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4 CapitalPress.com December 30, 2016 Washington state vet settles in, before getting out Rancher: ‘He better come with pretty strong stuff ’ By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — In his sec- ond week as Washington state veterinarian, Brian Joseph sat for an interview in the offi ce he expects to often leave. “I can’t be the guy at the end of the phone in front of a computer,” he said, outlining his plans to get out and meet livestock producers. “I need to be the guy they see face-to-face several times a year.” Joseph, 65, joined the state Department of Agriculture Dec. 12, occupying an offi ce that had been vacant since July. The previous occupant, Joe Baker, was dismissed after 20 months as state veterinarian by WSDA Director Derek Sandi- son, who gave no reason other than dissatisfaction with Bak- Don Jenkins/Capital Press New Washington State Veteri- narian Brian Joseph outside the offi ce building in Olympia that houses the Department of Agri- culture and other state agencies. Joseph says he plans to get out of the offi ce often to meet with producers. er’s performance. “We’ll increase collabora- tion with our producers,” Jo- seph said. “I’ll be spending a lot of time with them.” Personal contact proba- bly will help, Cattle Produc- ers of Washington President Scott Nielsen said. “But he better come with pretty strong stuff,” he said. “The new vet will be met with skepticism from this group.” CPOW remains concerned that the movements of too many unbranded cattle, mostly in the dairy industry, go un- reported, punching a hole in a rancher-funded program to trace diseases. “Either they’re going to fi x it or not,” Nielsen said. WSDA has taken steps in the past year to capture all cat- tle transactions, introducing an electronic reporting system for dairies. Joseph said that he hasn’t yet formed an opinion on the strength of the current program. “I’ve been here eight days. I’m still drinking out of a fi re house,” he said. In hiring Joseph, WSDA has brought aboard a veterinarian with a resume more zoological than agricultural. He’s worked at Sea World in San Diego, Point Defi ance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma and other stops too numerous to mention. Before he was a vet, he was an animal keeper at the San Diego Zoo in his home- town. Most recently, he was the director of the Assiniboine Park Zoo, a major attraction in Winnipeg, Canada. The zoo’s notable occupants include po- lar bears, tigers and wolves. Joseph said he wanted to add a working dairy on the grounds to showcase the science and technology of modern agricul- ture. “My boss squelched it,” he said. Joseph was there for less than three years, but he said he and his wife, Sally, wanted to move back to Washington. Besides his time at Point De- fi ance, Joseph knows the state from boyhood summer visits to his great aunt’s dairy in Mount Vernon. “One of the fi nest memories of my life,” he said. “Most of our family and friends are in Washington, he said. “This job popped up at just the right time.” Besides full-time jobs, Jo- seph has been a wide-ranging consultant. He talks enthusi- astically about his ongoing involvement in a long-term re- search project to document the health of bottlenose dolphins near Florida. Joseph cares for dolphins while they are being examined. If one dies in custody, the proj- ect could die with it, he said. Much of his experience with livestock has come in the Third World. He joined the Army Re- serves at the age of 57 and has served humanitarian missions to eight countries. He spent eight months in 2015-16 in Central Africa. He said the mission deepened his appreciation for the connec- tion between healthy livestock and the survival of protein-de- pendent humans. “If you don’t have sustainable agriculture, you don’t have a sustainable economy,” he said. “You don’t have anything.” His obligation to the Army ends in 2019. He serves one weekend a month and two weeks a year, but said he doesn’t anticipate any more long deployments. His week- end duty is at Fort Lewis in Ta- coma, as it was while he lived in Canada. He said he will now save a lot on airfare. Joseph said he wanted to enlist after meeting a retired Army dog and its handler at a veterinarian’s conference. He learned the Army sent veteri- narians around the world. The Army had to waive its normal age limit. For the waiver, Jo- seph credits the intervention of Texas billionaire Ross Perot. Perot, Joseph explained, imported leopard sharks for his aquarium, and they immedi- ately died. Joseph supervised the next shipment, spending two days at the company’s headquarters in Plano, Tex- as, and getting to know Perot over take-out barbecue in the employee break room. “He’s the most gracious person I’ve ever met in my life,” Joseph said. Strong market, agri-tourism help elk rancher succeed Washington minimum wage to tie for highest among states By JOHN O’CONNELL Washington labor offi cials say they’re still fi elding ques- tions from farmers and farm- workers about the initiative that passed in November to raise the minimum wage to $11 an hour on Jan. 1 and mandate paid sick leave be- ginning next year. Tisa Soeteber, state De- partment of Labor & Indus- tries agricultural employment standards specialist, said there is still uncertainty in the agricultural sector about I-1433’s implementation. On the minimum wage, the answers are straightfor- ward. The $11 an hour min- imum wage will apply to all workers 16 and over, includ- ing farmworkers. Younger workers can be paid $9.35 an hour, or 85 percent of the full minimum wage. The wage will be in effect statewide, except in cities with higher pay fl oors. The wage will tie Wash- ington with New York and Massachusetts as the highest in the country among states. The pay fl oor in Wash- ington, D.C., is $11.50 an hour. Washington’s minimum wage will continue to in- crease for the next three years, up to $13.50 in 2020. After that, the wage will be adjusted annually for infl a- tion. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, though 29 states and D.C. have a Capital Press Courtesy of Greg Bagley The Bagleys vaccinate an elk at their facility in Driggs, Idaho. They say the market for elk is up, and elk have also provided an attraction for agricultural tourism. inspections and investigations into escapes. Furthermore owners must test 10 percent of their elk post-slaughter, and all of the elk that die un- expectedly. According to ISDA’s most recent estimates, the state has about 50 commercial elk ranches that produce about 6,000 calves per year. “(The elk industry) has crept up a little bit in the last couple of years,” said ISDA deputy state veterinarian Scott Leibsle, noting the easing of regulations on elk importa- tion has contributed to the increase. The Bagleys have about 240 elk. They sell dropped antlers for craft-making, dog chews and use as an anti-in- fl ammatory supplement in Asian countries. Antlers cut while still in velvet are the most valuable. They’ve paused their meat sales in recent years to build their herd but plan to resume supplying meat to cus- tomers, such as Jackson Hole restaurants, this fall. Bull elk sold to Idaho’s many penned hunting opera- tions — controversial private operations where hunters are guaranteed success — fetch the best prices, upwards of $6,000 per animal, depending on antler size. “Defi nitely the shooter-bull market right now is where the elk market is,” Greg said. “Now I can supply 15 bulls per year, and I have demand for 100 bulls per year.” Jeff Lerwill, who serves on the Idaho Elk Breeder’s Association, and his wife, Al- ana, operate a fenced hunting preserve in Sugar City that has 5 square miles of rugged, private terrain where trophies include elk, buffalo and Texas dall sheep. They raise some of their own elk and host about 50 elk hunts during a busy year. “We’ve been hunting for 10 years,” Alana Lerwill said. “In the beginning, we could buy shooter bulls for $2,000. We’re lucky if we can buy them now for $5,000.” LEGAL LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 98 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 1/10/2017. The sale will be held at 10:00 am by RETRIEVER TOWING 1768 13TH ST. SE SALEM, OR 2008 Buick Lucerne VIN = 1G4HD57208U186795 Amount due on lien $2844.00 Reputed owner(s) JENNIFER CUNNINGHAM PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 1/11/2017. The sale will be held at 10:00am by L A 4 legal-53-2-1/#4 H ANNU T 8 Capital Press higher wage, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Washington Farm Bu- reau argues that a higher state minimum wage handicaps producers in the global mar- ketplace. “I haven’t really gotten complaints. I think people know L&I wasn’t the force behind it,” Soeteber said. “It’s more of a resigned at- titude, not a complaining attitude.” Less straightforward is how the paid sick leave man- date will affect agricultural operations. That part of I-1433 won’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2018. Employers will be re- quired to grant one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Paid sick leave accrued by a seasonal worker will carry over if rehired with- in 12 months. Soeteber said L&I will write rules over the next year regarding sick leave. For example, the depart- ment will have to consid- er how paid sick leave will be calculated for piece-rate workers, she said. She suggested produc- ers sign up for rule-making updates to stay informed. To sign up, go to www.lni. wa.gov/Main/Listservs/WR- WageHour.asp. MDR TRUCKING 975 1/2 NORWAY ST. NE SALEM, OR 1981 VW PU VIN = 1V1LG0174BV088869 Amount due on lien $2,670.00 Reputed owner(s) ALBERT & CHARLENE A PUGH ST. HELENS FCU BILLY COMPTON Legal-53-2-1/#4 DRIGGS, Idaho — Ranch- er Kent Bagley and his sons Greg and Stephen derive al- most a third of their income from agricultural tourism, and their farm-raised elk are the main attraction. The Bagleys bought their fi rst 15 elk in the late 1990s, seeking to diversify their beef and dairy business. They’ve since given up the dairy, fo- cusing on elk and beef cattle. As with the dairy market, elk prices have ebbed and fl owed — and while values of most farm commodities have declined lately, Stephen said elk meat, antlers and bulls raised for penned hunting op- erations have all risen. But even when the econ- omy crashed in 2008 and elk ranches were closing in Ida- ho, domestic Cervidae contin- ued to earn their keep for the Bagleys, thanks to tourism. Through www.elkadventures. com, their ranch offers over- night trips and day rides, which make stops by the elk pastures, and they take the public on paid bus tours of their elk operation. They also have a gift shop and rent cab- ins. “People love to see those baby elk, and we can get them right up close,” Stephen said, adding the proximity to Jack- son Hole, Wyo., and Yellow- stone National Park ensures a steady supply of visitors. Stephen explained raising elk requires investing in sep- arate handling facilities. The animals are skittish and slow- er to develop than cattle, re- quiring more than four years before they’re ready to sell. The industry is also heav- ily regulated. 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