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. 

While most grass seed produced in Oregon comes from the rainy and fertile Willamette Valley, it is not the only region yielding high-quality seed crops.

Established in 2003, Columbia River Seed supplies Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and fine fescue grown on both sides of the Columbia River in Eastern Oregon and Washington. The company markets its products through a strategic partnership called Columbia River Basin Seed Trinity, formed in 2023 with Riverview Seed Co. based in Hermiston.

“We’ve transformed from just third-party multiplication and selling seed to a wholesale customer, to now we’re a value-added business,” said Cody Gyllenberg, Operations Manager for Columbia River Seed. “We grow seed, we blend seed, we market seed … we have customers across the globe that all require different things.”

Cody Gyllenberg (right), Dallin Iverson (Field Manager, left), and Jory Iverson (Seed Stock Manager, center) planting observation plots at Columbia River Seed.

Being situated in the heart of the Columbia Basin comes with its own set of unique challenges. For starters, the climate is much drier, meaning access to irrigation is critical. Secondly, most farmers grow grass seed secondarily as a rotation crop between plantings of higher-value vegetables like potatoes and onions.

In order to make grass seed economically competitive, Gyllenberg said Columbia River Seed has leaned heavily into automating its cleaning and packaging facilities in Plymouth, Wash., and testing newer, better-performing varieties.

Along with automating its cleaning and packaging lines, growers for Columbia River Seed are also experimenting with laser-fired weeders in place of hand-rogueing crews to save on labor.

“I’ve done the math,” Gyllenberg said. “Let’s put it this way — as expensive as (automation) is, we can justify it in a few years just on our labor costs.”

Packaged bags of Kentucky bluegrass are ready to ship at Columbia River Seed in Plymouth, Wash.

Law of Constant Misery

Gyllenberg, who graduated from Washington State University with a degree in agronomy, has a special passion for plant breeding.

Columbia River Seed works closely with the Willamette Valley-based Novel AG Inc. to do variety development. Novel AG tests thousands of grass cultivars, paying close attention to qualities such as wear-tolerance, early spring green-up, and post-harvest dormancy. Only a small fraction will make the final cut.

“We do have some new varieties that are pushing the envelope very hard, and that we’re excited about,” he said.

Plant breeding is both a science and an art, Gyllenberg said. Sometimes, a variety produces excellent yields but is lower in turf quality. Other times, the turf quality is superb, but yields aren’t up to par.

Gyllenberg calls it “the law of constant misery.”

“We try not to aimlessly release varieties,” Gyllenberg said. “As any good business grows and develops, you try to refine the tip of your spear, and you’re picking things that are not just another option, but always a better option.”

A field of Sierra Vista Sheep Fescue grows in the Columbia Basin.

Industry Unity

Columbia River Seed has been a member of OSA since its founding, which Gyllenberg said has provided a fantastic outlet to connect with industry partners and develop working relationships.

Though the seed industry is diverse, Gyllenberg said OSA should be the glue that holds everyone together by uniting around common goals and issues.

“Today’s modern OSA could potentially be a pillar and an innovator in our own right,” Gyllenberg said. “In order to do that, I think it’s key to drive hard on the most important big-picture and philosophical issues that plague our industry. If we can find a way to unite members around those important pillars of ideology, then the smaller issues become less frustrating.

“None of that can happen overnight,” he added, “but if the underlying motif is there, then the roadmap is traversable.”

Want to see more photos and videos from Columbia River Seed? Be sure to check out the company’s Instagram pages, @ColumbiaRiverSeed and @SeedTrinity. For more information or to contact Columbia River Seed, click here.

The 2024 grass seed harvest is mostly complete for Columbia River Seed in Eastern Oregon and Washington.

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?”