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CapitalPress.com
November 18, 2016
People & Places
College farm helps pay its way
B.J. Macfarlane runs
operation to make
money to fund its
annual budget
Western
Innovator
Capital Press
Industry perspective
Macfarlane brings an in-
dustry perspective to his
teaching, said Kimler-Rich-
ards, who had him as a student
at Chico State.
“His industry experience
makes him invaluable to this
program,” she said. “He just
brings so much. He works re-
ally well with the students and
is really an asset. He’s still in
the industry, so he’s current.”
He still works with his fa-
ther raising 75 head of mostly
Hereford cattle on leased land
near Hat Creek, Calif.
Having grown up on a
ranch his father managed near
Hat Creek, about 70 miles
east of Redding, Macfarlane
Calendar
B.J. Macfarlane
Occupation: Manager,
Shasta College farm
Age: 39
Residence: Cottonwood,
Calif.
Family: Wife, Melissa;
daughters, Addison, 11, Ellis,
9, and Maddox, 4
Photos by Tim Hearden/Capital Press
B.J. Macfarlane, manager of the Shasta College farm in Redding, Calif. A cattle producer and ranch
manager, he was hired in 2010 to run the farm.
ties when they leave, he said.
“Both Trena and I have
been around the state our
whole lives, so we’ve got con-
nections in lots of different in-
dustries,” Macfarlane said.
FFA project animals
Farm manager B.J. Macfarlane, left, discusses hogs with agricul-
ture students at Shasta College.
always thought that “sitting
behind a desk wasn’t my cup
of tea,” he said.
After returning to Califor-
nia from Michigan in 2004,
he worked on several pure-
bred ranches while partnering
with his dad on their cattle
business, which raises mainly
embryo-transfer calves and
places a heavy emphasis on
artificial insemination.
Macfarlane’s wife, Melis-
sa, is a nursery supervisor at
the Driscoll Strawberry Asso-
ciates Inc. plant in Red Bluff,
Calif.
At Shasta College, Mac-
farlane manages the farm as a
working business. Its dormi-
tory program immerses stu-
dents in the operation, which
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mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be emailed to newsroom@
capitalpress.com or mailed to Cap-
ital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE,
Salem, OR 97301.
Friday, Nov. 18
Denim and Diamonds Dinner
and Auction, 5-10 p.m. Oregon
Convention Center, 777 NE Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland.
Oregon Aglink presents its annual
celebration of agriculture. www.
aglink.org
Wolves, Livestock and People
meeting. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Serpilio
Hall, Plumas-Sierra County Fair,
204 Fairground Road, Quincy, Calif.
Sponsored by the California Wolf
Center.
Through Saturday
Nov. 19
West Central States Wool
Growers Convention. Sun Valley
Lodge, Sun Valley, Idaho. The
annual Wool Growers convention
for Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wy-
oming.
Saturday, Nov. 19
Oregon Hay King Contest, 9
a.m.-4 p.m. Ag West Supply, 36 NW
“A” St., Madras, Ore. The hay judg-
ing event is sponsored by the Or-
egon Hay and Forage Association
and hosted by Central Oregon Hay
Growers’ Association in cooperation
with OSU Extension and Ag Experi-
ment Station. Free, including lunch.
Forest Insect and Disease
Field Day. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. North
Idaho College Parking Lot “A” near
Hubbard Street, Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho. Participants will get first-
hand exposure to a wide range of
organisms that impair the growth
Established 1928
Board of directors
Mike Forrester ..........................President
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Sid Freeman .................. Outside director
Mike Omeg .................... Outside director
Corporate officer
John Perry
Chief operating officer
By TIM HEARDEN
REDDING, Calif. — A
cattle producer all his life,
B.J. Macfarlane discovered
a knack for training young
farmhands.
He was working as a re-
search assistant at Michigan
State University in the early
2000s, focusing on reproduc-
tion in dairy cattle.
“With my time at Michi-
gan State, I worked with lots
of undergrads on projects,”
said Macfarlane, 39, who
earned an animal science de-
gree at California State Uni-
versity-Chico in 2001.
“I really liked helping stu-
dents and working with stu-
dents,” he said. “The best part
of my job is interacting with
students and giving them con-
tacts in the industry.”
A former beef herdsman
at Chico State, Macfarlane
brought his gift for mentoring
youngsters to Shasta College
in Redding in 2010.
He was hired to take over
as farm manager for the col-
lege’s agriculture program,
which was nearly shut down a
year earlier because of a bud-
get crisis.
Macfarlane has played a
key role in putting the 90-acre
farm in the black, producing
show-quality goats, pigs and
cattle and selling them at a
premium, said Trena Kim-
ler-Richards, an instructor
and program coordinator who
rallied community support
during the budget crisis.
Capital Press
of trees and forests in North Ida-
ho. Those wishing to participate
should pre-register at the Univer-
sity of Idaho Extension Office in
Kootenai County by Friday, Nov.
11. Cost: $15. http://www.uidaho.
edu/extension/forestry
Friday-Saturday
Nov. 25-26
Open Alpaca Barn. 10 a.m.-4
p.m. Alpacas of Oregon, 21345
SW Aebischer Road, Sherwood.
In Washington County’s wine
country, just off Highway 99. Meet
the summer’s alpaca babies and
their mothers. www.easygofarm.
net/AOOThanksgiving
Monday-Thursday
Nov. 28-Dec. 1
Oregon Water Resources Con-
gress Annual Conference. Best
Western Hood River Inn, 1108 E
Marina Drive, Hood River, Ore.
owrc.org/calendar
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Gaining Access to Farmland
Workshop. 5:30-8:30 p.m. WSU
Snohomish County Extension’s
Cougar Auditorium, 600 128th
St. SE, Everett, Wash. Spon-
sored by Keller Williams Re-
alty, American Farmland Trust
and Snohomish Conservation
District. Topics include lease
agreements, succession plan-
ning, land trusts and unique farm
shares along with tips and les-
sons learned when buying, sell-
ing or leasing land. Cost: $15 per
person, $25 per family up to three.
AccessFarmland.eventbrite.
com
Hearing on proposed changes to
agricultural worker protection stan-
dards. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Pine Grove
Grange, 2900 Van Dorn Drive, Hood
River, Ore. www.orosha.org
has about eight students who
act as employees.
The farm grows winter
wheat and alfalfa and has irri-
gated pasture for its livestock,
which includes cattle, goats,
pigs and chickens.
No fallow ground
Macfarlane makes a point
not to leave any ground fal-
low, he said.
“To me, like any small
farm, it’s got to make money,”
he said. “So to have a piece of
ground that’s fallow isn’t a fa-
vorable thing.”
Students who enroll in the
program expect to get their
hands dirty, and they develop
contacts for work opportuni-
ties or at four-year universi-
One of the college’s spe-
cialties is to raise goats and
cattle that are sold for 4-H and
FFA projects. The animals go
on to win awards and con-
tests; a steer from the college
was recently the Reserve Su-
preme Champion at the Shas-
ta District Fair, Macfarlane
said.
“It’s a tried-and-true re-
cruitment tool,” he said, not-
ing that many youngsters that
purchase livestock from the
farm wind up enrolling as col-
lege students.
Another point is that as a
working farm, Shasta College
has relationships with — and
is supported by — numerous
area agribusinesses.
The college gets help with
genetics from Ottenwalter
Showpigs in Colusa, Calif.,
and several area ranchers lend
their bulls to breed the cows
that don’t take to artificial in-
semination.
“Our community backs us
100 percent,” said Macfar-
lane, noting that he was aware
of the petition drive to save
the farm before he arrived.
The program was on the
chopping block in 2009,
when the board was look-
ing for places to cut and ag
classes were only drawing
about 15 students per class.
Local growers, county Farm
Bureaus and alumni brought
overflow crowds to board
meetings and persuaded trust-
ees to keep the 60-year-old
program open.
Annual fundraisers
While the administration
allowed the college’s ag in-
struction to continue, the pro-
gram was tasked with raising
some of its own funds. It hosts
an annual fall harvest festival
with farm tours, locally pro-
duced food and beverages,
and entertainment, and pro-
duces a Country Christmas
Fair to raise funds for the stu-
dent leadership team.
The fair, which includes
Christmas tree sales as well
as craft booths and kids’ at-
tractions, gives the students
marketing, customer service
and event-planning skills and
teaches them how to work as
a team, Kimler-Richards has
said.
He said he likes the fact
that the program “doesn’t
just get farm kids,” but also
students from urban or other
backgrounds that are eager to
work in agriculture.
The farm is in the midst of
an effort to improve its infra-
structure, which is old.
Instructors and students
recently used donated con-
crete to retrofit the pig barn,
and Macfarlane wants to
upgrade the corrals next, he
said.
“I want to make things
up-to-date and current with
common practices in the in-
dustries,” he said, “and to
continue to put out sought-af-
ter students who are either go-
ing to work or to universities,
and to continue to raise good
livestock.”
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
Tuesday-Thursday
Nov. 29-Dec. 1
California Alfalfa and Forage
Symposium. 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Pepper-
mill Hotel, Reno, Nev. The sympo-
sium is organized by the University
of California Cooperative Extension
Alfalfa Workgroup, extension scien-
tists serving the agricultural commu-
nity and sponsored by the California
Alfalfa & Forage Association. http://
calhay.org/symposium/Tuesday-
Thursday
Wednesday-Friday
Nov. 30-Dec.2
National Women in Sustain-
able Agriculture Conference.
Doubletree by Hilton, 1000 NE
Multnomah St., Portland, Ore.
The 5th National Conference for
Women in Sustainable Agricul-
ture will bring together farmers,
educators, technical assistance
providers and activists engaged
in healthy food and farming to
share educational and organi-
zation strategies, build technical
and business skills, and address
policy issues aimed at expanding
the success of women farmers
and ranchers. http://2016wisa.
org
Thursday, Dec. 1
Hearing on proposed changes
to agricultural worker protection
standards. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Wood-
burn Grange, 908 N. Settlemier
Ave., Woodburn, Ore. www.orosha.
org
Saturday, Dec. 3
How to Do Farm Taxes Work-
shop. 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. WSU
Snohomish County Extension’s
Cougar Auditorium, 600 128th St.
SE, Everett, Wash. Sponsored by
Moss Adams LLP and Snohomish
Conservation District. What to do
throughout the year in order to have
the data needed when tax time rolls
20 Northwest Locations
around. Step-by step instructions
for completing forms as well as one-
on-one coaching sessions. Cost:
$15 per person, $25 per family up
to three. FarmTaxes.eventbrite.com
1-800-765-9055
Sunday-Wednesday
Dec. 4-7
audits in your facility against one
of the Global Food Safety Initia-
tive (GFSI) Audit Schemes, which
are becoming a standard for the
food industry as a tool for assuring
food safety and regulatory compli-
ance and has become a customer
requirement for many processors.
http://bit.ly/2etdxP6
Tuesday, Dec. 6
Oregon Fine Fescue Commission
meeting. 7-9 a.m. Salem Convention
Center, 200 Commercial St. SE, Sa-
lem, Ore. www.oregonfinefescue.org
California Farm Bureau Annu-
al Meeting. Hyatt Regency Hotel,
Monterey, Calif. http://cfbf.com
The Nuts and Bolts of Ag Man-
agement. Salem Convention Center,
200 Commercial St. SE, Salem, Ore.
What you didn’t learn growing up on
the farm, an Oregon Farm Bureau
Leadership Conference presented
by the Young Farmers and Ranchers
Committee. oregonfb.org
Tuesday-Thursday
Dec. 6-8
84th Oregon Farm Bureau An-
nual Meeting, Salem Convention
Center. Open to voting and sup-
porting Farm Bureau members.
oregonfb.org
Oregon Interagency Noxious
Weed Symposium, Oregon State
University, LaSells Stewart Center,
875 SW 26th St., Corvallis, Ore.
http://bit.ly/2dQBqOp
Wednesday, Dec. 7
Oregon Clover Commission
meeting, 6-8 p.m. Golden Valley
Brewery, 980 NE Fourth St., Mc-
Minnville, Ore.
Hearing on proposed changes
to agricultural worker protection
standards. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Medford
City Hall, Suite 340, 411 W. Eighth
St., Medford, Ore. www.orosha.org
Monday, Dec. 12
Internal Auditor Workshop. 8
a.m.-5 p.m. Idaho Water Center,
322 E. Front St., Boise. We will
teach you how to conduct internal
Monday-Tuesday
Dec. 12-13
Oregon Seed Growers League
Annual Convention. Salem Con-
ference Center, 200 Commercial
St. SE, Salem, Ore. The agenda
includes industry speakers, edu-
cational sessions, displays, trade
show and an industry reception.
seedleague.org
Monday-Wednesday
Dec. 12-14
Far West Agribusiness Associ-
ation 57th Annual meeting. Three
Rivers Convention Center, 7016
Grand Ridge Blvd., Kennewick,
Wash. Featured speakers are
Chuck Conner, president and CEO
of the National Council of Farm-
er Cooperatives and Chris Jahn,
president of The Fertilizer Institute.
www.fwaa.org
Wednesday-Friday
Jan. 4-6
Potato Expo 2017. Moscone
Center West, 800 Howard St.
San Francisco, Calif. potato-expo.
com
Friday-Wednesday
Jan. 6-11
2017 AFBF Annual Convention
& IDEAg Trade Show. Phoenix
Convention Center, 100 N Third St.,
Phoenix, Ariz. http://annualconven-
tion.fb.org
Capital Press Managers
Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher
Joe Beach ..................................... Editor
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
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Index
California ................................ 8
Dairy ...................................... 7
Idaho .................................... 10
Livestock ............................... 7
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon .................................11
Washington ........................... 9
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