Smith Seed Services Offers Full Spectrum of Industry Tools

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A lot goes into making Oregon’s seed industry renowned worldwide. From breeding quality genetics to seed coating, cleaning, and packaging, producers rely on a bevy of services to help them increase productivity and satisfy customers around the globe.

 

For more than 60 years, Smith Seed Services has been providing the tools that seed growers and distributors need to prosper. What started as a small seed cleaning operation working out of a converted dairy barn has since expanded to include specially formulated seed coating, blending, storage, distribution, and marketing. The company also offers its own exclusive lineup of high-performing turfgrass, forage, and cover crop seeds.

 

“With a commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, Smith Seed Services has grown to over 300 team members with a coating and packaging capacity of over 15 million pounds per month, serving clients globally and continuing to thrive as a privately held, family-oriented business,” said Dustin Withee, a spokesperson for the company.

 

Seeds of success

 

Headquartered in Halsey, Smith Seed Services was founded in 1956 by George Smith. Originally a seed cleaning business serving Willamette Valley farmers, the company has gradually expanded its reach and added to its repertoire of services and products.

 

One of its biggest accomplishments came in 2008 with the completion of a new multi-million dollar seed coating facility. A second coating and retail packaging facility was also built in Lamar, Missouri in 2018.

 

Throughout its various departments, Withee said Smith Seed Services employs a robust and experienced team.

 

“We take pride in the fact that most of them have been here for five years or longer, including several who have worked here for 15-30 years,” Withee said. “We have a loyal, long-term, and stable team that has invested in and is integral to the success of our business.”

Engaged with OSA

 

As a key player in the seed industry, Withee said Smith Seed Services is constantly pursuing market access while navigating ever-changing regulations. Being a member of the Oregon Seed Association allows the company to access information and ensure they have a seat at the table when discussing industry issues.

 

“As a company alone, our voice is small, but as we work collectively with the larger industry, we can all affect change,” Withee said. “While we may not directly influence policy in every case, we work to find solutions and ways to work within the regulatory framework we are given.”

 

Smith Seed Services also supports causes and organizations that benefit all of Oregon agriculture. These include Oregon Ag Fest, the Oregon Seed Growers League, Oregon Annual Ryegrass Growers Association, and the local Central Linn FFA Chapter. In addition, Withee said the company provides logistical and regulatory support for mission groups sending relief containers to areas afflicted by poverty and armed conflict around the world.

 

“Part of our ethos is encouraging and supporting employees with their involvement in community organizations and charities,” Withee said.

Pure Seed Cultivates Varieties for the World

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Developing new grass seed varieties is no easy feat for Crystal Rose-Fricker and her team at Pure Seed. The process usually takes a decade or longer of careful breeding, cultivating the right mix of genetic traits that can withstand drought, diseases, and other environmental pressures while also maximizing yield for growers.

 

“Breeding is always a numbers game,” Rose-Fricker said. “For every variety that we license, we probably throw away at least 10 because they’re not good enough.”

 

It is that level of detail that has established Pure Seed as a top player in the seed industry. The company’s products can be found all over the world, from the lawn and garden section at Lowe’s Home Improvement stores to major sporting events like the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

 

A family business

 

Pure Seed was founded by Rose-Fricker’s father, Bill Rose, in 1972 as a marketing and wholesale supplier of warm- and cool-season turfgrass and forages. Two years later, Rose started Pure Seed Testing to cultivate new varieties at its 175-acre research farm in Canby, and a second 25-acre research farm in Rolesville, N.C. Pure Seed Testing will celebrate its 50th anniversary in June.

 

Rose-Fricker is now president of Pure Seed and Pure Seed Testing, carrying on the family business. The companies employ about 80 people depending on the season, she said, including her own kids, McKayla Fricker-Smucker and Austin Fricker.

 

“Between our companies, we’re almost 50% women, which is unusual for an agricultural company,” Rose-Fricker said.

 

Strengthening the industry

 

Being part of the Oregon Seed Association gives members the chance to come together and strengthen their industry, Rose-Fricker said. Even though they are technically competitors, she said they are stronger as a group when it comes to advocating for legislation and support that helps everyone along the supply chain.

“We’re all working together to keep this industry strong and valid,” she said. “We can’t stick our heads in the sand and just farm anymore. We have to get involved.”

 

That means making sure they tell the industry’s story, and explaining how companies like Pure Seed are cultivating better seed varieties that give all the benefits of natural grass while being more environmentally friendly — requiring less water and chemical inputs.

 

“People want to have a beautiful green landscape, but they don’t want to feel guilty about it,” Rose-Fricker said.

 

The next generation

 

Pure Seed also volunteers with Oregon Aglink’s Adopt-A-Farmer program, which pairs farmers with middle school classrooms for field trips and agricultural-themed lessons. This year, Rose-Fricker said the farm in Canby will welcome 200 kids from Sellwood Middle School in Portland.

 

For some kids, it might be the first time they’ve ever been on a farm or seen a tractor, Rose-Fricker said. The program aims to show them that they could consider jobs in agriculture, no matter what they’re interested in doing.

 

“It’s really needed to give kids that experience,” she said. “Who knows what they’ll end up being in the future?”

Saddle Butte Ag Co-Founder Wins 2023 Distinguished Service Award

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Don Wirth, an innovative Oregon farmer and promoter of cover crops and forage in the United States and internationally, has been named the Agricultural Communicators Network (ACN) Distinguished Service Award recipient for 2023.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to individuals who give back to the agricultural community and have demonstrated outstanding leadership efforts in education, science, or public affairs relevant to agriculture. The ACN has named Distinguished Service Award recipients since 1947. Past recipients have included Dr. Norman Borlaug, the only person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for work in agriculture, and Dr. Temple Grandin, a noted animal welfare scientist, as well as farmers, economists, and agri-business people.

Wirth’s agricultural contributions include his 55 years of innovation in cropping systems, testing and evaluating forage and cover crops in Oregon and the CornBelt, and founding and co-founding five agricultural companies. He frequently and enthusiastically partners with land-grant universities and USDA scientists nationwide.

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Seed testing workshop planned to address need for analysts

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SALEM — Seed technologists from across the U.S. are arriving in Salem next week for what the Oregon seed industry hopes will be an annual occurrence: A seed testing workshop.

The Mega Cool Season Grass Seed Workshop on April 24-28 includes three days of hands-on classroom experience and a field tour of a seed cleaning plant, a hemp operation and a seed research farm.

The workshop is being put on by the Pacific Northwest Seed Technologists and the Oregon Seed Association in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Chemeketa Community College’s Agricultural Sciences Program, which is donating classroom space.

“I’m pretty excited because we have people from across the United States participating,” said Sharon Davidson, owner of Agri Seed Testing in Salem, who is spearheading the workshop. “Seed regulatory labs are sending people and even the USDA is sending two people.”

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Canby company plays major role in creation of turf for World Cup matches

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CANBY, Ore. — To say Crystal Fricker is giddy about grass would be an understatement.

“It’s a natural thing,” Fricker said. “It’s a good thing. It’s a green thing and we love working with it.”

That much is clear when you walk around the Canby-based farm that is home to Pure Seed. The grass seed company has been owned and operated by Fricker’s family for decades.

“Everything starts with breeding and genetics in the turf grass world,” Fricker said.

Producing the perfect pitch, Fricker says, does not happen over night. It is a long, methodical process as was the case for a client in the Middle East.

“We sent some of our seed varieties over there in the past eight years for them to try to decide what’ll work for the eventual World Cup,” Fricker said.

The World Cup? Yes. That World Cup.

The global soccer tournament features more than two dozen countries. It is played only once every several years. This year’s host country is Qatar, but the stadium grass is Oregon made.

“Growing it with a grower here in Oregon,” Fricker said. “Cleaning that seed, testing that seed, putting it in a bag and shipping it overseas to the Middle East to have it for the World Cup.”

It goes without saying, but Fricker is beyond tickled to see her family’s product in eight stadiums across Qatar.

“It’s very gratifying and it warms my heart to see a good surface for the athlete,” Fricker said.

World class athletes are realizing their dreams because a family back in Oregon realized their dream.

Originally published by KGW.com 12/13/22

Truck-to-rail facility ready to make life easier for ag exporters

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MILLERSBURG, Ore. — Building a truck-to-rail intermodal facility to serve Western Oregon’s farm exporters took five years of overcoming hurdles.

Now that construction of the Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center is finally complete, proponents face their biggest test yet: putting it in operation.

The facility in Millersburg, Ore., is meant to allow containers of farm and forest products to switch from trucks to rail, thus avoiding congested highways on the way to ports in Seattle and Tacoma.

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JTS Named 2022 NASTC Best Broker of the Year

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JTS (Johanson Transportation Service), a leading third‐party logistics provider, JTS has announced that they are the recipient of the 2022 NASTC (National Association of Small Trucking Companies) Best Broker of the Year award.

Thomas Hawker, JTS Director of Pacific Northwest, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the company at the NASTC Annual Conference in Nashville, TN on October 20, 2022.

“The award recognizes the broker who demonstrates the very highest level of quality in partnership with NASTC member trucking companies and one who has a superior track record and credit history”, says David Owen, President of the NASTC.

“It is a privilege to be named 2022 NASTC Best Broker of the Year, and we are grateful to be distinguished with this honor. Small- to medium-sized carriers are the bedrock of our business, and we greatly value our NASTC members for providing the reliable, top-tier service that has earned us the trust of our shipping customers,” says Larry Johanson, President/CEO of Johanson Transportation Service. Read more

Cover crop seed demand rises as competition squeezes supply

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Fierce competition for acreage in Oregon’s Willamette Valley is limiting the supply of cover crop seed just as demand is increasing.

Seed growers haven’t planted as many acres of cover crops, including clover and radish, due to expectations of higher returns for wheat and grass seed, said Jerry Hall, president of GO Seed in Salem, Ore.

“A lot of the shortage is market-driven,” he said.

Clover and other legumes fix nitrogen, helping farmers reduce fertilizer expenses, while cover crops generally improve soil health, potentially decreasing the need for other farm inputs as well, experts say. Read more

DLF acquires OreGro Seeds

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OreGro Seeds is a forage, cover crop, and turfgrass breeding company located in Albany, Oregon

HALSEY, Ore. – DLF is pleased to announce that it has acquired the assets of OreGro Seeds, a forage, cover crop, and turfgrass breeding company located in Albany, Oregon. OreGro’s proprietary cool-season forage grass, forage legume, turfgrass, cover crop, and small grain varieties are now offered exclusively through DLF and its distribution partners in the U.S. and abroad.

“This investment not only complements our expansive global research and product portfolio, but also adds significant operational capacity and staff to support customers,” said Claus Ikjaer, CEO for DLF Pickseed USA. “This is a strategic development to bolster our seed innovation, service, and support.”

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DLF brings seed enhancement investment to North America

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Brian Jaasko and Robert Keeter hired to help develop DLF’s first seed enhancement facility

HALSEY, Ore. – DLF is excited to announce plans for significant investment in its seed enhancement capabilities including a new, state of the art facility and equipment, and begins with the hiring of two of the industry’s best to lead and support this important development.

Brian Jaasko and Robert Keeter have joined DLF to head the company’s seed enhancement and coating strategy. Jaasko is a leading expert worldwide in seed enhancement technology and its strategic applications, while Keeter has excelled alongside Jaasko in operations for much of his career. Their experience will help ensure a successful build and startup of DLF’s first seed enhancement facility to be located near Corvallis, Ore.

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