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CapitalPress.com
Friday, May 14, 2021
People & Places
Brothers’ invention solves
dad’s irrigation irritation
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Established 1928
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Joe Beach ..................... Editor & Publisher
Anne Long ................Advertising Manager
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
BOW, Wash. — Skagit
Valley potato grower Tim
Wallace asked his sons to fix
a problem. David and Connor
did and started a company to
fix the same problem for other
farmers.
The trouble is that irriga-
tion reels break down and
stop retracting the sprinkler.
One spot gets watered over
and over until someone comes
along and turns off the pump.
This can go on for hours, or
all night.
Water and fuel are wasted.
The overwatered ground gets
so compacted that harvesting
potatoes means digging up
dirt, too.
“I think David got sick
of listening to me complain
about that,” Tim Wallace said.
He had the right sons to
gripe to, apparently.
David Wallace, 33, has a
doctorate in solid state chem-
istry from Johns Hopkins
University. Connor Wallace,
30, has a degree in physics
from Reed College. Together,
they invented FarmHQ.
The high-tech device
attaches to the irrigation reel
and monitors rotating mag-
nets. If the magnets stop
turning, the reel has stopped
retracting. The FarmHQ then
signals its companion device
at the pump to shut off the
water.
Meanwhile, the farmer
gets a text message, alert-
ing him that irrigation has
stopped. An advantage is that
farmers don’t wake up in the
morning to a super-soaked
half acre.
“I don’t miss that at all,”
Tim Wallace said.
A company is born
To develop and sell their
product, the Wallace broth-
ers formed CODA Farm
Technologies, a name that
came from combining Con-
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ............ Production Manager
Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2021
Western
Innovator
CODA FARM
TECHNOLOGIES
David Wallace
Occupation: Inventor,
co-founder of CODA
Farm Technologies
Age: 33
Education: Doctorate,
Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity; bachelor’s degree,
Whitman College
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
David Wallace, right, and his brother, Connor Wallace, talk about their invention,
FarmHQ, lower left, at the family’s potato farm in Skagit County, Wash.
nor and David.
Dan Oschrin, a computer
programmer and former math
teacher, and Gabe Martin,
who has a master’s degree in
robotics from the Colorado
School of Mines, are on the
development team, too.
Several farmers in the
Skagit Valley, where irriga-
tion reels are common, tried
FarmHQ last year. The pan-
demic has slowed marketing
and production this year —
computer chips are in short
supply.
The company hopes to go
full bore next year, and David
Wallace knows where he
wants to go.
“I want our device on
every reel in the United
States,” he said.
The company named its
product FarmHQ, indicating
that it will do more than mon-
itor the retracting reel. Farms
can track the sprinkler’s prog-
ress and flow rate, and com-
pile season-long irrigation
records.
Skagit Valley vegetable
seed grower Sean Galbreath
Connor Wallace
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Connor Wallace pulls out an irrigation hose as his brother,
David Wallace, checks the device they invented to monitor
the reel at the family’s farm in Skagit County, Wash.
was one of the farmers who
bought units in 2020.
Because workers were
able to track the irrigation
remotely, they didn’t waste
time returning to a field early
and waiting for the sprinkler
to retract, he said. “It saved us
a ton of time,” he said.
In one case, the reel broke
down, and the device saved
red kale seed from being
soaked and ruined. “We fig-
ured it paid for itself right
there in one shot,” Galbreath
said.
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Richard and Donna Rawson after receiving the plaque
that honors them as the Douglas County Small Wood-
lands Association’s 2020 Tree Farmers of the Year. Roy
Brogden, left, president of the association, made the
presentation.
THURSDAY-
SATURDAY
MAY 13-15
Washington FFA Convention
(virtual): The convention will main-
tain its traditional agenda, with
one session streamed on Thurs-
day and Friday evenings and two
on Saturday. The new state officers
will be announced Saturday eve-
ning. Website: www.washingtonffa.
org/91st-convention
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
MAY 14-16
California FFA’s 93rd State
Leadership Conference (online):
This year California FFA members
from all corners of the state will
have access to the premier leader-
ship event offered by our associa-
tion as it will be delivered through
a multi-faceted online platform.
The conference will be three days
jam packed with learning, growth
and inspiration. Website: www.cal-
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TUESDAY-
WEDNESDAY
MAY 18-19
Oregon Board of Agricul-
ture Meeting (virtual): The Ore-
gon State Board of Agriculture will
hold its quarterly meeting on May
18-19 by video/conference call. To
attend you must join the meeting
remotely. Call in details are avail-
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agendas and pre-meeting materi-
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Age: 30
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Education: Bachelor’s
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Back on the farm
The Wallace
family
farm traces its origins back
more than 100 years to Irish
immigrants.
David and Connor’s grand-
father George and great-un-
cle Dick combined their ini-
tials in the 1950s and founded
G&D Wallace, also known as
Wallace Farms.
After graduating from
Johns Hopkins, David Wal-
lace worked as a data scien-
tist for Amazon in Seattle. He
returned to the farm in 2019.
“I was constantly feel-
ing the pull back,” he said.
“Almost immediately my dad
brought this problem to me.”
After graduating from
Reed
College,
Connor
worked as a software engi-
neer for companies in Port-
land and San Francisco. He
said the farm project sounded
cool and more fun, so he
came home to work with his
brother.
“It’s really exciting to build
a company with him,” Con-
nor Wallace said. “It feels like
we’ve done so much already.
I feel pretty confident about
this year.”
Their father endorses
FarmHQ.
“It works really well,” Tim
Wallace said. “It’s one of the
best improvements we’ve
done on the farm in years.”
son oak and blackberries had
a strong presence along with
a mixture of young trees.
But that brush along with
Scotch broom, hawthorn and
thistle have been cut down
and sprayed, ponds were
developed for wildlife and
for use in case of wildfire,
and roads were constructed
around the property for work
and access in case of fire.
Several piles of woody
debris were left to provide
habitat for smaller wildlife.
In 1992 and 1994, some
trees in the forest were
thinned, but there was no
major logging until an ice
storm, drought and a major
snow storm in the past five
years impacted the trees.
Following those events, the
Rawsons had professional
help in making decisions
since they had begun work-
ing with Barnes & Associ-
ates, a Roseburg-based for-
estry consulting business, in
2016 to develop a land man-
agement plan.
“I’ve never regretted
investing in consulting for-
esters,” Rawson said. “I wish
I had earlier.”
Roy Brogden, president
of the Douglas County Small
Woodlands
Association,
explained that in selecting a
Tree Farmer of the Year, such
factors as harvesting, thin-
ning, vegetation control and
fire prevention management
are considered. He compli-
mented the Rawsons on how
they have dealt with those
factors on their property.
“They’ve done what is
best for the land and the for-
est,” Brogden said.
Richard Rawson has been
a board member for the small
woodlands association for
the past three years and has
helped the association orga-
nize Fire Season Prepared-
ness workshops and other
field tours. The mission of
the association, which has
200 members, is to assist
small landowners in manag-
ing their resources.
Rawson completed the
Oregon State University
Extension Master Woodland
Manager volunteer program
training in 2019. His forest is
also certified by the Ameri-
can Tree Farm System.
Rawson said his property
has produced approximately
260,000 board-feet of tim-
ber, 125 cords of firewood of
both Douglas fir and oak, and
many family Christmas trees.
“The work out here helps
keep me healthy,” he said.
Both Richard and Donna are
now 75. “It has satisfied my
inner need for nature. I’m
pleased with what I see now.”
To Reach Us
News Staff
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review relate to collective bargain-
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mitted uses on lands zoned exclu-
sive farm use. To provide written
public comments to the board, sub-
mit them by email to Karla Valness
at kvalness@oda.state.or.us prior to
5 p.m. May 12. Include BOA Public
Comment May 2021 in your email
subject line.
WEDNESDAY MAY 19
Manure Matters — Keep-
ing Poop Out of the Water (vir-
tual): 6-7:30 p.m. Have you ever
wondered what effect your crit-
ters’ poop is having on our water-
sheds? Join Clark Conservation
District to learn about the moni-
toring Clark County does on bacte-
ria in our waterways. Experts Brent
Davis and Eric Lambert from Clark
County will present on county reg-
ulations and cover what you can be
doing to keep our local watersheds
Boise
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By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
Rawson led a tour of the
property on May 1 for mem-
bers of the small woodlands
association.
The land was heav-
ily logged in 1949 with the
logs milled on site into rail-
road ties. Sawdust was scat-
tered around the property and
because the land was left to
regenerate on its own, poi-
An independent newspaper
Occupation: Inventor,
co-founder of CODA
Farm Technologies
County’s tree farmers of the year transform forest
OAKLAND, Ore. — A
poison oak and blackberry
infested forest has been
transformed into a timbered
park of Douglas fir, oak and
madrone trees through the
efforts of Richard and Donna
Rawson.
The
Rawsons
were
recently honored as the
Douglas County Small
Woodlands
Association’s
2020 Tree Farmers of the
Year, for their stewardship
work on their 66-acre prop-
erty in the Metz Hill area
north of Oakland.
The couple purchased the
land in 1981 and through the
years, either by hiring out the
work or doing it themselves,
have slowly renovated the
acreage.
“It’s an entirely differ-
ent place than what it was 40
years ago,” Richard Rawson
said. “I’ve gotten more than
my money’s worth from the
enjoyment of working on this
land. It’s been worth it. It’s in
better shape than when we
bought it.”
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MONDAY-THURSDAY
MAY 24-27
Natural Products Expo West
(online): Virtual presentations and
an online trade show focusing on
natural products and foods. Web-
site: www.expowest.com/
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY
JUNE 9-11
World Pork Expo: Iowa State
Fairgrounds, Des Moines. The
world’s largest pork industry-spe-
cific trade show brings together
pork producers and industry profes-
sionals from around the world for
three days of education, innovation
and networking. Website: https://
worldpork.org/
THURSDAY-
SATURDAY
JUNE 24-26
United Fresh Convention
and Expo (in person and online):
Los Angeles Convention Center.
Whether online or in person, United
Fresh is your partner connecting
the global fresh produce industry.
Sponsored by the United Fresh Pro-
duce Association and the Fresh Pro-
duce and Floral Council. Website:
https://www.unitedfresh.org/unit-
ed-fresh-convention-expo-2021/#
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
AUG. 10-12
2021 Cattle Industry Conven-
tion & Trade Show: Gaylord Opry-
land Resort, Nashville, Tenn. The
convention will include educational
seminars, exhibits and network-
ing. Website: http://convention.
ncba.org
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Index
Dairy .....................................................10
Markets .................................................12
Opinion ...................................................6
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