Picto Diary - 02 June 2017 - (Part 1) Water is everything.
Above: Earp poses in business he manages. Dunning Irrigation. Lowdon, WA. 02 June 2017.
Won't quote the billings... but, lets just say Dunning, privately held, is not a small business. Markets irrigation throughout eastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.
Early this AM, Dagny and I went out for breakfast at The Maple Counter Café in Walla Walla. We shared an omelet. Galt had gotten up early to go take a test to obtain his commercial truckers license. After, Nancy delivered me to Dunning Irrigation to find Earp, who had offered to give me an AM agricultural tour. I was thrilled to accept his invitation.
Ag is not sexy. We take our food for granted. But, these guys are smart. Ag is highly technical. I got my first inclination of that when I accompanied Monk to a bull auction in Paradox, CO a few years ago. Each of the bulls had full detailed charts on genealogy, issue, and body fat of the ancestors etc. Bull pricing was based on which bull had the most productive genes.
And so it is with all ag. The sprinklers we are looking at here have taken the PSI required to power an irrigation system down from 50 PSI to 20 PSI. Less PSI means less electrical energy to power the system ergo lower cost for the finished crop. Some engineer, probably a WSU graduate, came up with the idea.
These ag inventions which are improving the cost/benefit yields of crops remind me of a similar phenomenon in the oil industry. Petroleum engineers are the highest paid of all college graduates. Over recent year they have drastically increased the cost/benefit for production of natural gas via fracking techniques. Their efforts have led to making energy cleaner (now abundant natural gas has half the CO2 by product as does coal) and less expensive.
The innovation driven by American engineers and farmers and the benefit that it provides to society is breathtaking in its scope. The entire world will benefit from the exciting ag/oil innovations happening in America today. Be nice to engineers and farmers. They hold our destiny in their hands.
In the image, to Earp's right are sprinklers to fit on commercial farming irrigation systems. Sprinklers are designed and manufactured in nearby Walla Walla, WA by privately owned Nelson Irrigation. Nelson Irrigation has a corner on the world market for sprinkler heads for commercial irrigation systems. They are shipped around the world... and, are the principal sprinklers used on Zimmatic, Valley and Reliant irrigation systems, all manufactured in Nebraska.
Yes... we, as a culture, know a lot about Kathy Griffin, who trashes our culture, but, we know little about the engineers at Nelson Irrigation who enable us to have an abundance of food at affordable prices. Better parenting and better education is required to right our broken culture... to extol the achievers (engineers and farmers( and to scorn the destroyers, before it is too late.
Earp, in addition to managing the irrigation business also designs irrigation systems. He has his own 600 acre farm, a BMW R1150, GS and a half share in a Piper Cub airplane, which he flies.
Earp is a motorcycle riding friend that I met through John Galt. The three of us and another friend, Larry, rode to Alaska and back last year.
Earp has a wonderful family, wife and two high achieving daughters: "gals that know how to do stuff." His oldest high school senior daughter, who keeps pigs and plays the trumpet, will get a full ride student at WSU in Pullman if she wants to go there. Not interested in boys for now... interested in her studies and being excellent at all she does.
Boy... what a difference good parenting makes!
Above: Zimmatic irrigation system. Touchet, WA. 02 June 2017.
The Zimmatic system, manufactured in Nebraska, sports Nelson Irrigation sprinklers designed and made in Walla Walla, Washington.
Above: Images showing process for production of alfalfa seed, a main product of Walla Walla Valley. 02 June 2017.
Alfalfa seed is pollinated by small leaf cutter bees.
1. Leaf cutter bee cell. Each cell created by bee: leaf, egg, pollen, leaf, egg, pollen, repeat.
2. Boxes of leaf cutter bee cells in controlled temperature room. Bees will hatch in time to pollinate alfalfa flower. 3 month life span.
3. Bishop at alfalfa seed field.
4. Final step alfalfa seed cleaning. Sorter.
5. Final product. Alfalfa seed shipped around the world. This batch to Saudi Arabia.
Above: Walla Walla sweet onions. Lowden, WA. 02 June 2017.
Production of Walla Walla sweet onions is highly labor intensive. They must be both planted and harvested by hand.
Walla Walla sweet onions are trademarked. The name can only be used for production from Walla Walla valley.
Similar to Vidalia onions in Georgia, also trademarked.
Above: Bonneville pumping and diversion station on Walla Walla River. 02 June 2017. Lowden, WA.
Earp in distance. Five irrigation canals emanate from this point. Fish weir let's salmon through.
Water is everything.
Above: Four phases of John Galt. Touchet, WA. 02 June 2017
1. Grading services.
2. Crafting custom walnut tables.
3. Personal airstrip and plane (Piper) garage.
4. 92 BMW PD motorcycle (No image).
Bishop, who can do little, in awe of guys like Galt, who know how to do stuff. Being a motorcycle poseur gave Bishop limited entrée into inner sanctum of guys who know how to do stuff. Bishop bluffed his way into the group. When the mud hits the fan (and it will), the "Galts" will reign supreme. Fascist, snowflake, and progressive narratives will crumble. Eventually, reality bites.
Addendum:
Looks like you’re heading into some weather—be careful out there big guy!
Phil, Park City, UT
Thanks for the head up!
Lucky you 😎
Brand, Ventura, CA
My best regards to Aunt Joyce.
Montage, Marina del Rey, CA
Thank you again- Taormina is lovely- we first went there in 1965 and then in 2016! Nice to see the pictures.
Love Saker, Mumbai, India