WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
Father-son team
of Matt and Willie
Wood keep small
farm going in Helix
By ANNE MARIE MOSS
OREGON FARM BUREAU
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
WHEAT RUNS
IN THE FAMILY
T
he arid, sparsely
populated Colum-
bia Plateau is home
to Oregon wheat country.
Acres upon acres of wheat
fields sprawl across rolling,
hilly terrain. The wind can
reach 60 miles per hour, and
the unfettered view spans
from the Blue Mountains to
the east to the distant peak
of Mt. Hood to the west.
It’s here in Helix where
Matt Wood farms with his
son Willie. Together they’re
keeping alive a family tra-
dition that stems back to
1886.
“Willie’s the sixth gen-
eration of my family to
grow wheat in Helix. And
he had three great-grandfa-
thers named William, one
was Wilhelm actually, who
were wheat farmers. It’s in
our blood,” said Matt.
Besides being a farmer,
Matt serves on the OFB
Board of Directors and is a
member of Umatilla-Mor-
row County Farm Bureau.
But those aren’t all of his
claims to fame.
“Whenever I meet some-
one and they ask what I do,
I say, ‘I’m Matt Wood. I’m
a carpenter, a farmer, and
a grave digger. Used to be
part-owner of a tavern. And
that’s all true, but we gave
the tavern to the bartender,”
he said.
Loquacious, with an
encyclopedic knowledge of
local history and lore — and
baseball — Matt does con-
struction work along with
farming 700 acres. And he
does indeed serve on the
local cemetery board and
has dug many a grave in his
21 years as a volunteer. He
also pens a monthly column
for this newspaper called
“From the tractor.”
Mild-mannered and tac-
iturn, 21-year-old Willie is
able to farm full-time on
1,400 acres, which includes
a custom hay business that
he launched while still in
high school. He’s a recent
graduate of Blue Mountain
Community College, where
he earned a degree in crop
production.
The Woods’ personali-
ties couldn’t be more dif-
ferent, which makes them
perfect complements to one
another.
The same goes for their
farming.
“We’re inextricably con-
nected because we own
some equipment together,”
said Matt.
Matt owns two of the
three combines used for
wheat harvest, “but I own
all the service rigs,” said
Willie. He also owns most
of the haying equipment.
“Theoretically, we could
each farm in our own right,
maybe-kinda. But it works
a whole heck of a lot bet-
ter if we have a cooperative
effort,” said Matt.
OREGON FARM BUREAU
Willie Wood and his father Matt Wood at their Helix wheat farm near the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
Working in wheat
The Woods’ combined
2,100 acres makes them one
of the smaller operations in
the region, which is home to
wheat farms sprawling over
5,000 acres or more.
Like most farmers in the
area, they raise soft white
wheat for the Asian market.
Customers in Japan, China,
and Korea use this variety to
make noodles and pastries.
In this part of Oregon, strong
international trade agree-
ments are extremely import-
ant to the local economy.
To help weather the fluc-
tuating price they get for soft
white, the Woods also grow
dryland hay and Dark North-
ern Spring wheat, which is
used for crackers and bread
and is more likely to be con-
sumed domestically.
“And this year we’re
experimenting with Austrian
winter peas for either seed
or cattle feed. We’re excited
CELEBRATING 41 YEARS!
to see what happens,” said
Matt.
Most of the wheat is
“winter wheat” that the
Woods plant in the fall and
harvest in the summer. The
fields are planted in a sum-
mer fallow rotation, which
means every year half the
acreage is planted and half
is left unseeded to renew the
soil and conserve moisture.
That’s essential in a region
with an average rainfall of a
mere 14 inches.
When seeding a field
on a steep incline, which is
common terrain in Umatilla
County, Willie drives the
tractor along the contours
of the hill, creating horizon-
tal furrows in the ground
instead vertical furrows that
run downhill. This prevents
water runoff and soil erosion
after the snow melts or the
rain falls.
The Woods use deep-fur-
row drills when plant-
ing, so seeds can access
the sub-surface moisture.
These grooves also protect
the plants from the power-
ful wind.
“We take soil tests every
year and do what we can
to promote soil health and
build organic matter. It’s not
only the right thing to do
environmentally, it’s good
for my bottom line. The soil
is my best asset,” said Matt.
Summer harvest brings
long days, and Willie and
Matt are out in the fields
from daybreak to dark.
“When we’re wheat
farming and hay farming at
the same time, and there’s
only two of us in the crew,
it stretches us sometimes,”
said Matt.
Deep roots in
Umatilla County
With his passion for
history, Matt has a siz-
able collection of antique
farm equipment and local
memorabilia.
But among his most
prized possessions are
black-and-white
photos
documenting his ancestors’
lives as Umatilla County
wheat farmers.
“This is a harvest scene
from 1910 of my great,
great grandfather Robert
Lee Harp about 15 miles
from here,” he said pointing
to a framed photo. “He was
born 100 years ahead of me,
and we do the same thing
for a living.”
Matt’s path to farming
was not a straight trajectory.
He wasn’t raised on the
farm. After earning a degree
in history from Western
Oregon University in Mon-
mouth, he planned to attend
law school. His grandfather
Randy Dorran was running
the farm in Helix at that
point and was determined to
keep it in the family. Randy
approached Matt about tak-
ing it over some day — and
that altered the course of
Matt’s life.
In 1993, he returned to
Umatilla County to learn
how to grow wheat with his
grandfather and keep his
rural heritage alive.
Willie, however, has had
the exact opposite experi-
ence, spending his entire
life in agriculture.
“Farming is all I ever
wanted to do since I was
small,” he said.
In fact, his high school
graduation present was a
combine “with a big red
bow on it.”
For all of their differ-
ences in personality, Matt
and Willie make a fantastic
team. Besides the bond of
being father and son, they
share the traits that mat-
ter most in running a suc-
cessful farm: pride in their
work, love for the land,
and unwavering optimism
about the bounty of the next
harvest.
Said Matt, “I said this
at my neighbor’s funeral:
Farming is not just what
we do, it’s who we are. It
defines the very essence
of our being. You get up
in the morning, and what-
ever you do, it’s related to
farming. Even if you go
down and have coffee with
your neighbor, what are
you talking about? You’re
talking
about should I run a
10-inch or 12-inch-space
grain drill? Or should I plant
this variety or that variety?
“Farming is what makes
us tick.”
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