18 CapitalPress.com
February 3, 2017
Community rallies to care for sick cattle at E. Oregon ranch
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
HEMRISTON, Ore. —
Dressed in wool overalls and
carrying a pitchfork, Umatilla
County Sheriff Terry Rowan
looked more like a rancher than
a lawman the morning of Jan.
25 as he paced the snow-cov-
ered pastures at Cedar Creek
Cattle Co. near Hermiston.
Two weeks earlier, Row-
an and deputies arrived at this
property on Columbia Lane
and South Edwards Road to
discover more than a dozen
dead cattle and 15 others so
malnourished they couldn’t
be safely moved. Charges of
animal neglect will likely be
filed against the herd’s owner,
55-year-old Michael Hock-
ensmith, but in the meantime
daily care of the animals has
fallen to the sheriff’s office.
On Jan. 25, officers re-
cruited about 15 students
from Blue Mountain Com-
munity College to help round
up the cows for tagging and
immunizations. A local veteri-
narian was also on hand to as-
sess each animal’s condition.
By day’s end, Rowan said
they processed 185 cattle with
eight still to go. The death toll,
which had been 14 animals, is
now 17, including a two-year-
old heifer found dead.
A necropsy determined
the heifer, which was 7 1/2
months pregnant, had suffered
from a bacterial disease and
congestive heart failure.
“She had a rough life,”
said Brent Barton, a veterinar-
ian with the Oregon Trail Vet-
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
A black Angus cow is held in a squeeze chute while undergoing a
veterinary check at the ranch.
they were contacted by the
sheriff’s office last week to lend
a hand, and he decided it would
be a valuable educational op-
portunity for his beef produc-
tion students.
“We had a lab day anyway,
so it worked out well that we
could help out the county as
well as learn,” Liscom said.
Liscom said the class was
not there to pass any judgment,
or to determine who is right and
who is wrong in the case.
“We’re just here to help care
for these animals as best we
can,” he said.
When it comes to cattle care,
providing enough food and wa-
ter is critical to the animals’
survival. Chris Schachtschnei-
der, a professor of livestock and
rangeland with Oregon State
University Extension, said a
cow needs to eat at least 2.5
percent of its body weight in
dry feed every day.
Otherwise, Schachtschnei-
der said the animals lose their
fat reserves and the body es-
sentially begins to eat away at
muscles and other internal or-
gans. Once that happens, it can
be hard to reverse.
“If they’re too far down that
road, successful recovery is
very unlikely,” he said.
This year’s unusually in-
tense winter has caused some
issues for local ranchers,
Schachtschneider said, es-
pecially for those cows that
have already begun calving.
Schachtschneider said he’s
seen instances where ranchers
are bringing calves inside and
using hairdryers to keep them
warm.
But as long as the animals
have good feed and good wa-
ter, Schachtschneider said they
tend to withstand cold fairly
well.
“The animals are really re-
silient to (the weather) if they
have proper nutrition,” he said.
Oregon
Panel OKs higher payout for deer, elk damage
Nursery
limit “frivolous claims.”
Property loss would
The Farm Bureau opposes
raising
the minimum claim.
Hall of
be covered, too
“I know there are lots of
folks in our membership who
Fame adds
would not support raising it
to $1,500 because that means
they’re self-funding the first
OLYMPIA — Lawmakers
six new
$1,500 damage done on their
are considering legislation to
farm or ranch,” Davis said.
double
the
maximum
payout
members for crops lost to deer and elk
He challenged WDFW’s
Planning for
drought still
important,
experts say
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Blue Mountain Community College student Melanie Sederburg carries alfalfa over a fence to give to
cattle that were confiscated by the Umatilla County Sheriff’s department outside Hermiston, Ore.
erinary Clinic in Hermiston.
Upon investigation, Rowan
said it appears the cattle were
neglected over an extended pe-
riod. There was no hay when
officers first showed up weeks
earlier, and water troughs had
been allowed to freeze over
with 6-8 inches of ice.
“We have some really mal-
nourished animals we’ve been
contending with,” Rowan said.
Rowan said they expect to
file multiple charges of first-
and second-degree animal ne-
glect against Hockensmith in
the coming days. Jake Kamins,
Oregon’s deputy district attor-
ney dedicated solely to animal
cases, has been brought on as a
special prosecutor.
Hockensmith has not re-
turned multiple calls by the EO
Media Group for comment.
The sheriff’s office has al-
ready spent several thousand
dollars caring for the cattle,
Rowan said. It also takes time
and manpower to make sure the
animals are properly fed, and to
break through ice in the water
troughs.
“It always stretches your re-
sources,” Rowan said. “At the
same time, it’s worthwhile. You
hate to see the animals neglect-
ed.”
Their goal Jan. 25 was to
tag each of the cattle and give
them much-needed vaccines,
de-wormer and a multi-mineral
injection to boost their immune
system.
To do that, students from
Matt Liscom’s beef production
class at BMCC joined the team
to round up reluctant cattle and
run them through the loading
chutes.
From there, the animals
were ushered one by one into
a metal squeeze chute designed
to hold them still, where Barton
could perform his assessment.
Some cattle thrashed, struggled
and even fell down inside the
contraption, getting themselves
stuck in the process.
“They’re not used to peo-
ple handling them,” Barton
said. “Essentially, they’re pret-
ty tender creatures right now.
They’ve already been through
quite a cold spell.”
Liscom, an agriculture sci-
ence instructor at BMCC, said
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Six new members will be
added to the Oregon Nurs-
eries Hall of Fame when in-
dustry members gather for a
reception and dinner Feb. 22
in Wilsonville.
Named to the Hall of Fame
this year were:
• Jack Bigej, second-gen-
eration owner of Al’s Garden
Center. After taking over for
his father, Al, Bigej expanded
the business into four grow-
ing facilities and three retail
stores, with a fourth store
upcoming. He served as Ore-
gon Association of Nurseries
president in 1993 and was
made an OAN honorary life
member in 2004. His son,
Mark, is OAN president this
year.
• Dick Joyce, owner of
Joyce Farms, noted for his
long service to the industry.
He was OAN president in
1983 and was made an hon-
orary life member in 2003.
• Ray Klupenger, owner
of Klupenger Nursery. He
joined the family business in
1959, served as association
president in 1972 and was one
of the founders of the OAN’s
annual Farwest Trade Show.
His father, Joe Klupenger,
was part of the first Hall of
Fame group inducted in 1991.
• The late Bruce Usrey,
who worked with Monrovia
for nearly five decades and
was president and CEO. He
managed the company’s ex-
pansion, which included add-
ing a growing facility in Day-
ton. Usrey died in 2015.
• The late Glenn and Vio-
la Walters. They learned the
business at George Teufel’s
holly farm, then established
Glenn Walters Nursery in
1948. It became one of the
most influential nurseries in
Oregon, according to OAN.
Glenn Walter died in 2010;
Viola died in 2015.
The industry established
its hall of fame in 1991; it
now has 45 members.
The induction banquet
begins at 6 p.m., Wednesday,
Feb. 22, at the Holiday Inn in
Wilsonville. Tickets are $80
a person or $640 for a table
of eight, and include appetiz-
ers, a drink ticket, dinner and
wine. Tickets can be bought
online at www.oan.org.
and also compensate farmers
for damage by the ungulates
to fences and irrigation sys-
tems.
Instead of $10,000, a
Washington farmer could re-
ceive up to $20,000 a year
under a program administered
by the state Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
House Bill 1399 also
would raise the damage
threshold for filing a claim to
$1,500 from $1,000.
Farmers who have worked
with WDFW to prevent
damage by deer and elk are
eligible to file claims. The
compensation program also
covers commercial crops,
pastures and Christmas trees,
but it does not pay for dam-
ages to other property.
“Our folks have been
self-funding damage to fenc-
es, irrigation pipes and other
property for decades, so if
they can get some of those
damage costs returned back
to them, that’s great,” Wash-
Courtesy of WDFW
A Roosevelt elk. State lawmakers are considering increasing the
compensation to farmers who sustain crop and property loss to elk
and deer.
ington Farm Bureau Director
of Government Relations
Tom Davis said.
The bill’s prime spon-
sor, Moses Lake Republi-
can Tom Dent, said that elk
and deer step on and break
equipment.
“The ranchers who are
feeding and raising these an-
imals, basically, sometimes
have great loss to property,”
he said. “It’s not unusual to
have several thousands of
dollars of damage.”
The state sets aside
$150,000 annually to set-
tle all claims, though the
state has never exceeded
that amount, according to
an analysis of the bill. The
agency said it could not es-
timate how much more the
state would pay out under
the bill.
WDFW Game Division
Manager Anis Aoude told
the House Agriculture and
Natural Resources Commit-
tee at a recent hearing that
the agency supports increas-
ing maximum payouts.
He said raising the dam-
age threshold to $1,500 will
implication that farmers file
frivolous claims.
“A lot of people don’t
file because it’s an onerous
system. It’s too much work.
They’d rather just pass,” Da-
vis said.
A farmer must report to
WDFW within 72 hours of
discovering damage. To then
file a claim, a producer must
hire an adjuster and submit
tax records, business records
and insurance records.
“I question whether there
are a lot of frivolous claims,”
Davis said.
Davis also asked lawmak-
ers to use the bill to overturn
a rule change made in 2015
by the Fish and Wildlife
Commission.
Previously, the state paid
for an adjuster to assess crop
damage. Now farmers must
split the cost with WDFW
up to $600. At the time of
the rule change, WDFW said
splitting the cost would dis-
courage frivolous claims.
Unsecured pesticides cause costly mishaps, expert says
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Oregon
farmers aren’t legally required
to secure pesticide containers
during transport but doing so
anyway can prevent financial
calamity, according to a safety
expert.
Currently, Oregon traffic
rules prohibit dealers from
traveling with unsecured pes-
ticides, but the regulation
doesn’t apply to farmers, said
Garnet Cooke, pesticide coor-
dinator with the Oregon Oc-
cupational Safety and Health
Administration.
Even so, growers in the
state would be wise not to ex-
ploit that loophole.
Farmers can be held liable
for clean-up costs if they’re
shown to have caused a pesti-
cide spill, which isn’t unthink-
able given the abundance of
smartphone cameras, Cooke
said.
“It’s very expensive,” she
said during a recent pesticide
safety seminar at the Northwest
Ag Show in Portland, Ore.
Regulators from Oregon
OSHA can penalize farmers
if their employees attempt to
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Garnet Cooke, right, pesticide coordinator at the Oregon Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administration, speaks with participants
during a pesticide safety workshop at the recent Northwest Ag
Show in Portland, Ore.
clean up a pesticide spill with-
out sufficient training or equip-
ment, but not for improper
transport, Cooke said.
The Oregon Department of
Agriculture faces a similar reg-
ulatory gap, since it can only
cite growers for improper pesti-
cide usage — and chemicals ar-
en’t actually being used during
transport, she said.
In the event of a spill,
though, costs can quickly spiral
out of control.
Cooke gave the example
of an exhausted driver who
wrecked a truck after falling
asleep near The Dalles, Ore.,
spilling a pesticide that’s toxic
to fish next to a creek.
Nearly 30 state and feder-
al agencies responded to the
accident, which required the
removal of 6,000 cubic yards
of contaminated sediment, she
said.
The creek was also dammed
to allow for about 5 million
gallons of water to be pumped
out, Cooke said. The total cost
of the clean-up came to $7
million, for which the driver’s
company and its insurers were
responsible.
A spill resulting from un-
secured pesticide containers at
a nursery near Independence,
Ore., was less extensive, but
the clean-up still cost $250,000,
she said.
Just having a “hazardous
material” or “hazmat” response
team show up at a spill site
costs at least $500, plus $1,125
per hour of work, Cooke said.
“The cheapest way is pre-
vention,” she said.
While properly securing
pesticides is more time-con-
suming, employers shouldn’t
allow their drivers to skip the
task, Cooke said. “Allow them
the time it’s going to take to do
it.”
Unsecured pesticide con-
tainers are a safety hazard even
if they don’t immediately spill.
In one case, a pesticide
container fell off a truck into
grass along the road but re-
mained closed, Cooke said. It
was eventually mowed over
by the landowner, causing
him to get sick and killing a
cat that wandered into the
spill area.
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
RED BLUFF, Calif. —
Though 2016-17 turned out to
be a wet winter, university and
industry experts urge ranchers
to continue to plan for drought
in how they manage their pas-
tures and feed.
Knowing when to water and
which animals to give the high-
est-quality supplemental feed
could help cow-calf operations
through the next drought, Uni-
versity of California Coopera-
tive Extension advisers say.
Such measures may include
irrigating pasture with limited
water in the spring, when the
crop demand is greater, rather
than the fall, said Larry Forero,
a UCCE adviser based in Red-
ding.
“People usually irrigate
based on a schedule,” Forero
told producers during a Cal-
ifornia Cattlemen’s Associ-
ation-sponsored forum Jan.
27 at the Red Bluff Bull and
Gelding Sale. “They’re not
necessarily irrigating based on
demand.”
Research that Forero has
been conducting since the
1990s has shown that range-
lands’ peak water demand is in
the summer, when the days are
warmer and longer, but that
they can get by with less wa-
ter in September and October
than ranchers often apply, he
said.
He noted that when one
local water district faced a 25
percent reduction at the height
of the drought in 2014, it de-
cided to forgo October irriga-
tion that year and send the wa-
ter in April and May instead.
As for grazing ground,
Forero advises producers not
to deficit irrigate.
“If water gets short, reduce
the amount of land you’re ir-
rigating and irrigate what you
have well,” he said, adding
that producers should leave
about 5 inches of stubble after
grazing so the grass will sur-
vive.
For producers using sup-
plemental feed, early weaning
of calves leads to significant
savings in hay and other feed,
said Josh Davy, a UCCE live-
stock adviser in Red Bluff.
Cows that have had their
calves weaned early can
be shifted to more margin-
al grazing ground or feed,
while high-quality pasture or
high-energy and -protein feeds
can go directly to the calf, re-
searchers advise.