curse,” he said. Carhart, 46, once worked for a lumber distributor and sold wooden posts to farmers. The Environmental Protection Agency then tightened rules on wood preservatives, and options became more limited, Carhart said. In 2013, he quit his job and drew on his experience with posts, agriculture and landscape architecture — that’s what he studied at the University of Or- egon — to design Rotbloc. He contracted with a plant in Michigan to make Rotbloc in Capital Press Aliya Hall/Capital Press 4-H and FFA members compete in one of the poultry competitions. This was the first year that 4-H and FFA members competed together. and you’re studying with your friends, quizzing one another and cleaning the animals,” she said. For 14-year-old Tatum Heathershaw from Washing- ton County, the fair gives her the chance to be around peo- ple who share her love for poultry. “There’s not a lot of places like that,” she said. Once at the fair, Minar and Heathershaw said they liked meeting new people from around Oregon. This year in particular has given them am- ple opportunity to do that. “It’s the first year that 4-H and FFA club members have shown animals together since I’ve been alive,” Candi Both- um, 4-H program coordinator, said. In past years, 4-H would show one week and FFA would show the other, but be- cause many students are going back to school earlier and the groups use the same judges, it made sense to show all the youth competitions together, Bothum said. “It’s been fun. A great op- portunity with great organi- zations,” she said. “The state fair is an opportunity for kids to meet from all over the state. Young livestock raisers and ag enthusiasts — they’re the future of ag. A terrific group of young people.” Combining the shows also helped reduce the number of turnovers the clubs had to make to clean out the animal pens. Bothum said that she thinks the two groups will continue showing together, but they have some logistical issues regarding space to fix for next year. “It’s a big group,” she said, noting that the number of ani- mal entries has gone up. Elsewhere at the fair, the agriculture stage was also a hit, Brooke Broadbent, the showcase organizer, said. She estimated an average of 30 to 50 people attended the pre- sentations. For the activities it “ebbed and flowed.” The most popular event was Egg Day, when 1,500 eggs on a stick were handed out. Although the fair has stopped keeping daily atten- dance tallies, Dan Cox, the fair spokesman, said the fair had a good opening day and there were more discount in- centives this year to bring people out. “I’ve been around fair a long, long time and can see the ebb and flow of the crowd. We’ll get a first wave that stays for several hours and then a second wave of people at night for the concerts,” he said. “On the hot days close to 100 degrees we might see people heading inside more towards the AC, but the one thing we’ve always seen is Oregonians come out no mat- ter what. It’s an interesting thing.” Cox says the fair offered something for everyone. “It’s not just for the urban center,” he said. “It’s for the entire state.” Capital Press Managers Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Entire contents copyright © 2017 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. 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 offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Circulation ......................... 800-882-6789 Email ........ Circulation@capitalpress.com Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff N. California Tim Hearden .................... 530-605-3072 E Idaho John O’Connell ................. 208-421-4347 Idaho Carol Ryan Dumas .......... 208-860-3898 Boise Sean Ellis .......................... 208-914-8264 Cent. Washington Dan Wheat ........................ 509-699-9099 W. 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Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 News: Contact the main office or news staff member closest to you, send the in- formation to newsroom@capitalpress.com or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press. Include a contact telephone number. Letters to the Editor: Send your comments on agriculture-related public issues to opinions@capitalpress.com, or mail your letter to “Opinion,” c/o Capital Press. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Deadline: Noon Monday. Capital Press ag media Calendar 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 “Submit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301 or emailed to newsroom@capitalpress.com. Through Saturday, Sept. 9 Eastern Idaho State Fair. 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Eastern Idaho State Fairgrounds, 97 Park St., Blackfoot, Idaho. Website: https://funatthefair.com/ Through Sunday, Sept. 24 Washington State Fair. 10 a.m.- 10 p.m. Fairground in Puyallup, 110 9th Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. The Washington State Fair, commonly referred to as the Puyallup Fair, is the largest single attraction held annually in the state of Washing- ton. Closed Tuesdays and Sept. 6. Website: www.thefair.com/ Through Friday, Sept. 8 Western Apicultural Society’s 40th annual conference. University of California-Davis Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, Davis, Calif. Bee Culture magazine editor Kim Flotton will address “The Rapidly Changing Bee Scene;” beekeeper and author Les Crowder will discuss managing honeybees in top bar hives; and bee expert Larry Connor will cover “Keeping Your Bees Alive and Growing.” Cost: $225. Website: www.westernapicul- turalsociety.org/ Wednesday, Sept. 13 FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food — One-Day Blended Course. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Hil- ton Garden Inn, 1741 Harrison St., Twin Falls, Idaho. The new Food Safety Modernization Act regulation requires every processing facility to have a trained resource person or “Preventive Controls Qualified Individual” who has completed a specialized training course (such as this one) that was developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance and is recognized by the FDA. This person will oversee the implementation of the facility’s food safety plan and other key tasks. Jeff Kronenberg, an assistant professor at the University of Idaho and Food Safety Specialist at TechHelp, will GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com offer this One-Day FSPCA Blended Course as an alternative to the tra- ditional 2.5-day course. Cost: $330. Website: www.techhelp.org Thursday, Sept. 14 Food Safety Internal Auditor Workshop. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Hilton Garden Inn, 1741 Harrison St., Twin Falls, Idaho. A comprehen- sive audit system is essential to a company’s food safety and product quality. It provides confirmation that systems and procedures are oper- ating effectively and identifies ar- eas that require improvement. The Internal Internal Auditor Workshop will teach you how to conduct in- ternal audits in your facility against one of the GFSI Audit Schemes, which are becoming a standard for the food industry as a tool for assuring food safety and regulato- ry compliance and have become a customer requirement for many processors. Many of the schemes require formal, documented training for personnel who conduct internal auditing. This one-day course will provide attendees with a full un- derstanding of audit requirements as well as promote personal pro- 20 Northwest Locations fessional development. Cost: $330. Website: www.techhelp.org Friday, Sept. 15 2nd Annual Rice Weed Course. 8 a.m.-4:25 p.m. Rice Experiment Sta- tion, 955 Butte City Highway, Biggs, Calif. Website: http://cesutter.ucanr. edu/ Tuesday-Wednesday Sept. 19-20 Central Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Conference. The Riv- erhouse, Bend, Ore. Cannabis work- er safety and health will be a topic, and small agriculture employers can learn about becoming conditionally exempt from Oregon OSHA inspec- tions. Website: safetyseries.event. com/central17 Thursday, Sept. 21 OSU Small Farms School. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Clackamas Commu- nity College, 19600 S. Molalla Ave., Oregon City, Ore. This day-long event features classes in a variety of topics important to small-scale farmers. Sponsored by Oregon State University Extension, the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District 1-800-765-9055 and Clackamas Community College. Website: http://smallfarms.oregon- state.edu/small-farm-school Saturday, Sept. 23 Goat Education Day. 8:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. OSU Southern Oregon Re- search and Extension Center Audi- torium, 569 Hanley Road, Central Point, Ore. Choose four classes from a selection of 11, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, for $35. Or choose two morning classes and cheesemaking in the afternoon for $50. Class topics are geared to both beginner and advanced goat owners from Getting Ready for Kidding Season and Holistic Goat Care to the foundations of Nutrition and Feed and the Making of Goat Milk Soaps and Lotions. Present- ers include Dr. Charles Estill, OSU veterinarian; Gianaclis Caldwell, author; and Christina Strickland and others from the Rogue Valley Dairy Goat Association. Register online at http://bit.ly/JacksonGoatEdDay2017 or call 541-776-7371. Ask about a youth discount. Cost: $35 to $50. Website: http://extension.oregon- state.edu/sorec/SF-classes www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com marketplace.capitalpress.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo Index California ................................ 9 Dairy ...................................... 7 Idaho .....................................11 Livestock ............................... 7 Markets ............................... 13 Opinion .................................. 6 Oregon ................................ 10 Washington ........................... 8 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 503-364-4431, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.