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CapitalPress.com
Friday, February 5, 2021
Ag in the Classroom pivots to take
HydroSide Systems make irrigation easier
WIEGAND
The challenges that
advantage of high-tech ‘silver linings’ By For BRENNA
the Capital Press
Sharon’s brother faced
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Oregon AITC
Students at Seven Peaks School in Bend, Ore., work
on a socially distant development planning activity
provided by Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom. Ag
in the Classroom provides teachers with fun, hands-
on lessons at no cost.
trips” is almost unlimited.
“The Zoom call where we
visited an Oregon Christmas
tree farm and then a citrus
orchard in Arizona had over
3,000 students connected,”
she said.
moving irrigation rigs
as a farmhand in Ham-
ilton, Mont., inspired
them to seek a solution.
“We were talking
about how labor-in-
HydroSide tensive wheel line
HydroSide found- irrigation was and
ers Sharon and
doing our best to
Dana Mohr.
solve the problem
and, in the process,
also developed a way
to fully automate a hose reel,” Dana Mohr
said.
Wheel line movers can be remotely operated,
and hose reels can “drive” themselves.
Brim Tractor Company offers
what farms of all sizes need
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Bill Brim was just 22 when he became part
owner of his first tractor dealership.
In 1966, he and his wife, Margaret, founded
Brim Tractor Company in Lynden, Wash.
Bill Brim brought the first hydraulic-arm
Bomford mower into the U.S. from England,
transforming the maintenance of roadsides and
freeways. The venture was successful; Brim
still sells several of the tractor combinations to
municipalities every year.
Brim’s sons Bob, Alan and Dave pioneered
a new market when they computerized the
company in the late 1970s. They formed Dealer
Information Systems Corp., now a leading busi-
ness management software provider to agricul-
tural, construction, truck refrigeration and lift
truck dealers throughout North America.
Another son, Dan, purchased the busi-
ness in 1997 and started expanding it. Today
there are six Brim dealerships in Oregon and
Washington.
“Working with farmers is fantastic,” said
Mike Poston, manager of Brim’s Salem store.
“They are essential workers, so we have been
able to stay open through the difficult times.”
Also, with more time at home, hobby farm-
ers and residential homeowners are buying
equipment at an accelerated pace.
However, Brim’s big focus remains large-
scale ag, including the hay and forage, grass
seed, hazelnut and wine grape industries.
W ATER M ASTER S ERIES
AND
E VERGREEN
S UPERIOR S ERVICE & D ESIGN
• All your needs for irrigation parts service
• We build custom equipment for your special needs.
• Hose replacements & fusion repairs
• Transport Tanks • Rental Returns & Used Equipment
• • Structural
Structural and
and steel
steel available
available for
for purchase.
purchase.
Truck Equipment
• Full Service • Alterations • Dump bodies
• Hoists • Farmbeds • Flatbeds
10910 Portland Rd. NE • Brooks, OR
Call: 503-792-3739 • Fax: 503-792-3738
S221060-1
“They see a little more
than they probably would be
able to see, so there are sil-
ver linings to this style,” Jan-
sen said.
The number of students
who can go on virtual “field
S226658-1
COVID-19 hasn’t been
able to hinder Oregon Ag
in the Classroom’s mission
to help students grow their
knowledge of agriculture.
“There are several dif-
ferent ways we do that, and
we have been able to con-
vert them all to virtual, so it’s
been a really exciting year
for us,” said Jessica Jansen,
executive director of the Ore-
gon Agriculture in the Class-
room Foundation. “It actually
opened up some opportunities
we wouldn’t have otherwise.”
For instance, during a
recent virtual “field trip” to
TMK Creamery dozens of
students would never have
been able to crowd into the
cheese-making area, but a
video camera could go places
the students couldn’t.
“Why didn’t somebody think of this sooner?”
Dana and Sharon Mohr of HydroSide Sys-
tems hear it all the time.
The Post Falls, Idaho, start-up company
received national affirmation that the time had
come when they won the 2020 American Farm
Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year award and
received $30,000 to help grow the business.
HydroSide’s patent-pending system is pow-
ered by a self-charging hydroelectric platform.
This is done by harnessing the power of the
fast-moving water in the irrigation line. The
water spins an inline turbine that powers the
electric drive and moves wheel line, traveling
gun and traveling boom irrigation setups.