For more than four decades, brothers and Washington State University alumni Phil and Max Hinrichs have been at the heart of pulse agriculture in Washington.
This month, their service to the pulse industry and Washington’s Palouse community were recognized as part of the 35th National Lentil Festival at Pullman, Wash. The brothers were named the Pulse Family of the Year by the festival organization.
“We grew up as a farm family,” said Max, a 1979 graduate in agricultural economics, who with brother Phil has worked alongside Northwest chickpea growers for three decades.
The brothers became business partners in 1985, upon retirement of their father, Bob, and uncle Don.
They owned and operated fifth-generation Palouse seed processor Max Hinrichs Seed Company, founded by and named for their great-grandfather. In 1996, Phil and his wife Pamela, with their grown children Phil Jr., Kyle, and Katie, established Hinrichs Trading Company LLC, growing it into the largest independent chickpea processor in the nation.
Serving a market that grew greatly beginning in the early 1990s, the brothers bought chickpea crops from Palouse farmers, then cleaned, processed, and shipped the pulses internationally from warehouses around the country. Ardent Mills acquired Hinrichs Trading Company in 2021. Both brothers retired Jan. 5, 2024.
Former director of international trade for the family business, Max is past president of the American Dry Pea and Lentil Association. He and his wife Vicki have two daughters and three grandchildren.
A 1980 CAHNRS alumnus and former professional baseball player, Phil has been an active member of agricultural organizations and a dedicated Cougar supporter. Phil and Pamela have three children and four grandchildren.
Phil and Max are third-generation graduates of WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. Their parents, as well as several aunts and uncles, studied at WSU or had WSU connections, and the brothers established several endowments benefiting crop and soil sciences and pulse academics and research.
“Once you’re a Coug, you’re always a Coug,” says Phil, who believes that volunteering is the best class he ever attended at WSU.
Phil’s focus on supporting research was inspired by partnership with Fred Muehlbauer, a now-retired USDA-ARS pulse breeder who developed improved chickpea varieties at Pullman.
His close relationship with the late WSU president Elson Floyd led to volunteer efforts in CAHNRS: Phil served on the CAHNRS National Campaign Council, which was instrumental in raising more than $250 million during the Campaign for WSU. He is currently a member of the Land Legacy Council, helping to oversee gifts of farmland to WSU.
“On behalf of my family, we are proud to accept this award,” Phil said.
“Phil and I have enjoyed living and working in Pullman most of our lives,” Max added. “We are so proud to be part of this community, and so happy to see what the Pullman Chamber of Commerce and the association has done to make the Lentil Festival what it is today. We thank them for everything they do to educate people about the future of pulses.”
Phil says he has found satisfaction in being part of a pulse movement that extends from Palouse growers and more than 100 employees to an international market that has grown bigger than he ever imagined. His legacy, he hopes, is that of a dreamer who helped growers, industry, and the consumer embrace chickpeas.
“I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work with family, including my brother Max, and hand it off to families all over the world,” Phil said.