News Release
August 16, 2007

Big Horn Basin Growers’ tour includes stop at 13,000-acre operation

An agricultural operation that pipes water 24 miles to irrigate more than 13,000 acres of what was once dry land wheat is among stops during a week-long tour of Pacific Northwest agricultural operations and businesses.

The tour is being organized by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES).

Sandy Frost, UW CES educator serving Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park and Washakie counties, is scheduling the Big Horn Basin Growers’ Tour of Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The tour leaves Powell Dec. 2 and returns Dec. 8.  The tour is open to anyone.

One of the stops is at Sunheaven Farms in Prosser, Wash. Six families make up the operation that raises onions, sugar beets, sweet corn, grass seed and field corn. A requirement for its start up in 1976 was a multimillion dollar irrigation system of feeder pipe and booster stations that brought water 10 miles from the Columbia River to the first farm and another 14 miles to the most distant pivot. Sunheaven Farms irrigates 34 circles above the Columbia River.

Today, one of the founders of Sunheaven Farms, Clyde Bybee, and his son, Neal, operate a number of businesses, including a fresh pack facility, a value-added facility, and a full-line, individually quick frozen products plant. Bybee has several state-of-the art storage warehouses that can hold up to 45,000 tons of onions.

Other tour destinations include Treasure Valley Renewable Resources LLC in Fruitland, Idaho, Blue Mountain Seed Inc. in Imbler, Ore., the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, Pendleton Grain Growers Inc. and Pendleton Woolen Mills Inc. in Pendleton, Riverview Seed Co. in Hermiston, Ore., Madison Farms in Echo, Ore., Allied Seed in Nampa, Idaho, and Nelson Irrigation Corp. in Walla Walla, Wash.

Frost worked five years at Oregon State University’s Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center near Pendleton, Ore., before coming to Powell.

“During that time, I had the opportunity to meet innovative, successful farmers and to tour innovative ag industries,” said Frost. “I want to share those experiences with Big Horn Basin growers. Owners and operators of the facilities we will tour are happy to share their knowledge with other growers.”

Sponsors of the event are Allied Seed LLC, Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Bureau Investment Services, Shoshone First Bank of Powell and the Wyoming Crop Improvement Association

Registration deadline is Oct. 1. A $50 non-refundable registration deposit is required. The tour brochure is available at http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/bighorncrops/.

For more information, contact Frost at (307) 754-8836 or sfrost1@uwyo.edu.

Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news.asp

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