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CapitalPress.com
September 23, 2016
People & Places
Ranch maintains research tradition
Jim Morris seeks
solutions to region’s
water worries
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Jim Morris of the Bryan-Morris Ranch in Etna, Calif., points out the differences in alfalfa growth between a standard center-pivot irrigation
system and one outitted with sprinklers to water more eficiently. He is working with University of California researchers to test the system.
History of
involvement
Western Innovator
Jim Morris
Occupation: Sheep, cattle and hay
producer
Age: 56
Residence: Etna, Calif.
Family: Wife, Katie; daughter, Emma; sons, Ben and Will
Field day
Morris and his wife, Ka-
tie, and father-in-law, Mike
Bryan, hosted a ield day for
about 50 other growers in late
August to demonstrate their
research. The event was spon-
sored by the UC Cooperative
Extension and local cattle-
men.
In one UCCE-aided proj-
ect, Morris is hanging mi-
cro-sprinklers from a section
of his pivot-irrigation system
and comparing how his alfal-
fa ield responds to the two
types of watering. So far, the
section with the micro-sprin-
klers is showing higher
yields while using less water,
he said. The sprinklers have
enabled him to get 20 percent
more water directly to his
plants and achieve about 20
percent more growth than the
plants watered conventional-
ly, he said.
In the other, Morris ob-
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By TIM HEARDEN
ETNA, Calif. — Rancher
and hay producer Jim Morris
has long been aware of the
important role research plays
in agriculture.
His operation, the Bry-
an-Morris Ranch, has been
in his wife’s family since the
1850s, and was taking part in
soil-conservation and other
research projects as early as
the 1940s.
Morris has also embraced
the mission. He is working
with University of California
researchers on projects to re-
plenish the groundwater basin
and ind more eficient ways
to irrigate alfalfa.
“I have a deinition for sus-
tainable farming,” said Mor-
ris, who co-owns and manag-
es the ranch. “That deinition
is, (the family) having done it
for over 150 years, that seems
sustainable to me. We would
like that sustainability to con-
tinue into the future. ...
“You can’t really fake it,”
he said. “It needs to be here
later for my kids and grand-
kids. We’re looking for things
that are real … things that will
allow this opportunity to be
sustainable well into the fu-
ture. That’s a big part of the
reason we do this research.”
Capital Press
Website: http://www.bryan-morrisranch.com/index.htm
tained permits to take storm-
water from a local water
district’s irrigation canal
and use it in one of his fields
to replenish the aquifer. He
also tried applying different
amounts of water in different
segments of the field earlier
this year to learn how much
water his alfalfa could take
without losing yields.
The trials demonstrated
that alfalfa fields could work
for
groundwater-recharge
projects if grown on suit-
able, well-draining soils.
The project’s goal is to
show that replenishing the
aquifer in the winter could
help river levels later in the
season, Morris said.
“I think everyone is real-
ly concerned about having a
sustainable, long-term sup-
ply of water,” UCCE farm
adviser Steve Orloff said
during the field day.
The president of the Scott
Valley Irrigation District,
Morris said one benefit of
conducting the trials on his
ranch is it shows detractors
that farmers care about water
savings.
“Sometimes we feel like
we have a target on our back,
and when we do these things
it helps to reduce that tar-
get,” he said.
The ranch in the heart
of the scenic Scott Valley
about 30 miles south of the
Oregon-California state line
has been in the Bryan family
since 1856. It currently has
more than 300 acres in alfal-
fa and grass hay production
and raises Suffolk/Hamp-
shire cross sheep and Angus
cattle.
The ranch has a history
of getting involved — in the
community and the industry.
Katie Morris’ grandfather
started working with Siskiy-
ou County’s soil conservation
service in the 1940s, Jim Mor-
ris said. The service later be-
came the Siskiyou Resource
Conservation District, and
the ranch has worked with the
district on resource-related is-
sues over the years.
Morris and others estab-
lished a groundwater advisory
committee, which advises the
county on issues related to the
Scott River, and is “doing all
we can to understand ground-
water,” he said.
Morris has experimented
with different crops, too. He
started growing sunlowers
about 15 years ago, but when
the market for sunlowers
“went out from under us,” he
started planting carrots for the
seed market, he said.
“We’re always looking for
anything else, too,” Morris
said. “We live in a pretty well
isolated environment with not
a lot of seed crops being grown
(which could pose problems
with cross-pollination).”
But water is never far
from the minds of growers
along the Scott River, a key
tributary of the beleaguered
Klamath River and spawning
ground for endangered salm-
on. Low levels in the Scott
have triggered legal challeng-
es by Indian tribes and envi-
ronmentalists and led to state
restrictions on irrigation.
Morris takes heart that the
coho salmon run in the Scott
“seems to be slowly growing
over time, which makes me
think some of the measures
that have been taken are help-
ing,” he said.
In recent years, Scott Val-
ley landowners have taken
other water-saving steps, such
as replacing old wells with
new ones in more strategic
locations and installing more
eficient irrigation systems.
Morris said growers in the
valley have learned to work
together to resolve water is-
sues, and he expects his ranch
to continue to be part of those
solutions. Research will play
a big role in identifying any
solutions.
“I want to know the truth,”
he said, “so we can be sustain-
able for another 150 years.”
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Wisconsin wolf summit leans toward delisting
CUMBERLAND,
Wis.
(AP) — Politicians, farmers
and hunters dominated a Great
Lakes summit on wolves, ex-
pressing hope that the animals
will soon come off the federal
endangered species list.
Participants at the meeting
Sept. 15 in the northwest-
ern Wisconsin community
of Cumberland talked about
solutions to wolf problems,
including attacks against do-
mestic animals, in Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan.
Calendar
Sponsored by:
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on the
home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Sub-
mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400
Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301.
Saturday, Sept. 24
Yamhill-Carlton FFA Alumni
Beneit Dinner and Auction, 5 p.m.
Carlton Legion Hall, 158 E. Main
St., Carlton, Ore. All proceeds from
this event directly beneit the Yam-
hill-Carlton FFA Chapter through
the funding of scholarships, student
leadership training, travel to events
and more. The social hour and si-
lent auction start at 5 p.m. and will
be followed by the dinner and live
auction at 7 p.m. Cost: $15 per per-
son. Tickets can be reserved online
at ycffa.alumni@gmail.com or pur-
chased at the door.
Washington State Fair, 9 a.m.-10
p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup.
(253) 845-1771, http://www.thefair.
com/
Sunday, Sept. 25
The summit was organized
by two Republican lawmak-
ers from northern Wisconsin,
Sen. Tom Tiffany and Rep.
Adam Jarchow, who hope
control of the wolf population
returns to state governments.
As long as wolves are con-
sidered endangered, killing
them is illegal unless it’s for
personal protection.
The Humane Society of
the United States called the
event one-sided, USA Today
Network-Wisconsin reported.
Washington State Fair, 9 a.m.-10
p.m., 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup.
(253) 845-1771, http://www.thefair.
com/
Sunday, Oct. 2
17th Annual Salt Spring Island
Apple Festival, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Over 450 varieties of apples are
grown on Salt Spring Island, with
an apple history back to 1860.
Fulford Hall, 2591 Fulford Ganges
Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C.,
Canada. http://saltspringmarket.
com/salt-spring-island-event/the-
16th-annual-salt-spring-island-ap-
ple-festival
Tuesday-Saturday
Oct. 4-8
World Dairy Expo, Alliant Energy
Center, Madison, Wis. worlddairyex-
po.com
Friday-Sunday
Oct. 7-9
Schafer Meadows Fiber Arts
Festival, noon-5 p.m. Friday, 10
a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-
4 p.m. Sunday. Grays Harbor
County Fairgrounds Rabbit and
Poultry Barn, Elma, Wash. The
Alpaca Ranchers of the Northwest
will take part.
Others argued that wolves
have a place in the Great
Lakes ecosystem.
“A few wolves are OK,”
said Don Peay, founder of
Sportsmen for Fish and Wild-
life and a speaker at the sum-
mit. “They’re part of the sys-
tem.”
Peay and most others at
the summit wanted to manage
the wolf population by kill-
ing some off. Roughly 4,000
wolves roam the Great Lakes
region.
Complaints of attacks on
domestic animals have been
rising with the wolf popula-
tion, said David Ruid, wild-
life biologist in the U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture, who
helps manage complaints of
wolf attacks on farms and
ranches.
Ruid said the wolves aren’t
affecting the cattle industry’s
bottom line, but they are caus-
ing great hardship for farmers
who live within their territory.
“These things are occur-
ring on the local family farm,”
Ruid said.
It’s not just fatal attacks on
livestock that’s a problem, ei-
ther, because wolves will ha-
rass animals, which can cause
livestock to damage fences
or slow their eating because
they’re on guard, he added.
Congress will likely debate
the bill to delist the wolves
after the November election,
according to staff at the ofice
of Sen. Ron Johnson, who in-
troduced it.
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
Monday, Oct. 10
Why Save Farmland Discussion.
6 p.m. Boise State University Jordan
Ballroom, 1700 University Drive, Boi-
se. The Treasure Valley Food Coalition
is launching this initiative with a series
of questions: Why is the time right for
preserving farmland in the Treasure
Valley? What is the value of farmland
preservation in the Treasure Valley
(economic, cultural, environmental)?
Who is already working on farmland
preservation in the region? How can
we work together moving forward?
www.treasurevalleyfoodcoalition.org
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Why Save Farmland Discussion.
6 p.m. College of Idaho’s Langroise
Auditorium, 2112 Cleveland Blvd.,
Caldwell, Idaho. The Treasure Valley
Food Coalition is launching this initia-
tive with a series of questions: Why is
the time right for preserving farmland
in the region? What is the value of
farmland preservation in the Trea-
sure Valley (economic, cultural, envi-
ronmental)? Who is already working
on farmland preservation in the TV?
How can we work together moving
forward? www.treasurevalleyfoodco-
alition.org
20 Northwest Locations
Saturday-Sunday
Oct. 15-16
All About Fruit Show, 10 a.m.-4
p.m. Clackamas County Fairplex,
Canby, Ore. This is an opportunity to
taste hundreds of pears, apples, kiwis
and grapes and order a custom-graft-
ed tree. Speakers will answer ques-
tions and an ID Team will identify
“mystery” apples. www.homeorchard-
society.org/events/2016-fruit-show/
Gorge Fruit and Craft Fair. 10
a.m.-5 p.m. Hood River County Fair-
grounds, 3020 Wy’east Road, Odell,
Ore. www.hoodriverfair.org
Wednesday-Saturday
Oct. 19-22
2016 National FFA Convention
and Expo. Bankers Life Field House
and Indiana Convention Center, Indi-
anapolis, Ind. www.ffa.org
Saturday, Oct. 22
Oregon Agriculture in the Class-
room 16th Annual Fall Harvest Dinner
and Fundraiser, 5 p.m. CH2M Hill
Alumni Center, Oregon State Univer-
sity, 725 SW 26th St., Corvallis. The
social hour and silent auction start at
5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 and
1-800-765-9055
the oral auction at 7:45. oregonaitc.
org/
Friday-Sunday
Oct. 28-30
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Oregon State Beekeepers As-
sociation Fall Conference 2016, The
Oregon Garden, 879 W. Main St., Sil-
verton, Ore. The theme for this confer-
ence is “Beekeeping Out of the Box.”
Other topics such as honeybee health
will be covered as well. Speakers in-
clude Tom Seeley, George Hansen,
Ramesh Sagili, John Skinner, Elina
Nino, Judy Wu and Miksa Queens.
There will be a beginning beekeeping
class running concurrently with the
main meeting on Saturday. OSU will
have a bee lab on site to analyze bee
samples.
Index
Sunday, Oct. 30
If you see a misstatement,
omission or factual error in a
headline, story or photo caption,
please call the Capital Press
news department at
503-364-4431, or send email to
newsroom@capitalpress.com.
Farm Succession Planning Work-
shop. 4-8:30 p.m. Forest Grove Unit-
ed Church of Christ, 2032 College
Way, Forest Grove, Ore. Hosted by
Tualatin SWCD, Rogue Farm Corps
and Dairy Creek Community Food
Web. RSVP requested at 971-409-
6806 or nellie@roguefarmcorps.
org, http://www.swcd.net/event/leav-
ing-a-legacy/
California .............................. 12
Idaho ...................................... 9
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon .................................11
Washington ........................... 7
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