A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022
IN BRIEF
County reports virus deaths
Clatsop County has reported four coronavirus deaths.
A 74-year-old man, who was vaccinated against
COVID-19, died at an area hospital on Feb. 9, the
county said.
No other information was immediately available.
A 68-year-old man died of COVID-19 at his home
on Jan. 30, the county said. No other information was
immediately available.
A 56-year-old man died at a hospital in Washington
state on Dec. 24. No other information was available.
A 63-year-old man, who was vaccinated against the
virus, died at his home on July 24.
The Oregon Health Authority, meanwhile, reported
two new coronavirus cases for Clatsop County on
Tuesday.
Since the pandemic began, the county had recorded
4,584 virus cases as of Tuesday.
County unemployment rate
declined in February
Clatsop County’s unemployment rate was 4.2% in
February.
The seasonally adjusted rate was down from 4.4%
in January and down from 8% in February 2021.
The state’s unemployment rate was 4% in February,
according to the Oregon Employment Department.
The unemployment rate was 3.8% nationally.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
March 28, 2022
In GOODELL,
Brief Alan
Wells, 81, of Seaside, died
in
Seaside. Caldwell’s
Deaths
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
PERCIFIELD, Veron-
ica Susan, 76, of Seaside,
died in Seaside. Cald-
well’s Funeral & Crema-
tion Arrangement Center
of Seaside is in charge of
the arrangements.
March 26, 2022
HYDE, Anna Henri-
etta, 96, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
March 25, 2022
FERGUS, Ronald D.
“Ron,” 73, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
March 24, 2022
GRAHAM,
John
“Russ,” 71, of Warren-
ton, died in Portland.
Hughes-Ransom
Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
March 22, 2022
CHENVERT, Gary,
81, of Cannon Beach,
died in Cannon Beach.
Hughes-Ransom
Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
March 15, 2022
SWANSON, Roy, 94,
of Astoria, died in Asto-
ria.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
MEMORIALS
Saturday, April 2
Memorials
CHAMBERLIN, Mar-
cella — Celebration of
life at 1 p.m., Ameri-
can Legion Post 99, 1315
Broadway in Seaside.
DANIELS, Ray —
Memorial from 1 to 4 p.m.,
The Loft at the Red Build-
ing, 20 Basin St., Unit F.
HISSNER, Jon Allen
— Celebration of life at
1 p.m., Astoria Moose
Lodge, 420 17th St.
LUOMA, Allen Edwin
— Graveside service at
2 p.m., Greenwood Ceme-
tery, 91569 Oregon High-
way 202.
QUALIN,
Anthony
“Hank” — Funeral at
1 p.m., Elks Lodge No.
1748, 324 Avenue A. in
Seaside. Following the
service, there will be a
potluck.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
33, of Astoria, was
On
the
Record
• Stephanie
May indicted on March 3 for
Pressey, 41, of Seaside,
was indicted on March
24 for fourth-degree
assault and harassment.
The crimes are alleged to
have occurred earlier this
month.
Disorderly conduct
• Michael Wade Ham-
mond, 34, of Astoria,
was arrested on Friday
near 11th and Commer-
cial streets in Astoria for
second-degree disorderly
conduct, second-degree
criminal trespass and
resisting arrest.
Identity theft
• Michael Kein Perez,
identity theft, computer
crime, fraudulent use
of a credit card and sec-
ond-degree theft. The
crimes are alleged to have
occurred in February.
Fraudulent use of a
credit card
• Justin Corey Stubbs,
27, of Wilsonville, was
indicted on March 15 for
fraudulent use of a credit
card, fi rst-degree criminal
mistreatment, second-de-
gree theft and third-de-
gree theft. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred
in Clatsop County in
January.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning Advisory
Committee, 1 p.m., (electronic meeting).
FRIDAY
Astoria City Council, 10 a.m., work session on Heritage
Square, City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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George Plaven/Capital Press
The Lely Vector sweeps along the dairy barn at Tilla-Bay Farms.
Tillamook dairy farmer
gets help from robots
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
TILLAMOOK — Kurt
Mizee stood and watched
as the Lely Vector swept
across the concrete barn
fl oor at Tilla-Bay Farms,
dispensing feed for 180
dairy cows.
The self-driving robot
— nicknamed “The Orca”
after the boat from the
movie “Jaws” — resem-
bles a giant Roomba vac-
uum, using obstacle-detec-
tion sensors to maneuver
along rows of stalls where
hungry Holsteins huddled
in anticipation.
Automation is rapidly
transforming how dairy
farmers run their operations,
said Mizee, the fourth-gen-
eration owner of Tilla-Bay
Farms . As labor becomes
more scarce, robots are
picking up the slack.
“Certainly, it’s made us
more effi cient,” Mizee said.
“We’ve stayed the same
herd size for over 10 years,
but increased our (milk)
production 25-30% in that
time.”
In addition to the auto-
matic feeder, Tilla-Bay
Farms has three robotic
milkers, where cows volun-
tarily go to be milked three
times per day. The system
wirelessly synchronizes to
collars fi tted on each cow,
tracking everything from
quality and quantity of milk
to how much she has eaten
during the day.
Milk from Tilla-Bay
Farms is sold to the Til-
lamook County Cream-
ery Association, a cooper-
ative that makes Tillamook
cheese, yogurt, ice cream
and other dairy products.
Mizee, who for sev-
eral years also worked as
a regional dealer for Lely
North America, said his
family’s 104-year-old dairy
was among the fi rst in the
West to invest in the robots.
He predicts there will be
greater acceptance in the
industry to compensate
for an ongoing shortage of
workers.
“In our own county,
every farm is at least one
person short, maybe two,”
‘WITH ANY TECHNOLOGY, I
ALWAYS WARN PEOPLE THERE’S
FIVE DAYS OUT OF THE YEAR
WHEN YOU WONDER, ‘WHY DID
I DO THIS?’ THE OTHER 360, IT
FEELS LIKE A PRETTY GREAT
DECISION.’
Kurt Mizee | fourth-generation owner of Tilla-Bay Farms
Mizee said. “In terms of
trying to combat costs, this
is getting a lot of attention.”
Family tragedy
For Mizee, the decision
to embrace automation was
spurred by tragedy.
Mizee was attending the
World Ag Expo in Tulare,
California , in 2011 when he
got the call. His wife, Wendy,
and 8-year-old daughter
Shelby had been killed in a
head-on crash on Highway
6 outside Tillamook while
driving home from a doctor’s
visit in Portland.
All of a sudden, Mizee
found himself a newly single
parent to his son, Ryan, while
simultaneously
balancing
around-the-clock demands at
the dairy.
“I used to get up at
3:30 a.m. and be here by
3:45,” Mizee said. He
wouldn’t get home until 7:30
in the evening. “That’s not a
sustainable way to parent.”
Mizee purchased the
robotic
milkers,
which
allowed him to cut back one
employee and aff orded much
more time he could dedicate
to being a dad. The cows
eff ectively set their own milk-
ing schedule, coming and
going as they please without
direct supervision.
The system alerts Mizee
via text message if there are
any problems or a specifi c
cow has gone too long with-
out being milked.
“We only ever touch the
cows that have an issue,” he
said. “Everyone else is free to
do whatever cows do all day.”
Between labor savings
and increased milk produc-
tion, Mizee said the system
paid for itself in seven years.
From there, he began check-
Subscription rates
Eff ective January 12, 2021
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EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25
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ing out further technological
upgrades.
Enter the Lely Vector, a
mixing and feeding droid that
blurs the line between tradi-
tional agriculture and science
fi ction.
The process begins in the
feed kitchen, an extension of
the dairy barn loaded with
hay in densely packed 4,000-
pound blocks.
A robotic claw, or bridge
crane, drops from overhead
to scoop large clumps of
feed that it then drops into
the feeder for mixing. Each
1,600-pound load includes
grass silage, corn silage, corn
grain and a canola-based vita-
min and mineral protein mix,
carefully rationed to meet the
cows’ nutritional needs.
Once the load is ready,
the feeder emits a series of
precautionary beeps before
making its pre programmed
rounds. As opposed to one
large daily feeding, Mizee
said the Lely Vector feeds 18
smaller meals, ensuring the
forage remains fresh.
“This is a more consis-
tent feed every time the cow
comes to the bunk,” Mizee
said.
Multiple benefi ts
Freshness means less feed
goes to waste. Whereas in the
past the cows might refuse
upward of 1,000 pounds of
feed per day, now Mizee said
only about a shovel-full goes
unconsumed. Those savings
add up quickly, especially
given higher hay prices due
to drought.
Smaller meals also help
the cows digest, stabilizing
rumen pH — acidity — and
producing a higher butter fat
content in the milk.
The system is also better
for the environment, Mizee
said. He estimated the farm
burns 20 fewer gallons of die-
sel per week from driving
tractors.
Finally, the time saved
by automation has led to a
better quality of life. Mizee
remarried seven years ago,
which he credited in part to
on-farm automation giving
him the fl exibility to start dat-
ing again.
The technology available
continues to develop, Mizee
said. While some farm-
ers may still be skeptical,
Mizee said the proof is in the
increased effi ciency and milk
quality.
“You have to have an open
enough mind to let the tech-
nology do its job,” he said.
“Because it’s a completely
diff erent way of operating a
dairy farm.”
The biggest remaining
hurdle, Mizee said, will be
training qualifi ed service pro-
fessionals to maintain the sys-
tems. He served on an advi-
sory committee to establish
a new agricultural technol-
ogy degree at Tillamook Bay
Community College, which
was introduced in 2020.
“With any technology, I
always warn people there’s
fi ve days out of the year when
you wonder, ‘Why did I do
this?’ The other 360, it feels
like a pretty great decision,”
he said.