As the owner of a small freight forwarding and logistics company based in Portland, Tina Lyons is always keeping a close eye on the news.

Global events can have a major impact on her clients and business. Lately, she’s been monitoring conflict in the Red Sea that has led to reduced ship traffic through the Suez Canal for fear of attacks. That means more vessels and more cargo are having to travel longer distances before reaching their final destination.

“It would be nice to take a news break, but I can’t,” said Lyons, of Double River Forwarding LLC.  “World peace would really help a lot.”

Tina Lyons, back, waves in front of a container vessel with employees Josephine Lyons and Jennifer Dawkins.

Lyons founded Double River in 2008. She previously spent 16 years in the commodity trading and freight forwarding industry before striking out on her own. The company’s name refers to the convergence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in north Portland.

Double River specializes in shipping agricultural products around the world, including wheat, corn, hazelnuts, and grass seed. Lyons estimated as much as 90% of their clients are farmers. The company handles bookings with shippers, documentation, and other services to ensure these products get from Point A to Point B.

“I like to help people, and I like to make people happy,” Lyons said.

Export challenges

Lyons joined OSA as an associate member in 2020, right as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to cause major supply chain disruptions.

The biggest benefit, she said, has been developing close relationships with seed producers. Those connections have allowed her to learn more about the Oregon seed industry, and also share with OSA members what issues are affecting exports.

“Sometimes you have to explain broader issues as to why their cargo isn’t getting to (its destination),” Lyons said. “It can be really hard to explain that to people. Customers’ heads aren’t in this all day long. They’re just trying to sell their products.”

An ocean vessel loaded with containers. (Source: Wikipedia)

For example, Lyons said the COVID-19 pandemic threw shipping schedules into chaos. Bookings aboard vessels were difficult to find, and constantly changing. Even finding empty containers for exports was difficult — shipping lines were instead sending empty containers back to places like China to fill with higher-priced imports, essentially leaving exports behind with nowhere to go.

Things haven’t gotten much easier in the years since pandemic lockdowns. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza have altered shipping routes, leading to greater congestion at European ports. Ship traffic was also recently restricted through the Panama Canal due to drought, resulting in another bottleneck.

It is up to Lyons and her team to help customers navigate these complex challenges.

“It’s a big wheel,” she explained, “and the cogs aren’t all in the right place right now.”

A team approach

 Lyons has four employees at Double River, including two in their Portland office, one based in Roseburg, and one on the East Coast in Jersey City, N.J.

Together, they move approximately 4,000 forty-foot equivalent containers worth of cargo every year. A forty-foot equivalent container, or FEU, measures 40 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 feet tall. For all 4,000 FEUs, that adds up to about 100,000 metric tons of goods.

Oregon grass seed goes all over the world, Lyons said. She can take out a globe and start pointing to every country where Oregon seed is sold, beginning with Tasmania. By the time she gets to Egypt, people usually get the point, she said.

Shipping grass seed does come with its own set of unique challenges. Import restrictions tend to be higher, Lyons said, and testing requirements are more stringent.

Freight forwarding and logistics can be a stressful job, Lyons said, with all the uncertainty caused by factors outside of their control.

“Luckily, we have awesome customers,” she said. “It helps to ease everything.”

Interested in contacting Double River Forwarding LLC? Click here to learn more!

The Double River team — Tina Lyons, Jennifer Dawkins, and Josephine Lyons — gathered with their significant others. 

For nearly 65 years, Justus Bag Co. has been supplying high-quality agricultural packaging for some of the largest grass seed, onion, pulse crop, and livestock feed companies throughout North America.

The third-generation family business, now led by Darin Justus, has locations in Portland and east of Spokane. Bags for clients come in a variety of materials and sizes — everything from paper to polypropylene, and 1 pound up to several thousand pounds.

OSA presented Justus Bag Co. with the award for Associate Member of the Year at our 2024 Summer Convention in June. The company has supported OSA for about three decades, Justus said.

“It was just truly an honor,” he said. “I was very humbled.”

Partners in the Seed Business

Justus Bag Co. was founded by Justus’ grandfather, Roland “Curly” Justus, and his father, Doug Justus, in 1959. Roland had previously gone into business with the Oregon Bag Co., now known as OBC Northwest, in Canby before moving his family to Spokane to start his own company.

Back then, Justus said they would drive around collecting old used bags, mostly burlap, and bringing them back to their facility where a line of sewers would recondition them to be sold again. Today, bags are made overseas and brought to Justus Bag Co.’s warehouses, where employees hand-feed them one by one through one of nine printing presses.

The company opened its Portland branch in 2008. Together, the facilities employ about 30-35 people, depending on the season.

“Our team on the production line doesn’t get enough credit, because we cannot go out and do what we do without them,” Justus said.

Justus described the grass seed industry as a “vital” component of their business. His favorite part of the job is developing long-lasting relationships with clients, and forging partnerships that benefit and strengthen the agricultural industry as a whole.

“We don’t look at our customers as customers. They’re more partners with us in business,” he said. “That really is the most important part of our business, is building these relationships, these friendships and partnerships, that hopefully last a lifetime. Once you have that, it’s easier to work together on issues.”

Supporting OSA and the Community

A lot of that industry networking and relationship-building happens through OSA, Justus said, which is a big reason why he continues to support the association.

“We only thrive in this industry because of the people we’re dealing with in OSA,” he said. “It’s a good group of people, it’s a great organization, and it only gets better for us every year with them.”

Justus Bag Co. also supports several other community organizations, including Cancer Can’t, a Spokane-area nonprofit dedicated to assisting people fighting cancer. The group was founded by Jonathan Van Keulen and his wife, Becky, after Jonathan was diagnosed with bone cancer. Jonathan’s father, John, is a sales manager for Justus Bag Co.

The 10^th annual Cancer Can’t Gala is scheduled for Sept. 21 at the Spokane Convention Center, with Justus Bag as an event sponsor.

“That’s probably one of the biggest highlights for us, is that organization,” Justus said.

Upon receiving the Associate Member of the Year award from OSA in June, Justus said it took everything he had not to get emotional in front of everyone.

“We only get that award because of the people in this industry,” he said. “We’re very fortunate and grateful that most of these companies that we’re dealing with are loyal clients, loyal partners, and it just makes it a lot of fun.”

Interested in connecting with Justus Bag Co.? Click here.

Born out of a co-op in the heart of the Mid-Willamette Valley, Mountain View Seeds has emerged as a top player in the global grass seed market, providing high-quality turfgrass, forage, and cover crops with a focus on environmental sustainability.

Today, the company contracts with more than 200 growers across the Pacific Northwest and sells anywhere from 60-80 million pounds of seed every year. Species include cool-season grasses like kentucky bluegrass, fescue, ryegrass, bentgrass, Bermuda, wildflowers, legumes, brassicas and much more used in lawns, parks, landscaped areas, golf courses, sports fields, and sod farms around the world.

Being vertically integrated also allows Mountain View Seeds to have a hand in every step of the process — from being involved in developing varieties, seed processing, and shipping. This offers more guidance and quality assurance from start to finish. Tony Ramirez, accounts manager for the company, said this is what gives Mountain View Seeds a strong foundation.

It just makes our turnaround time quicker and more efficient,” Ramirez said. “We’re able to work closely with our growers to ensure quality and performance standards are met. With our highly efficient automated seed blenders, we are able to ship products in a timely manner”.

Rooted in Oregon

Mountain View Seeds is part of Pratum Co-op, established in 1946 by a group of local farmers cultivating premium grass seed east of Salem. In 1998, Troy Kuenzi and Todd Bond started Mountain View Seeds to handle the rising demand for Pratum’s private varieties.

Though the scope of the business is now global, Ramirez said the company remains dedicated to serving Oregon agriculture. Mountain View Seeds is a supporter of several industry groups, including the Oregon Seed Growers League, Tall Fescue Commission, Fine Fescue Commission, and Annual Ryegrass Growers Association. The company also donates to the annual Oregon Ag Fest, as well as local FFA chapters.

As members of the Oregon Seed Association, Ramirez said the company benefits by being able to network and exchange insights that strengthens the entire seed industry.

“We’re all competitors in the room, but we have common goals,” he said. “It’s a really good place to gain knowledge of what’s happening, especially in a diverse industry such as ours. There are so many different things that go on.”

Fighting for Grass

One of the biggest challenges facing the seed industry, Ramirez said, is fighting against the perception that grass lawns are bad for the environment. In addition to grass’ ability to sequester carbon, improve air quality, and prevent erosion, Mountain View Seeds is constantly working to develop more sustainable varieties that use less water, fertilizer, and pesticides while maintaining quality.

To do this, Ramirez said the company utilizes the Alliance for Low Input Sustainable Turf (ALIST), multiple universities, and other research partners.

“The biggest thing is we do a lot of research and trials to figure out which varieties can have reduced inputs, more heat tolerance, and decreased water use,” Ramirez said. “A lot of it ties into the environment, but it’s also about cost savings in a way where you have fewer inputs, and you’re also doing better by the Earth.”

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 50^th 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?”