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February 26, 2016 CapitalPress.com 11 New ag college dean aggressively reaches out to Idaho industry By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — Three weeks into his new job as dean of the University of Idaho’s Col- lege of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Michael Parrella is reaching out to the state’s agricultural leaders and other CALS stakeholders. Response to Parrella’s quick and aggressive outreach efforts has been positive. “We’re excited. He’s reaching out to us in that spirit of collaboration and we have a lot of hope for CALS,” said Idaho Cattle Association Ex- ecutive Vice President Wyatt Prescott. Parrella told Food Produc- ers of Idaho members Feb. 17 that he wants to get to know stakeholders and other CALS supporters and learn from them. Sean Ellis/Capital Press Michael Parrella, the new dean of University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, meets Food Producers of Idaho members Feb. 17 during the group’s weekly meeting. “I’m really here to listen,” he said. “There is a lot to learn and a lot of people to get to know. We all want the same thing; we want CALS to be MILTON-FREEWATER, Ore. — Mahlon Zehr walks carefully down the middle row of his cage-free hen house, clapping his hands to scatter the lock of chickens that gather close around his feet. “They’re very curious,” Zehr said. “If you’re work- ing in here, they’ll come right up pecking at your hands and pecking at your shoes.” For Zehr, the chickens came irst — all 30,000 of them —and the eggs won’t be far behind. Zehr signed a 10- year contract last July to raise commercial eggs for Wilcox Family Farms of Roy, Wash- ington, and has built a produc- tion facility at his home near Milton-Freewater. The chickens arrived on trucks earlier this month, and Zehr said they should start laying eggs in the next week or two. He expects to raise 8.5 million eggs over the course of the year. “It should be pretty busy here in the next couple weeks,” he said. At 20,000 square feet, the hen house is longer than a foot- ball ield and divided into three main rows where the birds are free to wander and roost. By summer, Zehr plans to turn the chickens out onto pasture, but for now he keeps them inside over concerns of avian lu. An avian lu outbreak af- fected two backyard poultry locks around the Tri-Cities early last year. If just one of his chickens gets sick, Zehr said the entire lock would be euth- anized and that would put him out of business for at least six months, and possibly a year. In the meantime, Zehr said he will build a meshed- in porch where the hens can go outside for some fresh air, while protecting them from other wild birds. The operation is cage-free, which Zehr said is becoming increasingly import- ant for consumers. “The cage-free market is growing,” he said. “It’s what people want.” Wilcox Farms owns all the chickens and provides the feed, though Zehr has already invested $1.2 million on new equipment and labor. Nearly all the technology is automat- ed, from the ceiling lights to the conveyor belts where eggs are carried off and sorted into trays. “It’s automated enough to where I should be able to han- dle it myself,” Zehr said. Barley Commission’s annual research proposal review Feb. 18 and heard an hour-long presentation from four CALS researchers who are based off-campus in Southern Idaho. “It was a great opportunity for him to interact with barley stakeholders and see his own faculty in action,” said IBC Administrator Kelly Olson. Prescott told the Capital Press he hopes animal agri- culture, which accounts for 60 percent of total farm-gate receipts in Idaho, sees its fair share of attention at CALS and Parrella strongly hinted it would while addressing House ag committee mem- bers. “I recognize the impor- tance of the dairy and live- stock industries in the state of Idaho,” he said. “I certainly intend to be actively engaged” with them. By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press E.J. Harris/EO Media Group Eastern Oregon farmer takes on 30,000 cage-free chickens EO Media Group Parrella was introduced to the committee by Idaho Grain Producers Association Gov- ernmental Affairs Director Rich Garber, who recently re- tired from CALS. “I believe (CALS) is the most important college at the University of Idaho and I also believe the dean of the Col- lege of Agricultural and Life Sciences is the most import- ant dean at the university,” Garber said. Parrella served as chair of the University of Califor- nia-Davis Department of En- tomology and Nematology. His master’s degree and doc- torate are in entomology from Virginia Tech. His research has focused on the development of in- tegrated pest management programs for greenhouse and nursery crops. Parrella attended the Idaho Chico State ag career fair broadens students’ horizons Chicken farmer Mahlon Zehr holds one of the 30,000 Lohmann Brown chicken hens he has at his egg production facility outside Milton-Freewater, Ore. By GEORGE PLAVEN great. The dean can’t do it alone. We need to work to- gether to make that happen.” During the meeting, Par- rella was told that the process the college goes through to make decisions is sometimes challenging and he was asked if it was possible to change that. “We do have a president and a provost ... that have an understanding and apprecia- tion for agriculture in the state and that’s not a trivial thing,” he said. “There’s no reason not to be optimistic that we can eliminate some of those (challenges).” The new CALS dean also received a favorable reception from Idaho lawmakers when he was introduced during the House Agricultural Affairs Committee meeting Feb. 18. “We’re very anxious to work with you and we’re looking forward to it,” said the committee chairman, Rep. Ken Andrus, a Repub- lican rancher from Lava Hot Springs. When the chickens are ready to lay eggs, they will head into one of many nesting boxes layered up and down each row. The eggs drop gently onto conveyors, which twist their way to the front of the barn. A separate line of con- veyors also sweeps feathers and droppings into a nearby shed. Zehr plans to sell the ma- nure as fertilizer for organic farms and gardens. As for the eggs, Wilcox Farms pays by the dozen and sells at grocery stores across the Northwest. “It’s a fairly stable invest- ment,” Zehr said. “It’ll provide a good living for us.” Zehr, who grew up in the Willamette Valley, moved to Milton-Freewater in 2008 to help start Blue Mountain Christian Fellowship, a Men- nonite church where he serves as co-pastor. Two years ago, he sold his looring and carpet business in town to buy 40 acres along Ed- wards Road, about halfway to Umapine. As a child, Zehr lived on a small farm where his father bought and sold grass seed. Zehr said he is excited to re- turn to his agricultural roots, and jumped at the opportunity to raise eggs. “It’s a stay-at-home job. I’m working in my own back yard,” he said. “It’s a very family-friendly business.” Zehr said he’s been work- ing 14-15 hour days and walk- ing 6-8 miles up and down the hen house getting everything ready for production. He’ll have this lock of hens for about 14-15 months, until they’re replaced by another shipment from Wilcox. CHICO, Calif. — Agri- cultural students at Califor- nia State University-Chico are broadening their horizons and realizing their career op- portunities could extend well beyond the farm. At the university’s annual career fair Feb. 17 at its farm, ag students met with represen- tatives from a seafood proces- sor, a food distribution center and even from BrightView, a national landscaping irm. And why would a land- scaping company be attracted to ag students? “There’s always a need for good people with agronomy and soil science experience,” said Matt Trenary, a Bright- View representative. For the Renaissance Food Group, a food distribution company that places salads, wraps and other items in retail stores, mining the ag colleges could provide people familiar with the production end of the food system. “Ag students tend to have a passion for our industry,” com- pany human resources director Jennifer Angle said. “It’s very itting.” The landscaping and food distribution booths were part of the expanded offerings at this year’s 13th annual career and internship fair, held in the pavilion at the university’s farm. The fair is held each year for ag students at Chico State, Butte College in Chico and Shasta College in Redding. The event was started as a way to give students access to companies speciic to ag, while the job fairs on the main campus mostly cater to oth- er occupations. This year, 48 companies set up booths, well above last year’s all-time high of 38. “We’ve tried to bring in more animal science compa- nies,” said event organizer Melissa Taylor, noting that a growing number of Chico State’s students — about 400 — are focusing on that disci- pline. “Before I even sent out invitations, I had companies calling me and asking when they could sign up,” she said. 13 th Annual Orchard, Nuts & Vines Special Section Capital Press Agriculture Weekly will publish a Special Section featuring orchard, nut and vine articles and advertising on Tim Hearden/Capital Press Ellen Troudy, center, a live production supervisor for Foster Farms, talks to a student during the annual agricultural career fair Feb. 17 at the California State University-Chico farm. This year’s fair had more vendors than ever before. A ixture at the career fair has been Foster Farms, which has hired many Chico State alumni. Ryan Scagliotti, a live production supervisor for the company, earned an agricul- tural business degree from Chico State in 2014 and now oversees eight ranches with about 2 million chickens, he said. “It’s a really good tool for the company to get real- ly high-quality candidates,” Scagliotti said of the career fair. Foster Farms represen- tatives attend similar fairs at California Polytechnic Uni- versity-San Luis Obispo and California State Universi- ty-Fresno. “I was very persistent on career fairs” as a student, Sca- gliotti said. “I transferred here as a junior and started going to career fairs just to see what was going on with internships. By my senior year I went to every career fair on campus.” But this year, booths such as BrightView’s let students see the opportunities that come with an agriculture de- gree that perhaps they hadn’t considered. One student who visited with Trenary was Car- son Dicicco, a senior and crop science major at Chico State. “It was deinitely an eye-opener,” he said. Dicicco sees a great ben- eit from attending the career fairs, he said. “It’s been a great opportu- nity,” he said. “I had a couple of employers give me job of- fers (last year). It was great summer experience and I got credit for internships.” ROP-6-4-1/#24 Bag needs? Bag solutions! SMITH PACKAGING YOUR MAIN SUPPLIER FOR: • Polyethylene Bags • Polypropylene Bags • Paper Bags • Bulk Bags • Stretch Films • Hay Sleeves • Mesh Produce Bags • Plastic Pallet Covers • Bag Closure Products • General Warehouse Supplies Competitive pricing! Great quality products! Service you expect and trust! April 15, 2016 By advertising in this Special Section, you’ll be reaching over 89,000 print and online readers in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington who make the buying decisions for your product or service! 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