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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2022)
14 | SPRING RAIN | BAKER COUNTY Grass: Continued from Page 13 (One acre-foot of water would cover an acre of fl at ground to a depth of one foot. The measurement equates to about 326,000 gallons.) Elsewhere, two reservoirs that supply irrigation water to the North Powder Valley — Pilcher Creek and Wolf Creek — were rising through June as the last snow melted in their basins. Doug Birdsall, manager of the Powder Valley Water Control District, said Pilcher Creek was full on June 21, and some of its water was supplementing, by way of a ditch, the slightly lower Wolf Creek Reservoir. “Current stored water available is about 90% and still going up for now,” Birdsall said. “Hopefully there will be some carry- over into next year.” The more water irrigation managers can retain in reservoirs when the growing sea- son ends in early fall, the less winter snow is needed to refi ll them the following spring. Alfalfa fi rst cutting delayed Siddoway, Pickard and Ward all had a similar experience with the fi rst cutting of this year’s alfalfa crop. Which is to say, it was late. Generally from 10 to 14 days late, although Siddoway said in some cases he’d heard that farmers started cutting about three weeks later than usual. The chilly spring weather — the average temperature at the Baker City Airport was about 6 degrees below average in April, and 4 degrees below average in May — slowed the growth of alfalfa. And with rain lingering into late May and early June, the usual period for the fi rst cut- ting, growers held off rather than risk having their hay soaked, which can slash its value. Fortunately, when the spring spigot stopped, it did so suddenly, and it was fol- lowed by weather that Siddoway called ideal for cutting, curing and baling hay — warm, occasionally hot, days and a breeze to help dry the cut hay prior to baling. In the last week of June the fresh scent of cut grass and alfalfa was redolent in Baker Valley, with hundreds of acres bearing the distinctive, almost artistic, sinuous rows of curing hay. Siddoway had to delay an interview on June 24 because he was, literally, “under a baler” preparing to put up the fi rst cutting. He said the one potential downside to the delay is that the third cutting — the fi nal one, for most local farmers and ranchers — could be pushed back as well, into Septem- ber when the longer, cooler and dewy nights can make it diffi cult to cure hay properly before baling. Both Ward and Pickard acknowledged that possibility. But they said they would gladly exchange the potential for a trouble- some third cutting for the wet spring that postponed the fi rst cutting. “I’m not going to worry about it all,” Pickard said. Cattle prices Siddoway describes cattle prices as “respectable,” although increases over the past year have been well below the rate of infl ation. Pickard said the drought created what he called a “glut” of cattle on the market, including many that ranchers sold earlier this year because they feared, with a con- tinuing drought, they wouldn’t be able to fi nd or aff ord feed. “The cattle market is trying to get better, and all the fundamentals are there,” he said. “But it never happens like it’s supposed to.” Pickard said consumers who are dealing with rising prices for pretty much every- thing — including beef at the store — might think ranchers are benefi ting, but that’s gen- erally not the case. With much of the nation’s meatpacking controlled by four large corporations, retail prices don’t necessarily track with what ranchers receive at auction. Bennett called cattle prices “pretty good,” but he emphasized, like Pickard, that production costs — notably fuel, which in turn infl ates the price of fertilizer and trans- portation — have increased more rapidly. Pickard said he’s optimistic about the market. But he’s not about to make a prediction. “That’s asking me to look in my crystal ball, and sometimes it’s pretty blurry,” he said. AGRICULTURE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Eastern Oregon University’s new degree program is the nexus of business, agriscience and leadership to innovate the future of agriculture! eou.edu/agrient SEE WHAT’S POSSIBLE eou.edu #EasternEdge
