8
CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 11, 2022
Thompson Pump & Irrigation: Growing from ag roots
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Andy High, owner of Thomp-
son Pump & Irrigation in Bend
and Madras, Ore., knows fi rsthand
the perils of farming and ranching
where water is scarce.
His grandfather, Taylor High, 97,
lives on the remaining 300 acres of
the Klamath Falls ranch his family
settled in the 1860s, which at one
point was nearly 5,000 acres.
As Andy came of age, his father
and grandfather told him the water
wars weren’t likely to end anytime
soon and urged him to go to college.
High earned a degree in public
policy and spent the next 15 years
working for legislators, including
state Sen. Tim Knopp and U.S. Sen.
Gordon Smith.
“In 2016 I decided I didn’t nec-
essarily want to farm full-time but
to get back in and give back to that
community,” High said. “Coming in
with Thompson Pumps was a golden
opportunity, just a really great com-
pany, strong staff and strong com-
munity ties in Bend, where my wife
Jennifer grew up.”
Ranch life for the High family
revolved around hard work, 4-H and
socializing at the Midland Grange
Hall. Vacations were 4-H Fair Week
and the State Grange Convention.
His grandfather is one of the oldest
living Grange members in the coun-
try, with his 85-year pin.
“It’s tough; with all the social
media now and so many demands
on people’s time there’s not a lot of
that kind of community gathering
happening anymore,” High said. “…
Our ag roots are very important to
our family.”
Giving farmers more time is a big
motivator for High, who says being
able to monitor and control irrigation
pivots with a phone is a step in the
right direction.
“That’s where our focus is and
that’s what excites me about the
industry, just the technology helping
people,” High said. “We’re a Val-
ley pivot dealer and do a lot of cen-
ter pivots in Central Oregon. The
AgSense products we’ll have on
display at the show allow you full
access to what’s going on with your
machine, wherever you are.”
Soil moisture monitoring pro-
vides farmers with a daily report
showing where more coverage is
needed. The farmer can choose
where to slow down or speed up the
pivot to equalize water absorption
remotely.
“Our goal is to give our farmers
and ranchers more time,” High said.
“If I can give you another hour in
the day that you can go to the foot-
ball game and not have to run out to
a crop, to me that’s a huge victory.
“Within the next year we’ll have
a fair amount of drone technology
coming to center pivots,” High said.
“They’ll be able to fl y over your crop
daily and within two years you’ll be
getting down to which plants are
struggling and be able to inject fertil-
izer from the center point to that sec-
tion and then shut it off and continue
going over other sections.
“Technology in farming is com-
ing,” he said. “There are 7 billion
people to feed and a small group
that’s doing it.”
Such technology will allow farm-
ers in Jeff erson County, who must
order water when they need it, to
track the areas that still have water at
the top level and plan how to stretch
what they have.
“They may be able put off order-
ing water for another 6-7 days which,
if you compound that over a season,
can mean getting a second, third or
fourth cutting, in some cases,” High
said.
Ed Staub & Sons Petroleum: A ‘one-stop shop’ for farmers and ranchers
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Ed Staub & Sons Petro-
leum is sponsoring the Early
Day Gas Engine & Antique
Tractor Display at the inaugu-
ral Central Oregon Agricul-
tural Show on March 26-27.
It’s a great fi t for a com-
pany that has been meeting
the energy needs of its resi-
dential and commercial cus-
tomers for more than 60 years.
Ed Staub is a family busi-
Proud
P r o ud to
Pr
t Serve
Ser
e ve
v Central
C ntr
Ce
t r a l Oregon
O r e g on
Or
PROPANE
BULK FUEL
LUBRICANTS
APPLIANCES
CARDLOCK
Learn more at edstaub.com
Bend
Redmond
La Pine
Silver Lake
Lakeview
Burns
John Day
S279046-1
ness that started in Northern
California in 1959 with the
purchase of a Chevron bulk
plant in Alturas, Calif. Since
that time, Ed Staub & Sons
has expanded to 17 locations
across Oregon, California
and Idaho.
Ed Staub & Sons Petro-
leum Services prides itself
on being a “one-stop shop”
for its residential and com-
mercial customers, supplying
every type of fuel for all sit-
uations. They carry propane,
heating oil and all the fuel
types along with lubricants
and other items such as pro-
pane appliances.
Services include bulk
delivery, packaged products,
inventory management and
oil analysis.
“As the company has
grown through acquisition
and growth opportunities, we
have, for the most part, been
able to stay within the rural
communities,” said Wendy
deGroot, Ed Staub & Sons
enterprise marketing direc-
tor. “The company is very
family-oriented and treats
team members like family
and builds very good rela-
tionships with customers and
always gets involved in the
communities where we do
business.”
A fuel truck prepares to head out to a customer of Ed
Staub & Sons Petroleum Services. The family business is
sponsoring the Early Day Gas Engine & Antique Tractor
Display at the fi rst-ever Central Oregon Ag Show.
Near and dear causes to the
company include agriculture,
veterans and education.
“Providing opportunities
for youth in the small towns
we serve is one of our core
competencies, and it is always
great to partner with our local
communities any way we
can,” deGroot said.
Locations in rural com-
munities, often in the middle
of agriculture country, Staub
& Sons has been able to part-
ner with farmers, ranchers,
and other ag-related entities,
often supplying everything
such an operation requires in
the way of energy and related
products.
“Agriculture is an import-
ant piece of our business, and
we are able to serve our ag
customers holistically with
their fueling and lubricant
needs,” deGroot said. “We
try to be that value-added
resource to our customers;
we feel that if we’re doing
our job right it should be
seamless from their end.
“It’s pretty neat because
over time, as our drivers
are out on their residential
or commercial routes, they
get to know their custom-
ers and are available when
someone has a question as it
relates to safety or things of
that nature,” she said. “We
just want everybody to be
safe and help give people
that peace of mind — that’s
what it’s all about.”