Business AgLife
B
Thursday, July 16, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Rosa leaves
Oregon
Cattlemen’s
Association
Oregon
jobless
rate drops
to 11.2%
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Press
SALEM — The removal of
gray wolves from Oregon’s endan-
gered species list is a defining
moment of Jerome Rosa’s six-year
tenure as executive director of the
Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association.
The decision was
a key policy objec-
tive of the OCA,
whose members have
struggled with wolf
Rosa
depredation of live-
stock, he said. “That was really
monumental.”
A framed copy of House Bill
4040, which nullified an environ-
mentalist lawsuit over the wolf
delisting in 2016, hung on his
office wall in Salem.
Rosa’s last day with the OCA
was July 10. He taking over as
executive director of the Arizona
Cattle Growers Association at the
end the month.
As OCA’s leaders look for
Rosa’s replacement, they say his
work with legislators and regula-
tors exemplifies his value to the
organization.
Rosa “elevated the profession-
alism” of the association and he
“had a big presence at the Capitol
that will be missed,” said Todd
Nash, the group’s president-elect
and a Wallowa County rancher.
Whoever steps into Rosa’s
shoes must establish a solid con-
nection with lawmakers, industry
leaders and the OCA’s rancher
members, Nash said.
“Communication in all of that
is huge,” he said.
It’s not an easy time for the
cattle industry, which had faced
several tough economic years
even before the coronavirus out-
break, he said.
The organization’s next execu-
tive director will need an in-depth
understanding of the problems
facing cattle producers and ability
to navigate the legislative land-
scape while also managing OCA’s
finances, staff and regular meet-
ings, said Tom Sharp, a Harney
County rancher and the group’s
current president.
“We’re looking for a lot of
capability,” Sharp said. “That’s
a lot I’m asking for and a lot that
we’re looking for.”
During Rosa’s time at the orga-
nization, he was instrumental in
hiring and overseeing the OCA’s
staff.
See, Rosa/Page 2B
Union County jobless
claims drop closer to
pre-pandemic levels;
Baker County hardest
hit in hospitality sector
By Ronald Bond
EO Medis Group
Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group
Wallowa County farmer Tim Melville, left, holds the white blossoms of peas growing below the taller,
yellow-blossomed mustard plants that his grandson, Case Melville, holds in a Cornerstone Farms
field north of Enterprise on Friday, July 3. Tim Melville says letting peas grow under mustard or cano-
la allows for a greater yield than either grown separately.
Mellow yellow
Canola, mustard ‘intercropped’ with peas
Farm family looks to
boosts productivity
and to the future
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
WALLOWA COUNTY
— You’re driving down the
highway amid green and
brown fields when you come
around a corner to an explo-
sion of yellow. No, it’s not
overgrown dandelions; it’s
canola or mustard, but it often
takes a farmer or a botanist to
know the difference.
Cornerstone Farms, owned
and operated by Tim and
Audry Melville, along with
their sons Kevin and Kurt, has
many of its nearly 5,000 Wal-
lowa County acres in either
canola or mustard, growing
over a crop of one of five types
of peas, Tim said. The farm
also produces wheat, barley,
oats, flax and alfalfa and tim-
othy grass hay. The Melvilles
raise no livestock.
Kevin said the family farm
started doing the practice
about three years ago after
learning it from Canadian
farmers. It is supposed to offer
greater yields for each of the
crops than they would produce
growing on their own.
Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group
A blanket of yellow canola with an undercoat of white pea blos-
soms covers a Cornerstone Farms field north of Enterprise. The
practice of intercropping — growing the two crops together — pro-
duces a greater yield than either would produce separately, said
farm co-owner Kevin Melville.
“That’s the theory,” Kevin
said. “It’s called ‘intercrop-
ping’ where you do two
or three crops together on
purpose.”
Tim agreed.
“If you plant them together,
they yield more than if you
grow them separately,” he said.
Grown alone, Kevin said
peas in a dryland field pro-
duce about 1,500-2,000 pounds
per acre, while mustard comes
in at 750-1,000 pounds per
acre, with canola a bit higher.
But that requires 1 acre for
peas and another for canola or
mustard.
When “intercropped,” the
farm sees 1,200-1,400 pounds
an acre of peas and 500 pounds
of mustard on the same acre.
See, Intercropping/Page 3B
LA GRANDE — The jobs lost
in Oregon during coronavirus-re-
lated shutdowns are starting to
come back — but there is a long
way to go.
A press release Tuesday from
the Oregon Employment Depart-
ment showed the state gained
56,600 jobs in June, more than
double the 26,100 jobs the state
added in May. The more than
82,000 jobs added dropped the
state’s unemployment rate to
11.2%, and represents just close
to one-third (31%) of the jobs lost
during March and April, when
stay-at-home orders were put in
place. The rate fell to a level on
par with the nation, which had a
rate in June of 11.1%.
The number of continued
unemployment claims in the
state, which averaged just more
than 25,000 during the first three
months of the year then spiked to
more than 194,000 in April and
May, dropped to 153,831 in June,
according to date from the OED.
Those from 25-44 years old
account for about half (75,706) of
those continuing to file unemploy-
ment claims.
The state was at 1,955,700
nonfarm jobs at the time of the
February report. There were
13,200 fewer jobs at the time of
the March report before the total
plummeted to 1,689,700 in April,
a drop of 266,000 jobs from Feb-
ruary. The current total still is
183,300 off the count in February.
Initial claims in Union County,
which reached as high as 307
in a week in late March, 311 in
early April and hung above 265
weekly for a month, have dropped
closer to pre-pandemic levels.
The county reported 96 new first-
time claims the week ending June
20, 90 the week ending June 27
and 57 the week ending July 4,
the lowest total since 50 were
reported the week ending May 30.
See, Jobless/Page 3B
Shaved ice business helps beat the summer heat
Family enterprise
booming in La Grande’s
Riverside Park
By Sabrina Thompson
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — Decorated
with a tiki hut theme, Snoasis
is helping visitors at Riverside
Park beat the heat with shaved
ice. Owned by a single mother
of four, the shaved ice shack has
seen an increase in businesses
this summer despite COVID-19.
“People enjoy that feeling of
a normal summer,” owner Olivia
Westenskow said.
Shaved ice is different than
a snow cone. Rather than using
crushed ice, the cold treats are
made with a machine that slices
into a large block of ice to create
shavings, to which flavored
syrups are added.
Westenskow brought Snoasis
to La Grande from Boise in 2017.
She established a contract with
the La Grande Parks and Rec-
reation Department and began
selling shaved ice at the park in
2018. The mobile shack features
69 flavors, with the option to mix
and match and add special top-
pings, such as sour spray or ice
cream.
She operates the shack with
Photo by Sabrina Thompson/EO Media Group
A young girl buys shaved ice from Snoasis at Riverside Park, La Grande.
another family, running Sno-
asis every other week with the
help of her four children — age
5, 8, 13 and 15 — during the
summer. The children assist with
everything from filling syrup
dispensers to working the till.
Westenskow said it is a great
opportunity for her children to
work on their math and social
skills during the summer.
“It’s like a hobby business,”
she said. “And it is a great way
for the kids to earn money. This
is the first year my 8-year old will
work the till,” adding that the
kids use an app to help with the
math.
Westenskow said her chil-
dren also help advertise — they
stand outside the shack eating the
shaved ice to draw other children
to the bright teal structure on a
trailer.
Westenskow was prepared to
open the business after spending
her teen years working in a
shaved ice shack.
“It was just so much fun
and such a great experience,”
See, Snoasis/Page 3B
Photo by Sabrina Thompson/EO Media Group
Rainbow shaved ice is one of the most popular choices at Snoasis in
La Grande. It features banana, strawberry and blue raspberry syrups.