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CapitalPress.com
Friday, July 8, 2022
People & Places
Recycling drip tape made easy
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
PASCO, Wash. — On a
day in May, Benjamin Bau-
man headed to a farm that
had removed old drip tape
from 1,000 acres of farm-
land. It was laying in piles
on the farm.
By removing and recy-
cling the drip tape, Bau-
man wants to eliminate the
hassle for growers who dis-
pose of the used material.
Bauman is co-owner of
AquaTech Irrigation Sup-
ply LLC, which recycles
drip tape for farmers in the
Columbia Basin and the
Treasure Valley in Idaho.
In the field, drip tape is
connected to a manifold,
allowing growers to slowly
apply water to their crops
through holes in the plas-
tic tape.
Farmers typically use
drip tape for one season,
Bauman said. They use
about 15,400 feet of drip
tape per acre, and at the end
of the season, they typically
take it to a landfill or store
it in piles on their property.
“This
stuff
doesn’t
decompose, so it’s going to
be there a long time,” Bau-
man said.
Customers kept saying
they needed somewhere to
take their drip tape, he said.
So the business began to
explore recycling as a ser-
vice to offer.
“With this process, we
have eliminated a lot of
the handling,” Bauman
said. “We can move a tre-
mendous volume in a very
short time, and that’s what
makes it valuable, even to
Established 1928
Capital Press Managers
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Western
Innovator
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Entire contents copyright © 2022
BENJAMIN
BAUMAN
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
Age: 38
Title: Co-owner, AquaTech
Irrigation Supply LLC
Current location: Pasco,
Wash.
Education:
Home-schooled
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Benjamin Bauman with bales of old irrigation drip tape collected from farmers’ fields
for recycling. Bales typically weigh 700-1,000 pounds, he said. Bauman estimates
there are 460,000 pounds of material behind him.
the grower. He’s not having
to send a crew out there to
pick all this stuff up, throw
it in a truck, send it to the
dump and then come back.”
Tape-winding
season
is typically late August
through October.
“When you’re in the
middle of harvest, the last
thing you want to deal with
is what you’re going to do
with this drip tape,” said
Taryn Hartley, who farms
outside Prosser, Wash.
Hartley has used Bau-
man’s service for five years.
He estimates he uses drip
tape on about 300 acres
each year.
What would Hartley do
with his drip tape without
the service?
“I honestly don’t know,”
he said with a chuckle. “I
guess going to the landfill
with it. I’ve never had to
worry about that.”
Farmers can buy or rent
equipment to remove drip
tape from their fields. The
company collects the old
tape at no charge.
“If they bring us loose
material and we have to
bale it, then we do have a
charge for that,” Bauman
said.
He hopes the price of
plastic rallies to the point
that farmers can be paid for
their used drip tape.
Treasure Valley area
farmers pay to ship tape to
the AquaTech facility.
Working with a plastic
broker, the company takes
the drip tape back to its
facility, then loads it onto
a container bound for the
Port of Seattle.
The tape is shipped over-
seas, where it is ground up
and extruded into small
pellets to be used to make
other plastic items.
Aquatech and the bro-
ker are working to develop
a domestic market for the
recycled plastic, Bauman
said.
The business keeps
track of the pounds of
drip tape it recycles for
a farmer, sending a wall
plaque noting how many
pounds of drip tape were
recycled from the farm for
the season.
To handle the drip tape,
the company built a large
roll that can be quickly
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grabbed and loaded with a
tractor. Farmers typically
use small rolls that weigh 65
pounds.
Bauman hopes his ser-
vice grows to a point that it
can handle smaller rolls as
well.
“The machinery’s expen-
sive, and it’s a challenge for
some farms to switch over,”
he said.
He’d also like to establish
a collection site.
“I feel like I can bring
good value to these farmers
by taking this stuff and put-
ting it back into a good use,”
Bauman said.
“You get it out of the
field, you get it wound up
and Benjamin comes and
gets it,” Hartley said. “It’s
easy. You don’t have to do
anything.”
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‘A huge loss’: Industry remembers regional NASS director Mertz
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Industry
leaders remember Chris-
topher Mertz, director of
the USDA National Agri-
cultural Statistics Services
Pacific Northwest office, as
“an exceptional person” and
“one of the good guys.”
Mertz died June 22 at
age 59. He received a diag-
nosis around June 1 of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
a rare form of rapidly pro-
gressing dementia for which
there is currently no treat-
ment or cure.
Mertz’s family — wife
Carla, daughters Emily and
Abby and son Sam — plans
a celebration of his life in
the summer, the date to be
determined.
“Our NASS community
is grieving the loss of one of
our beloved
regional
directors,
Christo-
pher Mertz,”
N A S S
Administra-
Chris Mertz tor Hubert
Hamer said
in a notice to agency staff
members. “Chris was a
great friend and admired
co-worker to many, a man
of great character. He was
a consummate professional,
skilled leader, an excellent
motivator, and a champion
for NASS. He will be sorely
missed by all who knew
him and had the privilege of
working with him. May we
all find comfort in the won-
derful memories we have
of him during his 35-year
career with NASS.”
“Chris was an excep-
tional person,” said Derek
Sandison, director of the
Washington Department of
Agriculture. “He was a plea-
sure to work with and was
always ready to collabo-
rate with our department on
a host of matters relating to
Washington state’s large and
very complex agricultural
industry.”
“He was one of the good
guys,” said Tim McGreevy,
chief executive officer for
the USA Dry Pea and Len-
til Council.
Mertz’s career and work
was exemplary of “the pub-
lic servant he was, really
serving all of agriculture,”
McGreevy said.
Mertz took his job and
responsibility seriously, pro-
viding accurate and useful
data to the industry, he said.
“Farmers
sometimes
resist giving information,
but it was hard to say no to
Chris,” McGreevy said. “It’s
such a tremendous service
for all of us to really have a
feeling for what’s happen-
ing in the countryside, both
if you’re a marketer or a
farmer.”
“That is a huge loss for our
industry,” said Glen Squires,
CEO of the Washington
Grain Commission. “He
was a personable, detail-ori-
ented, quick-response kind
of person. Never too busy
to answer questions, dig into
data or provide information,
no matter how small or com-
plicated the request.”
“Chris was always so
responsive to the needs of
growers,” said Chris Voigt,
executive director of the
Washington Potato Com-
mission. “He was smart, he
listened to those around him
and he made a difference.”
Voigt praised Mertz as a
“family man who set a good
example for all of us.”
“He found that balance
between being great at his
job and being a great hus-
band and father,” Voigt said.
“His sudden passing leaves
a professional and personal
hole for all of us.”
Mertz was featured in a
June 2022 profile in Wheat
Life, the Washington wheat
industry magazine.
“I feel very hopeful and
feel good because people are
communicating, more peo-
ple might be understand-
ing what the importance
is in making sure that they
respond (to surveys),” Mertz
told Wheat Life. “When I see
commodity groups use data,
that’s what gets me excited.
That’s what keeps me and
my folks excited every day,
somebody using the data for
the good of agriculture.”
THROUGH SATURDAY
JULY 9
National Onion Association
Summer Convention: Grove Hotel,
245 S. Capitol Blvd., Boise. Discussion
topics to include updates to food-safety
guidelines for dry bulb onions, immi-
gration reform, USDA National Potato
and Onion Report methodology. Indus-
try facility tours planned. Registration
price to increase after June 15. Website:
https://bit.ly/3M8SgH7
THURSDAY JULY 14
Poop Smart Clark Open House:
6-7 p.m. learn about ways Clark Con-
servation District is helping Clark
County, Wash., residents clean it up
with the Poop Smart Clark program.
This open house will be a showcase of
resources that the Conservation Dis-
trict can provide like best practices for
how to take care of your land and live-
stock, site visits with environmental
experts and ways that landowners can
even get reimbursed for septic repairs
and inspections. Cost: Free To sign up
or for more information go to http://
www.poopsmartclark.org
JULY 15-31
California State Fair & Food Fes-
tival: Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd.,
Sacramento, Calif. The California State
Fair is dedicated as a place to celebrate
the best the state has to offer in agri-
culture, technology, and the diversity
of its people, traditions, and trends
that shape the Golden State’s future.
Website: https://calexpostatefair.com/
TUESDAY JULY 19
Transitioning Your Ag Business
to the Next Chapter: 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
City of Vale Library, Vale, Ore. Attorney
Maria Schmidlkofer will present on the
topics of succession and estate plan-
ning, and how to prepare your oper-
ation to be resilient for future gen-
erations. She will review the steps of
estate and succession planning, how
to address taxes and corporate farm
structuring, and more. Easement spe-
cialist Marc Hudson will answer your
questions about working lands con-
servation easements — what they are,
what they aren’t, and how they may
be helpful in executing your agricul-
tural business plans. These in-person
events are part of a free 6-workshop
series in Lake, Harney and Malheur
counties. All are welcome, and the
events are free. RSVP for these or any
of OAT’s other events and refer any
questions about the event to diane@
oregonagtrust.org 503-858-2683
Intro to Good Manufacturing
Practices (online): 8 a.m.-noon. Dr.
Janna Hamlett & Catherine Cantley
of TechHelp and the U of I will help
participants learn and understand
the revised current Good Manufac-
turing Practices or cGMPs according
to the final rule for FSMA’s Preven-
tive Controls for Human Food. Con-
tact: 208-736-3610 Website: https://bit.
ly/3y3SNq9
WEDNESDAY JULY 20
Blueberry Field Day: 1 p.m. North
Willamette Research & Extension Cen-
ter, 15210 NE Miley Road, Aurora, Ore.
This annual field day will inform par-
ticipants about the latest research in
blueberry propagation and breeding.
Contact: Amanda Davis, (971)-801-
0394 or amanda.davis@oregonstate.
edu Website: http://extension.oregon-
state.edu/NWREC/
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
JULY 30-31
Great Oregon Steam-Up:
7 a.m.-6 p.m., Powerland Heritage
Park, 3995 Brooklake Road NE, Brooks,
Ore. Enjoy a steam-powered day with
train and trolley rides, a parade, steam
sawmilling, traditional tractor pull-
ing, machinery demos, threshing,
flour milling, fire apparatus demos,
museum tours, kids pedal tractor pull-
ing and a youth passport program.
Website: www.antiquepowerland.
com/steam-up Phone: 503-393-2424
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
AUG. 6-7
Great Oregon Steam-Up:
7 a.m.-6 p.m., Powerland Heritage
Park, 3995 Brooklake Road NE, Brooks,
Ore. Enjoy a steam-powered day with
train and trolley rides, a parade, steam
sawmilling, traditional tractor pull-
ing, machinery demos, threshing,
flour milling, fire apparatus demos,
museum tours, kids pedal tractor pull-
ing and a youth passport program.
Website: www.antiquepowerland.
com/steam-up Phone: 503-393-2424
MONDAY AUG. 8
Transitioning Your Ag Business
to the Next Chapter: 12:30-4 p.m.
Paisley Community Center, 705
Chewaucan St., Paisley, Ore. Farm
and Ranch succession counselor and
accountant Diana Tourney will pre-
pare you for the human and finan-
cial elements of succession planning.
Easement specialist Marc Hudson will
answer your questions about work-
ing lands conservation easements —
what they are, what they aren’t, and
how they may be helpful in execut-
ing your agricultural business plans.
These in-person events are part of a
free 6-workshop series in Lake, Har-
ney and Malheur counties. All are wel-
come, and the events are free. RSVP
for these or any of OAT’s other events
and refer any questions about the
event to diane@oregonagtrust.org
503-858-2683
TUESDAY AUG. 9
Transitioning Your Ag Business
to the Next Chapter: 12:30-4 p.m.
Lake County Library, 26 South G St.,
Lakeview, Ore. Farm and Ranch suc-
Randy Wrighthouse .............800-882-6789
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CALENDAR
Submit upcoming ag-related
events on www.capitalpress.com or by
email to newsroom@capitalpress.com.
Designer
or news staff member closest to you,
cession counselor and accountant
Diana Tourney will prepare you for the
human and financial elements of suc-
cession planning. Easement specialist
Marc Hudson will answer your ques-
tions about working lands conserva-
tion easements —what they are, what
they aren’t, and how they may be
helpful in executing your agricultural
business plans. These in-person events
are part of a free 6-workshop series in
Lake, Harney and Malheur counties. All
are welcome, and the events are free.
RSVP for these or any of OAT’s other
events and refer any questions about
the event to diane@oregonagtrust.org
503-858-2683
MONDAY-TUESDAY
AUG. 8-9
ern Idaho Fairgrounds, 5610 Glen-
wood St., Boise. Western Idaho gets
together annually for this celebration
of country living. Website: https://ida-
hofair.com
AUG. 26-SEPT. 5
Oregon State Fair: 10 a.m. Ore-
gon State Fair & Exposition Center,
2330 17th St. NE, Salem. The Oregon
State Fair continues through Sept. 5.
Website: https://oregonstatefair.org/
SEPT. 2-10
Eastern Idaho State Fair: East-
ern Idaho Fairgrounds, 97 Park St.,
Blackfoot, Idaho. It’s fair time in Idaho.
Website: https://funatthefair.com/
general-info/
SEPT. 2-25
American Lamb Summit: Michi-
gan State University and East Lansing
Marriott East Lansing, Mich. The sum-
mit will focus on competitiveness, pro-
duction and quality of American lamb.
Website: https://www.lambresource-
center.com
Washington State Fair: 10:30 a.m.
Puyallup Fairgrounds, 110 9th Ave. SW,
Puyallup, Wash. The Washington State
Fair is the largest single attraction held
annually in the state of Washington.
Closed Tuesdays and Sept. 7. Website:
https://www.thefair.com/
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
AUG. 11-12
THURSDAY SEPT. 8
Idaho Milk Processors Associ-
ation Annual Conference: Sun Val-
ley Resort, Sun Valley, Idaho. The con-
ference will focus on industry issues.
Website: https://www.impa.us
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
AUG. 13-14
Dufur Threshing Bee 2022:
6 a.m.-3 p.m. Main Street, Dufur, Ore.
Relive the good old days at the Dufur
Threshing Bee. Included will be black-
smiths, a one-room school house, the
Dufur Historical Society, petting zoo,
food booths and artists’ booths, tractor
pull, vintage car show, hometown din-
ner and a steam engine display. Con-
tact: Nancy Gibson, 541-993-3429.
AUG. 19-28
Western Idaho Fair: 11 a.m. West-
Farm & Ranch Succession Plan-
ning and Working Lands Ease-
ments: 12:30- 4 p.m. OSU Malheur
County Extension, 710 Southwest 5th
Ave., Ontario, Ore. Attorney June Flores
will present on the topics of succes-
sion and estate planning, and how to
prepare your operation to be resilient
for future generations. Easement spe-
cialist Marc Hudson will answer your
questions about working lands con-
servation easements —what they are,
what they aren’t, and how they may
be helpful in executing your agricul-
tural business plans. These in-person
events are part of a free 6-workshop
series in Lake, Harney and Malheur
counties. All are welcome, and the
events are free. RSVP for these or any
of OAT’s other events and refer any
questions about the event to diane@
oregonagtrust.org 503-858-2683
send the information to
newsroom@capitalpress.com
or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press.
Include a contact telephone number.
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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.
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Index
Markets .................................................10
Opinion ...................................................6
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