Our first official video story

Freelancer Jacqui Krizo was kind enough to shoot some video for a story she is working on for Capital Press and send it along. She did such a good job with it that we rushed to get it posted. We'll add more details, but check it out.

CP will be at Willamette Valley Ag Expo

The Willamette Valley Ag Expo starts today in Albany, Ore. and during the next few days several of our staff will be visiting the show.

We have people from our editorial, advertising and circulation departments, as well as our publisher Mike O’Brien, spending some time there. People are invited to visit our booth and chat with any of our friendly staff there or if you see us wandering through the buildings.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about the show can check out stories in our special section (go to www.capitalpress.com and click on the Willamette Valley Ag Expo link on the left side menu or click here).

The organizers of the show are optimistic that there will be a good turnout of farmers, they’ll find the machinery they want, and a lot of business will be done with dealers. Fortunately, the weather has decided to cooperate today for the opening day of the show — yesterday’s storm has blown through, leaving some people in Washington and Oregon cleaning up fallen tree branches and still waiting for power to be restored.

If any of our blog readers attend the WVAE show within the next three days, let us know what you thought of it. We welcome your feedback.

Technorati tags: Agriculture

Winds whip West

It was a dark and stormy night. And next day.

Wind advisories and warnings, and now some storm warnings, have been issued here in the West, especially along the coast, where meteorologists have warned estimated winds could reach gusts of 60-85 mph.

Our freelance cartoonist Rik Dalvit, up in Bellingham, Wash., phoned early this morning to let us know the power was already out in his area before the worst of the storm was supposed to hit.

Dalvit estimated the winds were already gusting up to 85 mph there, and described the wild ocean view he saw outside his window, with the huge ocean waves and high spray. He said he felt it was like being in a hurricane, and no wonder: Category One hurricanes have sustained winds of 74-95 mph, so his area could possibly be experiencing wind gusts in that range.

The National Weather Office has also warned that waves up to 31 feet high could be experienced along some areas of the coast between Cape Lookout and Point St. George.

Dalvit apologized that his cartoons would be later than usual because of the storm. With the power outage, his office is too dark to work in.

There are probably others who are facing similar challenges of not being able to do their jobs because of electricity failures or other wind-related problems.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the adverse weather, please let us know so we can share your story.

Technorati tags: Agriculture

Do you read the numbers?

Some members for the Capital Press staff, mostly some of us who work in the newsroom, are going to be calling on our readers to help us figure out how to tailor what we do to fit them best.

So we will literally be picking up the phones talk to subscribers in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California to talk turkey — and hay, cattle, milk, grains, etc. Specifically we are going to be asking them questions about our Markets pages, where we print information about various commodity prices each week. (Read more about what's behind this effort in this week's column by Managing Editor Carl Sampson.) If you are a Capital Press reader, you can help us out too if you like. Here are the questions we will be asking. If you want to participate, you can do so by answering the questions below and sending them to me via e-mail.

Capital Press Market Reports Survey

Are you a subscriber to the Capital Press? (If not, how often do you read Capital Press?)

Do you read the Market reports in the Capital Press?

Which ones?

Do you get Market reports from our website, capitalpress.com, or other Internet sources?

Which ones?

Do you use them in addition to the market reports printed in the Capital Press or instead of them?

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important and 1 being not important at all, how important to you are the Market reports printed in the Capital Press?

Do you have any suggestions for improving the Capital Press?

Steer clear of Fed inflation forecast

According to the Fed, inflation was minimal in the first quarter of the year. One financial analyst was a bit worried about the price of commodities. He stated how food prices could rise in relation to the demand pull for ethanol, relating to the cost of finishing an animal.

Many rural families have the luxury of growing their own beef for their own consumption. The price to raise your own animal, plus the quality of food which is achievable, are two of the advantages these families can enjoy. Nothing spells happiness to a man like having a freezer full of beef.

Out of curiosity, I decided to figure out the price of beef per pound in raising our own. We do not have our own mother cows, so the purchase price of a steer is our first cost, at roughly $500. We will typically have to feed at least half a ton of hay during the winter, so let’s add $75 to that.

Fly spray, salt, minerals, and various small vet items will maybe add another $25, bringing your total to $600 for a finished beef. There are some hidden expenses, I’ve noticed, that can add up really fast.

First, to purchase a steer, one has to visit an auction. This can get expensive. To get the accurate cost of beef per pound, I believe I would have to add the cost of the goat, the pig, and the donkey I felt sorry for and also purchased. Had I not been shopping for a steer, these three critters would still be at the auction and not in my yard.

Secondly, I do not own a trailer, so I had to hire someone to bring these to my house. For some reason, the steers I pick out always seem to be really good deals until I get them home. I believe elk would struggle keeping up with these bovines, so we can add the cost of fixing the corral to that list too.

Having your ranch next to a bird farm is not necessarily a good thing. The lure of irrigated corn patches in a desert is more than an average steer can bear, so we’ll add the price of a corn patch or two.

Lastly, corn can make a steer feel really energetic, so let’s add the cost of a satellite dish, a water faucet, my yard fence, and a septic tank, all found in my yard. Whatever the price, it will be nice having this steer in the freezer.

After cutting and wrapping, the total price per pound on a home-raised beef steer is only $10.50 per pound. Who in their right mind would ever buy beef at a supermarket?

I did a similar exercise on the cost of elk meat per pound. Hunting and fishing is a sure bet at keeping your food costs down. Why, a hunting license only runs $43.50. Add some ammo, a tag, and maybe a few camping supplies and the cost couldn’t be too bad could it?

We do tend to eat a little more than normal while elk camping. The price of fuel is higher now and you can’t just use cheap bullets. New water proof boots and clothing must be purchased at least every other year, toilet paper is a large necessity, and the new tax deductible chainsaw is a must for any elk hunter.

Let us not forget the trailer we have to buy to camp in, plus the full size gas grill every elk camp should have. Sometimes it rains or snows while elk hunting, so a wall tent must be purchased to allow more room for drying clothes. Lastly, a winch to haul the elk out of the canyon is needed.

The running total on a pound of elk meat is now at $150.75 per pound in the event that we actually get one. The Fed seems to be off a bit. I think inflation is becoming a bit of a problem. Who can afford to eat with these kinds of prices?

I think I will take up fishing. All I need is a pole and some bait, right?

Kevin Duling is a wheat farmer from Maupin, Ore. His stories will be posted every Friday on the Capital Press blog. Comments are welcomed at kevinddul@aol.com.

Copyright, November 2007, Kevin Duling

Country Music Association performances were refreshing

So … what did people think of the Country Music Association winners last night?

Anyone from a farm background has to appreciate the lyrics of some of the country music songs being recorded each year. There are songs that make us laugh, cry, reminisce or be proud of who we are and what we do.

One of the things that stood out during the evening is the incredible amount of talent there is in the country music industry:

There are the familiar faces who have performed for several decades, like Country Music Hall of Fame member George Strait, 55, still winning awards … and new stars such as Taylor Swift — born in 1989, and playing since she was 12 —who won the Horizon award.

Perhaps some of the most stunning performances were the simplest ones last night, where the performers stood on stage with perhaps only a microphone and one guitar player, allowing the voice and passion of the singer to hold the audience spellbound.

In an age where many performers like loud noise, gimmicks and wild lighting to capture attention of their fans, it’s refreshing and very effective to return to the roots of good music.

* * * *

Does it bug anyone else that anytime there’s some national entertainment show that is supposed to have suspense, people from the rest of the country forget us in the West and our time zone?

A couple of examples: the Country Music Association awards last night, and the Next Great American Band competition.

If you don’t want to know who the winners are in the CMAs and which bands lost in the band competition, then you better not go on their websites until after you finished watching your television shows on the West coast.

Because … whoever does the websites for those shows decided to post the results an hour or more before we find out the final results here.

Mind you, this works great if you wish to annoy friends and family.

“Hey, want to know who wins that category…?”


Technorati tags: Agriculture