The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, January 01, 2019, Image 1

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Wednesday, January 1, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Small-business & Ag
HAPPENINGS
Pamela Glenn of Summerville
elected to FSA Union County
Committee
SALEM฀—฀The฀Union฀County฀U.S.฀
Department฀of฀Agriculture฀Farm฀Service฀
Agency฀announced฀Pamela฀Glenn฀of฀Sum-
merville was elected to represent the local
administrative฀area฀(LAA)฀2฀on฀FSA’s฀
Union฀County฀Committee.฀Glenn฀and฀other฀
recently elected county committee members
will฀take฀office฀in฀January.฀Every฀FSA฀office฀
has a county committee made up of local
farmers, ranchers and foresters who are
elected by local producers.
County฀committee฀members฀are฀a฀critical฀
component of the day-to-day operations of
FSA.฀They฀help฀deliver฀programs฀at฀the฀
county level and work to serve the needs
of฀local฀producers.฀Committee฀members฀
impact producers through their decision
making and help shape the culture of a
local฀FSA฀office.฀They฀also฀ensure฀the฀fair฀
and฀equitable฀administration฀of฀FSA฀farm฀
programs in their counties and are account-
able฀to฀the฀Secretary฀of฀Agriculture.฀They฀
monitor changes in farm programs and
inform farmers of the purpose and provi-
sions฀of฀FSA฀programs.
For฀more฀information,฀visit฀the฀FSA฀web-
site฀at฀fsa.usda.gov/elections฀or฀contact฀the฀
Union฀County฀FSA฀office฀at฀541-963-4178.
Walden terms USMCA ‘a big win’
WASHINGTON,฀D.C.฀—฀Rep.฀Greg฀
Walden (R-Hood River) in a news release
lauded the recent House passage of the
United฀States-Mexico-Canada฀Trade฀Agree-
ment,฀calling฀it฀“a฀big฀win฀for฀Oregon’s฀
businesses฀and฀ag฀producers.”฀
According฀to฀the฀release,฀Oregon฀busi-
nesses฀export฀$3.7฀billion฀in฀goods฀to฀
Canada฀and฀Mexico,฀supporting฀7,421฀jobs฀
in฀the฀state,฀and฀the฀USMCA฀“expands฀and฀
solidifies the market opportunities that
make฀that฀possible.฀USMCA฀will฀especially฀
help฀Oregon฀wine,฀wheat฀and฀dairy฀produc-
ers and provides improved market access
for฀our฀agriculture฀products,”฀Walden฀said.฀
“I฀look฀forward฀to฀the฀Senate฀passing,฀and฀
the฀President฀signing฀this฀agreement฀so฀
that we can continue to grow our economy
and฀expand฀access฀to฀markets฀abroad.”
SAIF offers free ag safety
seminar in Hermiston
SALEM฀—฀SAIF฀will฀give฀a฀free฀semi-
nar on agriculture safety and health in
Hermiston from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Jan.
14฀in฀English฀and฀Jan.฀15฀in฀Spanish.฀The฀
seminars are designed primarily for people
working in agriculture but are open to any-
one interested in ag safety and health. The
seminar, which includes lunch, will take
place฀at฀the฀Hermiston฀Conference฀Center,฀
415฀S.฀Highway฀395.฀Webinars฀in฀English฀
and฀Spanish฀will฀be฀offered฀in฀March.
“We฀purposely฀hold฀these฀in฀the฀off-
season฀to฀encourage฀attendance,”฀said฀
Courtney฀Merriott,฀senior฀safety฀manage-
ment฀consultant฀at฀SAIF฀and฀presenter฀at฀
this฀year’s฀seminars.฀“Our฀goal฀is฀to฀provide฀
the latest safety content for the industry, so
that every ag worker goes home safe and
healthy฀each฀night.”
Registration฀is฀required.฀More฀informa-
tion and registration details can be found at
www.saif.com/agseminars.
Oregon DMV seeks qualified
CDL testers
SALEM฀—฀Oregon฀DMV฀is฀looking฀for฀
more skills test providers for commercial
driver฀licensing฀across฀the฀state.฀DMV฀en-
courages businesses and organizations that
can฀administer฀CDL฀skills฀tests฀to฀apply฀with฀
the฀Oregon฀Department฀of฀Transportation฀for฀
the฀CDL฀Third฀Party฀Testing฀Program.฀Once฀
ODOT฀awards฀providers฀with฀a฀contract฀
in this program, they will be authorized to
administer฀CDL฀skills฀tests฀on฀behalf฀of฀DMV.
A฀Request฀for฀Proposal฀(RFP฀730-34080-
19)฀is฀available฀for฀download฀on฀the฀Oregon฀
Procurement฀Information฀Network฀system.฀
Any entities wishing to submit a proposal
—฀the฀first฀step฀toward฀a฀contract฀—฀must฀
be registered on the network. Registration is
free.฀More฀information฀on฀ORPIN,฀including฀
how to register as a supplier, is available at
http://orpin.oregon.gov/open.dll/welcome.฀
If฀you฀are฀new฀to฀Oregon฀public฀procure-
ment, or would like training or assistance
with how to compete in the government
marketplace,฀the฀Government฀Contract฀
Assistance฀Program฀has฀free฀tools฀available฀
at www.gcap.org.
All questions related to this program
and฀the฀RFP฀must฀be฀directed฀to฀Stephanie฀
Lehman at stephanie.k.lehman@odot.state.
or.us.
Photo by Lynn Grooms/Agri-View
Cows feed on corn silage in this file photo. A group of scientists with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and farmers in
northern New England are working on a plan to feed seaweed to cows to gauge whether it can help reduce greenhouse gas
emissions that contribute to climate change.
Seaweed as cow feed?
By Patrick Whittle
The Associated Press
FREEPORT,฀Maine฀—฀Coast-
al฀Maine฀has฀a฀lot฀of฀seaweed,฀
and a fair number of cows. A
group of scientists and farm-
ers think pairing the two could
help unlock a way to cope with a
warming world.
The฀researchers฀—฀from฀a฀ma-
rine science lab, an agriculture
center and universities in north-
ern฀New฀England฀—฀are฀work-
ing on a plan to feed seaweed
to cows to gauge whether that
can help reduce the greenhouse
gas emissions that contribute to
climate change.
About a quarter of the meth-
ane in the country comes from
cattle, which produce the gas
when they belch or flatulate.
The concept of feeding sea-
weed to cows has gained traction
in recent years because some
studies have shown its potential
to cut back on methane. The
reduction might be because the
seaweed interrupts the process
of production of the gas in the
animals’ guts.
One฀of฀the฀big฀questions฀is฀
which kinds of seaweed offer
the highest benefit to farmers
looking to cut methane, and
the researchers hope to find
out,฀said฀Nichole฀Price,฀a฀senior฀
research scientist at Bigelow
Laboratory฀for฀Ocean฀Sciences฀
in฀East฀Boothbay,฀Maine,฀and฀
the project’s leader.
“What฀on฀that฀list฀has฀the฀
ability฀to฀do฀two฀things฀—฀not฀
just reduce methane emissions,
but have some health benefits
for the cow that have a cost
savings or cost efficiency for the
farmer?”฀Price฀said.
The researchers plan to
conduct feeding trials with cows
in฀Maine฀and฀New฀Hampshire฀
in 2020 and 2021 to see whether
seaweeds that can be used as
cattle feed will cut the meth-
ane. They also intend to screen
seaweeds for compounds that
make them useful as cattle feed
additives.
The lab work to determine
whether the seaweeds succeed
in reducing methane will take
place at University of Vermont.
The research team has
received a $3 million grant from
the฀Shelby฀Cullom฀Davis฀Chari-
table Fund toward the work.
Studies฀involving฀some฀sea-
See Seaweed / Page 2B
Wheat prices ‘fairly firm,’ could go higher
By Matthew Weaver
Capital Press
SALEM฀—฀Wheat฀prices฀are฀trending฀
higher, and market experts say there’s room
for them to grow.
Prices฀for฀soft฀white฀wheat,฀primarily฀
grown฀in฀the฀Pacific฀Northwest,฀ranged฀
from฀$5.90฀to฀$6.10฀per฀bushel฀on฀the฀Port-
land market.
Prices฀will฀remain฀“fairly฀firm,”฀said฀By-
ron Behne, grain marketer for Northwest
Grain Growers in Walla Walla, Washington.
“I฀don’t฀know฀that฀we’ll฀get฀to฀$6.50฀like฀
we did last year, but I don’t really see a lot
of฀downside,฀either,”฀he฀said.฀“I฀think฀we’re฀
going฀to฀be฀in฀OK฀shape.”
“It’s฀been฀so฀many฀years฀since฀I’ve฀been฀
able to say this, but we actually have a
bullish fundamental situation going on in
wheat฀right฀now,”฀said฀Darin฀Newsom,฀a฀
EO Media Group file photo
market฀analyst฀in฀Omaha,฀Nebraska.
Wheat is harvested near Lexington. Analysts say wheat prices could increase in the
See Wheat / Page 2B coming months.
Why create an employee handbook?
By Greg Smith
Employers of any size will benefit from
a straightforward, well-written employee
handbook. This document clearly spells out
company policies and expecta-
tions as well as provides em-
ployees with a tool of reference
should questions arise.
When drafting an employee
handbook, it is essential that
Smith
all federal and state employ-
ment laws are adhered to
and be written in simple language, rather
than legalese. It should always contain an
employee and manager signature line and
date documenting the handbook has been
carefully reviewed by the employee and any
questions answered by a supervisor.
While it will take time to create the hand-
book (and keep it updated), there are many
benefits to both employer and employee. By
creating uniform expectations, it can lessen
workplace strife and streamline the hiring
process. The handbook documents company
procedures and specific rules regarding dress
code, any permitted use of personal electronic
devices, non-discrimination, harassment (and
how to file a complaint), compensation and
benefits, company holidays, sick leave infor-
mation, scheduling, etc., and consequences for
violating these expectations. It may also offer
a level of employer protection in the event of
an employee lawsuit.
Helpful content to include in an employee
handbook may include:
•฀Welcome฀to฀Our฀Team฀statement
•฀Company฀history
•฀Explanation฀of฀“at-will”฀employment
•฀Office฀conduct฀
•฀Probationary฀period
•฀Specific฀cell฀phone฀and฀social฀media฀
usage rules
•฀Safety฀policies
•฀Payroll฀schedule/timecard฀completion
•฀Performance฀reviews
•฀Company฀benefits฀and฀enrollment
•฀Exit฀interviews฀in฀the฀event฀of฀resigna-
tion or termination
Employers should review the handbook
on a regular basis and make changes as
needed. Additions or revisions may be neces-
sary, and it is also important to remove any
policies that are not enforced.
While it is tempting not to have an em-
ployee handbook in place when there is a
small team, it is well worth the time to avoid
aggravation and ensure standards for the
business are being met.
Greg Smith is the director of the Eastern
Oregon University Small Business Development
Center located at 1607 Gekeler Lane #148 in
La Grande, Oregon. You may schedule a free,
confidential business advising appointment
by calling 541-962-1532 or emailing eousbdc@
gmail.com.