SAN DIEGO — Bob Stallman’s vision for the future of American agriculture includes a consuming public that understands modern farming and ranching is a business that involves significant risk and tough decisions. Click here for the full story
University of Idaho officials encourage new small farmers and ranchers to sign up early for an online course offered in January. Click here for the full story
Gov. Butch Otter has appointed a Caribou County dryland grain farmer and a Washington County rancher to a reconstituted board assigned to regulate oil and gas exploration and drilling in the state.
Read about how farmers are confronting controversy over biotechnology in "Surviving a Biotech Backlash," at http://bit.ly/BiotechBacklash
The federal government wants to clarify the Endangered Species Act with two upcoming policy changes that ranching interests fear will greatly increase the law's scope.
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The next national Census of Agriculture will seek more specific data on internet use and alternative energy production on farms, ranches and dairies. The census is the only survey producers are legally required to complete.
AgMinute is sponsored by "Western Innovators," which is available at http://amzn.to/WesternInnovators
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A farmer and rancher will battle for the House speaker position during the 2013 Idaho Legislature. Farm groups aren't taking sides on the upcoming battle between the current speaker of the House, Rep. Lawerence Denney, a farmer from Midvale, and the Assistant Majority Leader, Rep. Scott Bedke, a rancher from Oakley.
AgMinute is sponsored by "Western Innovators," which is available at http://amzn.to/WesternInnovators
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The U.S. cattle supply is shrinking as a result of high feed costs and serious financial losses in the feedlot sector, the latest USDA cattle on feed report confirms.
AgMinute is sponsored by "Western Innovators," which is available at http://amzn.to/WesternInnovators.
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In this podcast, reporters and editors discuss the loss of Williamson Act funding on California's ranches, why farmers who used the H-2A guestworker program may be on the hook for $400 million in back wages, and an editorial on congressional inaction and the importance of the farm bill.
This podcast is sponsored by "Western Innovators," available at http://amzn.to/WesternInnovators.
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Farm industry representatives from across Idaho gathered in Julia Davis Park Oct. 30 to dedicate the first sandstone blocks laid in a $400,000 ag pavilion designed to tell the story of Idaho agriculture.
For more on agriculture's contributions to the West, read "Western Innovators."
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In this podcast, editors and reporters discuss a historic ranch far off the beaten path, ask why Idaho dairies are having trouble getting loans, and check on legal developments involving the former CEO of the bankrupt Humboldt Dairy and Roundup Ready sugar beets.
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One of the most read stories on www.capitalpress.com over the last 24 hours has been the report on the death of Country Natural Beef co-founder Doc Hatfield. Hatfield and his wife Connie created the cooperative more than 20 years ago.
His passing is drawing reaction an mourning from ranchers, the Oregon ag community, and foodies throughout the West and the country.
Cows are often thought of as docile animals, but one Georgia farmer knows better. The farmer, who is in his 70s, is recovering after being attacked by a 900-pound rabid cow.
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Glenn Archambault, of Phoenix, Ore., sent a link to this video to Capital Press reporter Mitch Lies. Archambault is one of the people interviewed in this three-part series, on Oregon's land-use laws and their impact on farmers and ranchers.
The video is produced by the organization Americans for Prosperity in Josephine County, Ore.
I've been on vacation and haven't posted anything for a while, so I wanted to mention a few things to get myself back in a posting mode and share information that may be of interest to Capital Press and Blogriculture readers.
***
Kudos to fellow Capital Press staffer Steve Brown (and fellow Blogriculture blogger too I might add) for getting his recent video story about Christmas tree harvesting by helicopter mentioned in a post on the Oregonian newspaper's Oregonlive.com website earlier this month.
The boost in traffic to his YouTube video from that post has made it the most popular of the videos we've posted at Capital Press in our short video-posting history.
***
Speaking of Christmas tree video stories, the Associated Press recently posted a video about the debate over whether real or artificial trees may be better for the environment. You can check out the video here.
Or read a recent guest commentary piece published in the Capital Press on that issue by Joseph Sharp, president of Yule Tree Farms at Aurora, Ore., and chairman of the Coalition of Environmentally Responsible Growers.
Staff writer Elizabeth Larson also did a story on this issue in the Nov. 23 edition.
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And, on a more personal note, the reason I was playing hooky last week was because I was down in Las Vegas for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Last year, when I went to the NFR I took a laptop along and posted some blog updates from Las Vegas on the rodeo.
We don't really cover rodeo at the Capital Press, but there is an obvious link between the sport and agriculture, and farming and ranching news in the West is what the Capital Press. Rodeo grew out of the skills needed in ranching and working with livestock. The people who compete in rodeo largely come from ranching backgrounds and maintain farms or ranches in addition to their competitive lives. The stock contractors are specialized ranchers. And I would be willing to wager that the core of the rodeo fan base comes from the greater agriculture community. Rodeo is not only part of the Western lifestyle it is also a part of the agribusiness economy.
So, needless to say, it was difficult not to think about work when I was surrounded by farmers and ranchers from Umatilla County who make the annual trek to Vegas for the NFR.
But if you are craving some Wrangler National Finals Rodeo news, check out columnist Butch Thurman's dispatch from Las Vegas. Capital Press print readers will get the column in their paper Friday, but you can read it online now on the Capital Press website. You can even read more of Butch's columns there.
By Kevin Duling
Country life is usually slow to change. For example, the small service station downtown which fixes our flat tires and welds our machinery is still in operation. It has been in operation for nearly 75 years. Every once in a while, something will happen in a small town to give people something to chatter about.
About five years ago, a widely traveled doctor purchased some acreage nearby, which we had been farming. He wanted to keep us as his tenants and continue farming as we had been. Occasionally, he would ask for help with something simple, such as moving a little dirt for his patio. Every time we would help, he would always be grilling us steak dinners and offering drinks. These little chores became wonderful excuses for family social functions.
One day, he decided to purchase livestock. I received a phone call from him letting me know of his new purchase and he was excited. He let me know it was his dream to have a small ranch with livestock roaming through it. Roaming through it they did, as the fences were nonexistent at best.
A couple years ago, I received another phone call alerting me to not shoot the strange creatures grazing his place. The service station was alive with talk of these small, black critters that look like a cross between a buffalo and a gazelle. Some small town folk don’t get out much, so something like this can create quite a stir.
A friend of mine, who takes care of the Hangbelly Ranch when the doctor is absent, wanted me to help her feed the animals one wintry day. She told me to throw the hay off the back of the pickup while she drove through the field. As I sat atop the hay waiting to start throwing bales, a little blonde head poked out of the sliding windows with the following disclaimer: “When we get to the yaks, be aware. They are athletic and sometimes quite friendly. Whatever happens, don’t panic and just keep throwing hay.”
With a slightly devilish grin and a twinkle in her eye, she drove us into the field. The cattle were eager to have breakfast on that snowy day, as they all followed while the hay was being dumped. About a quarter mile from the cattle was a group of yaks.
As we approached, all heads and horns were attentive to us. I started throwing as fast as I could hoping nothing strange would happen. While focusing on the hay bales I didn’t even notice that two yaks were now in the pickup with me. “I have to throw faster!” I screeched.
The pit of my stomach grew sickly as all the hay was out of the pickup, leaving the two yaks and myself. From the corner of my eye I saw my friend giggling, as the sight must have been entertaining. The yaks were coming with me, whether I liked it or not.
Today, the Hangbelly Ranch has yaks, cattle, zebu, llamas, chickens, pigs, goats, horses, guinea hens, geese, homing pigeons, peacocks, and a duck. This spring will be time to take the offspring to the auction. There is one small problem with that. The zebu bull bred a few of the cattle, the yak bull bred the zebu cows, and the beef bull bred the neighbor’s cows.
The auctioneer will have his work cut out for him that day. “Hey, look here folks, we have a great set of (pause)…….. zeebaks with a pen of 10 cowzus next up. Anyone have any idea what these are worth and where the bidding should start?”
Every small town has a story or two to tell. The story of the Hangbelly Ranch has been off the radar for some time. While waiting at the service station for a tire to be fixed, I still find myself answering the question, “Hey, what’s that place up there have out in the field? It looks like a cross between a buffalo, a cow, and a gazelle.”
Kevin Duling is a wheat farmer from Maupin, Ore. His stories will be posted on the Capital Press blog every Friday. Comments are welcomed at kevinddul@aol.com.
Copyright, November 2007, Kevin Duling
By PATRICIA R. McCOY
Capital Press
MAY, Idaho — The Capital Press covers four states with only 10 fulltime field reporters, half a dozen staffers in the headquarters newsroom in Salem, Ore., and a band of dedicated, but very part-time freelancers.
Given the size of the staff compared with geography, it behooves us to get out in the field occasionally on overnight trips so we can interview for a few stories in some of the more remote areas.
Thus it was that I found myself in Salmon, Idaho, for a week recently, doing stories on several different ranches.
Being unfamiliar with the area, I naturally quizzed ranchers carefully in advance for directions to their operations.
Glenn Elzinga’s directions were very clear, and easy to follow.
He told me to watch for the Pahsimeroi River Valley turnoff on Highway 93, at the Ellis Post Office, and follow the road east for a certain number of miles to a side road labeled with a certain name, then turn south again and go about a mile and a half to the gate to his ranch.
“Just open the gate and drive on through,” he said. “I’ll be expecting you. If you cross the river, you’ll have gone too far.”
I found everything just as he described, very easily. There was only one problem. The gate to his ranch turned into a pasture where he’d left his horses.
Now, anybody who has ever been around animals knows they see fences as a challenge. The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side.
Elzinga’s horses were no exception. No sooner had I stopped at the gate than they came crowding forward, ready to bolt the minute I opened it.
I tried shooing them back from the gate. They moved back a short distance, but with a very cocky, “who the heck do you think YOU are, lady,” look in their eyes.
When I thought I’d shooed them to a sufficient distance, I unlatched the gate, ready to wave my arms and shoo them away still further so I could jump into my car, drive through, then stop and refasten the gate before proceeding on up to the ranchstead where Elzinga had promised to meet me.
Any rancher could have predicted that wasn’t going to work. It didn’t. Giving me another one of those cocky, “oh, yeah, lady” looks, the horses bolted right past me and onto the road the second I unlatched the gate. No arm waving, yelling or jumping up and down was going to stop them.
They were, by the way, considerably larger than me, and half a dozen strong against one woman.
That left me with only one choice. Leaving the gate open, I drove quickly to the house, located Elzinga, and told him the horses had bolted onto the road.
He was working on his car at the time. He jumped in, and drove to the road. I followed him back down the lane in my own car, parked a short distance away from the gate, and stationed myself in the road on the opposite side of the gate so I could turn the horses as he herded them back into the yard with his car.
The horses hadn’t gone far. They really were after the lush, green grass growing by the side of the road, positive that it was greener than that in their pasture.
Three of Elzinga’s seven daughters also raced for the gate, one or two on their bicycles. They helped chase the horses back inside, and on up the lane to a second pasture where they couldn’t bolt again when I left.
The girls latched the gate behind all of us, and I drove back up to the house, ruefully shaking my head.
“Wow,” I said, “That’s some way to make a first impression!" Elzinga burst out laughing. Like so many ranchers, he had a good sense of humor. Then he apologized for forgetting to put the horses into the back pasture away from the ranch lane before I came.
It all went to prove the old truism: ranch people are friendly, and a lot of fun to be around. It’s all part of what makes writing for the Capital Press fun.
To hear a short interview McCoy did with Elzinga, click here.
Capital Press staff writer Pat McCoy is based in Boise.
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