Capital press., March 24, 2017, Page 11, Image 11

March 24, 2017
CapitalPress.com
Dairy/Livestock
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Lee Mielke
CME dairy
prices
continue
to slip
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
airy prices, like ther-
mometers and snow,
fell last week as Win-
ter Storm Stella attacked the
Northeast.
Lackluster cheese de-
mand and an abundance of
fresh cheese was blamed
for faltering CME prices.
Traders were also antici-
pating Monday’s February
Milk Production report,
Tuesday’s GDT auction and
Wednesday’s February Cold
Storage data.
CME block cheddar sank
to $1.35 per pound last
Wednesday, the lowest lev-
el since May 25, 2016, but
rallied Friday, closing at
$1.40, up a penny and a half
on the week and the first
upward movement in five
weeks, but was 8 3/4-cents
below a year ago.
The barrels fell to $1.35
Thursday, the lowest price
since May 16, 2016, but re-
gained some ground Friday
to finish at $1.3650, down
3 1/2-cents on the week and
11 1/2-cents below a year
ago. Sixteen cars of block
traded hands on the week at
the CME and 23 of barrel.
Monday saw the blocks
creep up a quarter-cent and
then jump 2 3/4-cents Tues-
day, to $1.43. The barrels
lost a half-cent Monday but
jumped 3 cents Tuesday,
hitting $1.39.
Cheese production in the
Midwest is active and keep-
ing pace with readily avail-
able milk, reports Dairy
Market News, but even with
spot milk as low as $5 un-
der class, cheesemakers are
turning offers away, trying
to find a middle ground
between cheese production
and managing inventories.
Cash butter saw a melt-
down to $2.11 per pound
Thursday, as sellers unload-
ed 22 carloads. Friday’s
close, at $2.13, was down 3
1/4-cents on the week but 7
1/2-cents above a year ago.
A total of 32 cars traded
hands on the week.
The butter was un-
changed Monday but lost a
penny Tuesday, slipping to
$2.12.
Central butter producers
are seeing no shortage of
cream. Class II interest is
increasing but cream is still
available and at prices fa-
vorable to butter makers so
output is active and invento-
ries building.
Spot Grade A nonfat dry
milk closed Friday at 80
1/2-cents per pound, down
a half-cent on the week but
7 3/4-cents above a year ago.
The powder was un-
changed Monday and Tues-
day.
D
Young family enjoys ranching lifestyle
By ANGEL CARPENTER
EO Media Group
DAYVILLE, Ore. —
Brandon and Sydney Thomp-
son keep busy, raising four
young children with a ranch-
ing way of life.
As soon as 10-year-old
Ethan and 8-year-old Tyler
step off the school bus, they
load up in the pickup with
their parents and younger sib-
lings, Carson, 4, and McKen-
zie, 3, to feed cattle.
Sydney said that’s the best
thing, ranching together as a
family.
During haying season, it
is not unusual to see Brandon
and Sydney driving tractors,
carting two children each in
the cabs as they rake fields.
“That’s pretty much how it
works,” Sydney said. “It’s re-
ally a good time to just talk to
your kids and find out what’s
going on their life.”
When other ranchers vis-
it, “they’ll say, ‘I remember
when our kids were little,
and we were doing the same
thing,’” she said.
Sydney said there are
many things she enjoys about
ranching in Dayville, includ-
ing the good weather and the
community. She said most
of her boys’ classmates also
have families who ranch and
farm.
“They get together and
help their friends when it’s
time to brand, and they help
us,” she said.
Brandon works full-time
as a wildlife technician for the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, and he and Syd-
Photos by Angel Carpenter/EO Media Group
The Thompson family pauses after feeding cattle on March 9 in Dayville, Ore. In the front, from left, are
Sydney, 3-year-old McKenzie and Brandon. In the back are Carson, Tyler and Ethan.
Three of the Thompson kids ride horses on March 9 at their Day-
ville, Ore., home before going out to feed the cattle. From left are
Ethan, Carson and McKenzie Thompson.
ney share ranching duties.
They run Angus-cross
cattle for the Auxier Ranch,
which includes some of their
own cattle, and they also have
cattle on leased land, working
about 200 head in all.
The couple have lived in
Dayville for 10 years. Both
grew up on ranches, Brandon
in North Powder and Sydney
in Northern California, and
both of their dads worked
full-time at other jobs while
ranching, receiving lots of
help from family. Sydney said
ranching followed Brandon,
and he started doing some
side jobs.
“I told him, if you’re going
to do this, we have to be real-
ly involved, so we can spend
time together,” she said.
“That’s the kicker for me,”
Brandon said, adding if they
didn’t work it out that way,
they’d never see each other.
“It works out pretty well,
and it’s a good way to teach
your kids that there is more to
life,” Sydney said.
“We pray as a family for
rain or for calves to get bet-
ter, and they see the results,”
she said. “It’s kind of a ‘faith-
based’ business.”
Brandon said he appreci-
ates the value of hard work his
children are learning.
“They get a good work
ethic out of it,” he said. “It
gets them out of the house,
and you can turn work into
fun if you do it right.”
Some of the duties for the
older boys include helping
feed cattle and moving pipes,
as well as assisting when tags
and vaccinations are done.
Ethan likes to practice rop-
ing, and he showed a 4-H hog
last year for the first time at
the Grant County Fair.
Brandon said his kids are
given their own cows when
they earn it and, after caring
for the animals, enjoy receiv-
ing a calf check at the end of
the year.
Sydney said some of their
best times together, and a fa-
vorite for her boys, have been
being on horseback in the
summertime to check on cat-
tle spread over 20,000 acres,
sometimes having a family
campout.
The Thompsons have
faced their share of challeng-
es, along with other Grant
County ranchers, including
drought conditions, low sales
prices and a higher death loss
with calves.
When a winter cold snap
hit, the family frequently
brought newborn calves in
their home to warm up by the
wood stove.
During haying season,
Brandon said it’s not unusual
for him to punch in a 20-hour
day.
“It’s not always gravy
train,” he said. “Everything
has its challenges. There are
a lot of struggles. It’s just
a good way of life in my
mind.”
The organic, juniper-seeking goats of Silvies Valley
Goats easy on
riparian areas, work
well with cattle
By RYLAN BOGGS
EO Media Group
SENECA, Ore. — A Pe-
ruvian goat herder opens a
barn door to release a flood of
brown and white Boer goats.
He steps out of the way
as the goats swarm to several
cut juniper trees in their pen.
Like piranhas, they will pick
the trees clean in a matter of
hours.
Once put out on rangeland,
the goats will seek and de-
stroy junipers, eating the foli-
age as high as they can reach.
“It’s like candy,” Silvies
Valley Ranch owner Sandy
Campbell said.
The ranch, just south of
Seneca, Ore., started a goat
herd to establish an addition-
al source of income from the
same rangeland on which the
cattle graze.
Goats can graze the same
pastures as cattle and don’t
share parasites. While cattle
focus on grasses, goats are
drawn to shrubs and bushes.
The animals are great at brush
and weed control, according
to Campbell, which helped
the ranch avoid chemical
weed control and become cer-
tified organic.
12-7/#8
Photos by Rylan Boggs/EO Media Group
A Boer goat looks up from feeding at Silvies Valley Ranch. The
ranch started the goat herd to establish an additional source of
income from the same rangeland as cattle.
“We’ve really been im-
pressed by how well the goats
work with the cattle,” Camp-
bell said. “They have im-
proved the rangeland in a lot
of places by getting rid of the
weeds and cleaning up the un-
derbrush in our forest areas.
It’s been really good for fire
suppression.”
While grazing, the goats
are managed by three Peru-
vian goat herders working
under temporary agricultural
visas, Campbell said.
“They’re very knowledge-
able and great herdsmen and
hard workers,” she said, add-
ing that it’s hard to find ex-
perienced goat herders in the
U.S.
Border collies help the
herders, while Great Pyre-
nees mountain dogs protect
the goats from coyotes and
raptors.
Originally from South Af-
rica, the heavier Boer goats
were initially bred as show
animals in the U.S., which re-
moved many desirable range
goat traits.
Since then, Campbell
has been working to breed
Goats jockey for position as they feed on a juniper tree at Silvies
Valley Ranch. The animals are great at brush and weed control,
according to ranch owner Sandy Campbell.
them back into “the Angus of
goats.”
They’ve crossbred them
with some Spanish goats and
another South African breed
called Kalahari red. The goal
is to develop their own breed
of hybrid range goat.
“We’re breeding for big
babies that hit the ground
strong and grow really well
on range,” Campbell said.
The goats spend the major-
ity of their lives on rangeland
but are brought into barns
during the winter months.
When in labor, mothers are
brought indoors and give birth
onto heated floors where they
stay with their offspring for
one to two days. They then
move to the family pens and,
when ready, back out to the
winter barns.
The kids normally double
their birth weight in the first
month of life, Campbell said.
Goat meat, or chevon, is
catching on in restaurants and
health food circles because it
is high in nutrients and low in
fat, Campbell said.
The meat will be a staple
on the menu at the Retreat at
Silvies Valley Ranch when it
opens in July, and they hope
to sell chevon locally in the
future.
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Dairy
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