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2 CapitalPress.com May 26, 2017 People & Places Ag pilot’s career up in the air Paul McAlvain’s love of helicopters helps region’s farmers with their crops Western Innovator Capital Press Paul McAlvain Occupation: Ag helicopter pilot Company: Pauly’s Helicop- ter Services Age: 36 Family: Wife, Vanessa; son, Darius, 5 Website: http://paulysheli- copterservicegov.com/ Sean Ellis/Capital Press Paul McAlvain stands next to the helicopter he uses to spray farm fields May 17 in Ontario, Ore. He went to helicopter school straight out of high school and has spent about 9,000 hours in the air spray- ing crops. “I like to push my limits,” said McAlvain, 36. “With this, you’re always doing something kind of fun and dangerous.” McAlvain, who is also a li- censed instructor, flies several types of helicopters and pilots the local Life Flight helicop- ter. “He’s an excellent heli- copter pilot,” said Tommy Frazier, owner of Frazier Aviation, which provides avi- ation services at the Ontario Airport. “He’s rated in vari- ous types of helicopters; that takes some talent.” McAlvain said that when spraying farm fields, his he- licopter is as close as 5 feet from the ground, compared to about 8-10 feet for an airplane crop duster. His helicopter can hold 130 gallons of spray while some of the newer airplane crop dusters can hold around 300 gallons, but he reloads straight from a truck in the field instead of having to re- turn to the airport. “The number one dif- ference is speed,” he said. “We’re traveling about 70 (mph) while the airplanes are going about 120 to 140.” McAlvain said few people know that helicopters are used to spray farm fields and even many farmers in the area don’t know that he can spray certain crops, such as potatoes. He said his biggest chal- lenge is weather. “The weather’s been real- ly bad the past couple years and this year the weather has been a major challenge,” he said. “We’re shut down af- ter winds reach 12 mph and around here, that happens all the time.” McAlvain’s business is family run. His wife, Vanessa, takes care of the bookkeep- ing and other duties, while his 5-year-old son, Darius, is already starting to learn the trade so he can take over the business some day. Though only 5, Darius already has a log book with hours in it — McAlvain’s he- licopter has dual controls. “He’ll have tons of hours (and) he’ll be ready to fly before he can even drive,” McAlvain said. “When he gets his license, he’ll be ready to go to work.” Agriculture students shine at Oregon Envirothon By JAN JACKSON Online For the Capital Press www.oregonenvirothon.org SILVERTON, Ore. — The 21st annual Oregon Enviro- thon was May 5 at the Oregon Gardens in Silverton. The five top winning teams were Logos Charter School, Medford; Newberg High School FFA; Amity High School; Sutherlin High School FFA Team 2; and Sutherlin High School Team A. The Logos Charter School team will compete July 23-29 in the National Envirothon at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmetsburg, Md. Newberg FFA, which also placed first in the FFA Divi- sion, will compete Oct. 25-28 during the 90th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indi- anapolis. Bailey Field, FFA adviser Calendar Saturday-Sunday May 27-28 Alpaca Shearing Day and Sale. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas of Oregon, 21345 SW Aebischer Road, Sher- wood, Ore. Join EasyGo Farm at Alpacas of Oregon and take a break from the Memorial Day Win- ery Tours to watch the alpacas get their annual haircuts. Get up close, hand feed them and handle their luxurious fleece. Shearing Day is Saturday. On Sunday, learn to felt an alpaca gift. Phone 503-348-6954 to reserve a spot; $25-$75 covers your materials and instruction. Hand-spinners, knitters and other fiber artists will find fleece and yarn. Visitors can chat with four long-time livestock breeders who’ve raised llamas, horses, sheep and goats. www.easygofarm.net/AOOMem- Day. Wednesday-Friday May 31-June 2 2017 Oregon Cattlemen Mid- year Meeting, Wildhorse Casino, 46510 Wildhorse Blvd., Pendleton, Ore. The annual 2 1/2-day midyear event is where Oregon cattlemen and women gather to get updates on the latest news in Oregon ag- riculture, hear from top industry speakers and reconnect with fellow ranchers. http://orcattle.com/. Thursday, June 1 Inka Bajandas/Oregon Forestry Resources Institute From left, Kennedy Rainey, Tyler Bostock and Kylie Holveck use Biltmore sticks to determine tree measurements for the Envirothon Forestry Practicum. and ag teacher at Newberg, spoke with pride about her FFA members taking a first in the FFA Division and scoring the highest in the agriculture soil and water conservation stewardship event. 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 or emailed to newsroom@ capitalpress.com. OSU Wasco County Extension Service Pre-harvest Tour. 7:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Orchard View Farms Dallesport Orchard, Highway 14, Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Mike Omeg Corporate Officer John Perry Chief Operating Officer By SEAN ELLIS ONTARIO, Ore. — Paul McAlvain grew up in the city but working in an urban set- ting was never an option for him. “I was destined for ag,” said McAlvain, a helicopter pilot with 12,000 hours flying time, about three-fourths of it spent spraying farm fields. “I’m not an office person so this is my office. I would much rather be out in the fields or mountains.” Born and raised in Boise, Idaho’s largest city, McAlvain went straight to helicopter school after graduating from high school. “I just got a wild hair and took out a huge loan and went to school,” he said. “I found out I was good at it and I was working after four months.” He has flown and sprayed farm fields in the Pendleton, Ore., area and most recent- ly in Ontario, where he owns Pauly’s Helicopter Services. Though the job is danger- ous — “It’s horribly danger- ous,” he laughs — he said it’s a perfect fit for his personality. Capital Press Dallesport, Wash. The tour starts at the Dallesport orchard, then pro- ceeds to the Omeg Family Farms Grossmiller Block at 3187 Three Mile Road in The Dalles, Ore. It then goes to the Dave Cooper Or- chard, 2270 Dry Hollow Road for lunch. Four-Part Farm/Ranch Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m. Canby High School, 721 SW Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. A free four-part workshop on succession planning with one-hour personal counseling sessions for your family after each workshop. Light dinner 6 to 6:30, workshop 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Course 4 on June 1 is Pass- ing on Management Roles. RSVP required. Organized by Clackamas Small Business Development Cen- ter and Rogue Farm Corps. Cost: Free. http://bit.ly/2opTHqO. Thursday-Saturday June 1-3 Puget Sound Junior Livestock Show and Sale. Skagit County Fair- grounds, 479 W. Taylor St., Mount Vernon, Wash. http://www.puget- soundjuniorlivestock.org/ Wednesday, June 7 “Our Valley, Our Future” Break- fast. 7:15-8:45 a.m. Emmanuel Baptist Church, 1515 E. College Way, Mount Vernon, Wash. Key- note speaker Derek Sandison, di- rector of the Washington State De- partment of Agriculture, will share his perspective on the trade and economic outlook for Washington and on the Skagit agricultural indus- try. Reservations are required. Call 360-336-3974 or email LindaT@ skagitonians.org. Website: www. skagitonians.org Friday, June 9 Farm Practices to Support Beneficial Insects. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. SOREC Teaching Farm, 569 Han- “This was my first year at Newberg, and fortunately I had the help of long time biol- ogy, ecology and horticulture instructor and Envirothon trainer Pete Siderius,” Fields said. “Newberg was repre- sented by a five-member FFA and a five-member freshman team this year. It is always exciting to see them put in all that effort and see it reward- ed.” Students train and test throughout the school year to compete in four hands-on natural resource categories — aquatic ecology, soils and land use, forestry and wildlife and one current environmen- tal issue, which this year was ag soil and water conserva- tion stewardship. Envirothon was started by the Pennsylvania Soil and Water Conservation District in 1979. Oregon’s first Envi- rothon was in 1997 with five teams; 32 teams competed this year. In 2003, the Marion Coun- ty SWCD partnered with the Oregon Forest Resources In- stitute and moved the compe- tition to the Oregon Gardens. OFRI will direct future Envi- rothon competitions starting with the 2018 event. OFRI Senior Manager of Education Julie Woodward said 200 high school students competed this year. “It started out as a very wet day, but students kept positive attitudes and we saw some amazing results,” Woodward said. “The advis- ers and instructors put a lot of time and energy into pre- paring students for the event and the test writers and judg- es routinely comment on how amazed they are with the skills and expertise of the students. “We are looking forward to Envirothon 2018.” GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com ley Road, Central Point, Ore. This is Day 1 of a two-day class to raise awareness of on-farm beneficial in- sects and birds and how to identify them. Learn about the role they play in farming hand-in-hand with nature and how to create “farmscaping” to attract and promote active benefi- cials. Day 2 is June 30. Cost: $15 one/$25 two from the same farm. Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonSmall- FarmDream. Wednesday, June 14 Six-week Forestry Short Course. 9 a.m.-noon. Federal Building meeting room, Seventh Street and College Avenue, St. Maries, Idaho. This course will be six successive Wednesdays. The $38 fee includes resource material. Register by phone at 208-245-2422 before June 7. Thursday-Friday June 15-16 2017 Interpera Congress. Wenatchee Confluence Technolo- gy Center, 285 Technology Center Way, Wenatchee, Wash. The con- ference features presentations from world experts on emerg- ing pear varieties, high-density planting, root stock, harvest and packing house mechanization, integrated pest management suc- cesses, export trade flows and successful practices for building consumer demand. http://ncwctc. com. Friday-Sunday June 16-18 Glenwood Ketchum Kalf Rodeo and Bull Bash. Glenwood Rodeo Grounds, Trout Lake Highway, Glenwood, Wash. The Bull Bash starts at 7 p.m. June 16, followed by the rodeo, which starts at 12:30 p.m. June 17-18. Website: http://business.gorge.net/ glenwoodrodeo. 20 Northwest Locations Saturday, June 17 Forest Thinning and Pruning Field Day. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. University of Idaho Extension office, 1808 N. Third St., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Whether you have problems with insects, disease or concerns about fire, the response from foresters is nearly universal: Thin your forest. Presentations about thinning and financial assistance will be followed by a field trip to a thinned stand. A $20 fee includes a field notebook or publications. Register by June 9. Tuesday, June 20 Trees and Taxes workshop. 5-7:30 p.m. Coos County Extension Office, 631 Alder St., Myrtle Point, Ore. This class is for anyone with forest management expenses, re- cent forest income or planning for future income from their forestland. Tammy Cushing, Extension special- ist in forest economics, manage- ment and policy, will explain topics many landowners are unaware of and the special provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that pertain to forestland and income generated from the land. This session will help improve the records you keep on your forestland as well as minimize the taxes that you pay for income generated by your forest. Pre-reg- istration is required by June 16. For questions, call Shawna at 541-572- 5263. Website: http://extension.ore- gonstate.edu/coos/. Tuesday-Wednesday June 20-21 Center for Produce Safety Re- search Symposium. Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, 7800 E. Tufts Ave., Denver, Colo. Agricultural wa- ter will kick off the program agen- da. This session will focus on four CPS-funded research programs that will help stakeholders better understand the factors involved in sourcing, sampling, testing and 1-800-765-9055 treating specific types of agricultur- al water. Thursday, June 22 Oregon Angus Field Day. 4-10 p.m. Quail Valley Ranch, Prineville, Ore. Cattle on display, contests with prizes, a meal and a time to visit. For more information, con- tact Becky Tekansik, Quail Valley Ranch, 541-699-8562, or Dick Hubman, president of the Oregon Angus Association, 541-601-5495. Tuesday, June 27 Range Field Day. 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Northern Great Basin Experi- mental Range, 100 Placidea Butte Road, Riley, Ore. Presentations will include managing wildfires, livestock grazing for fuels manage- ment, safe sites and restoration of sagebrush rangeland. For more information, contact Chad Boyd, office: 541-573-8939, cell: 541-589- 4990, email: chad.boyd@oregon- state.edu. To RSVP for lunch, call Petrina White at 541-573-4085. Wednesday-Saturday June 28-July 1 128th Annual Washington State Grange Convention. Ocean Shores Convention Center, 120 W. Chance a La Mer NW, Ocean Shores, Wash. Thursday-Friday June 29-30 3rd International Confer- ence on Livestock & Nutrition. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Avani Atrium, 880 Phetchaburi Road, Bangkok, Thailand. The Bangkok Livestock Nutrition Conference welcomes attendees, presenters and ex- hibitors from all over the world. The theme is “Leading Innova- tion in Livestock for Sustainable Farming.” Cost: $699. Website: http://livestocknutrition.confer- enceseries.com/. Capital Press Managers Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Entire contents copyright © 2017 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. 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