Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2018)
2 CapitalPress.com March 9, 2018 People & Places Birds of prey soar over vineyards John Hawley, a winery owner, follows his interest in falconry Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Susan Rana Mike Omeg Corporate Officer Heidi Wright Chief Operating Officer Western Innovator By JULIA HOLLISTER For the Capital Press SONOMA COUNTY, Ca- lif. — John Hawley’s interest in falconry hatched when he was a teenager. “When I was 15 a neighbor caught a hawk in his coop,” he said. Hawley and a couple of his friends went in together and bought the bird. It was 1964, and there were no laws against keeping birds of prey, he said. “The following year I sent $15 to the California Depart- ment of Fish and Game and they sent me my first falconry license,” he said. “We took a young red- tail hawk from a nest for my friend Nick and my friend Paul took a nestling barn owl, which lived in his laundry closet. And then we all got kestrels, (tiny falcons), which we all trained to hunt,” he said. They eventually went to college and the birds were re- leased back into the wild. Fast-forward 15 years. By 1981 he had become the wine- maker for Clos du Bois, and for Kendall-Jackson in 1990. In 1996 he started his own winery. “In 1997, I contacted Cal- ifornia Fish and Game about renewing my falconry li- cense,” he said. The laws had changed a lot. He had to take a 100-question test about birds of prey, their diseases and fal- conry laws. “I joined the California Hawking Club and found a local falconer to apprentice,” he said. He built a new mew, a special room with smooth Capital Press Capital Press Managers Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Courtesy of John Hawley John Hawley, founder of Hawley Wines in Dry Creek Valley, Calif., and a licensed falconer, shows his Peregrine falcon. Courtesy of John Hawley John Hawley with his Peregrine falcon. walls, floor and ceiling, bars for windows, perches and an anteroom to prevent escapes. Hawley also purchased a transmitter and radio receiver to track the bird. This was a revolutionary idea. Previously, the only way to track a bird was to follow it with binoculars or to fit it with bells. “I built a special trap, bought a hamster as bait and headed out to find a bird,” he said. “After a couple hours of driving I finally located a large immature red-tail. We watched the hawk hunt for field mice. Then I put out my trap and moments later I had my new falconry bird.” But that was just the begin- ning. “Everything about falcon- ry is long, slow and tedious,” he said. “You spend days on end ‘manning’ the bird so it totally loses all fear of you. You train the bird to fly to you for food. First just a jump, but soon the bird is flying 100 yards to you.” All training is based on positive reinforcement, he said. “The next step is enter- ing on game, and this is the tricky part because the hawk must be successful or he will lose confidence and refuse to hunt,” he said. “Most birds can be trained to free fly in about a month.” Hawley said he sometimes hunts in vineyards, but doesn’t use his bird of prey for the abatement of birds that feed on grapes. Often, just the appear- ance of his bird is enough to cause other birds to leave. Vineyard managers often hire abatement hawks and fal- cons, which are not trained to kill birds and animals, but to get rewards for just chasing them. He practices falconry, which is hunting with birds of prey. Hawks are distantly re- lated to falcons, which have long, pointed wings and are more social than most hawks. Hawks have fan-like wings with finger-like projections. “I love the flight of fal- cons,” Hawley said. “We fal- coners like for our birds to take a position 1,000 to 2,000 feet above our heads. Then we flush the game and the falcon closes its wings into a tear drop shape and comes down John Hawley Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager Hometown: Dry Creek Valley, outside Healdsburg, Calif. Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Occupation: Owner, Hawley Wines, falconer Entire contents copyright © 2018 EO Media Group dba Capital Press Quote: “This (training) is all about trust, so you must al- ways treat falconry birds with great respect and care.” An independent newspaper published every Friday. out of the sky like a missile, hopefully striking the quarry at high speed. Generally the quarry is dead when it hits the ground. Hawks, on the other hand, squeeze their prey to death.” There are about 200 fal- coners in California, he said. “Owls are good for noc- turnal pests, but they don’t do anything about birds in the vineyard. A single peregrine falcon can protect 500 acres by just overflying it. Typically an abatement person has sev- eral falcons as well as a Harris hawk or two. That way they can keep a raptor in the air all morning and all afternoon.” It is a lot of work and can be frustrating to the falconer when things don’t go well, like when a bird decides to fly over to the next county, he said. “It’s a real three-ring cir- cus,” he said. “The abatement work day starts before sunrise. You need to have a bird in the air as the sun comes up be- cause that is when bird flocks send out their scouts, looking for a safe place to feed.” Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Circulation ......................... 800-882-6789 Email ........ Circulation@capitalpress.com Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff Idaho Carol Ryan Dumas .......... 208-860-3898 Boise Sean Ellis .......................... 208-914-8264 Cent. Washington Dan Wheat ........................ 509-699-9099 W. Washington Don Jenkins ...................... 360-722-6975 E Washington Matthew Weaver .............. 509-688-9923 Oregon George Plaven ................. 406-560-1655 Mateusz Perkowski .......... 800-882-6789 Graphic artist Alan Kenaga ..................... 800-882-6789 To Place Classified Ads ‘Thank a farmer’ show part education, part magic By CRAIG REED For the Capital Press KLAMATH FALLS, Ore — “What do an egg, a baseball and a tube of lipstick have in common?” That was the question Rhonda Swanson asked an audience of grade-school kids and adults during her “Thank a Farmer” magic show on Feb. 21 at the 33rd annual Farm Expo. Before juggling the three products, Swanson told the listeners all three items came from agriculture. The kids knew, of course, that the egg came from a chicken, but Swanson then ex- plained to them that the white covering on the major league baseball she was holding came from cowhide and that the lip- stick consisted of beeswax and olive oil and numerous other animal and plant ingredients. Swanson gave two 30-min- ute presentations at the Farm Expo and gave shorter pre- sentations at the dairy booth as fourth-grade students circu- lated through 18 agricultural- themed booths at the event. Craig Reed/For the Capital Press Rhonda Swanson holds a major league baseball and explains to the audience of kids and adults at the Farm Expo in Klamath Falls, Ore., that the covering is cowhide. She says kids need to learn at an early age to respect farmers and their work. The two-day expo attracted about 850 students from Klam- ath, Lake and Modoc counties. Swanson, 51, came up with the “Thank a Farmer” pro- gram about 10 years ago, after talking to a Wisconsin dairy farm family and hearing the children talk about being bul- lied at school because of their lifestyle. “When city kids move to the rural areas, they don’t un- derstand the lifestyle of those already living there,” said Swanson, whose family has farmed in Iowa for six gener- ations. “I took a look at what was out there for kids to learn about the importance of farm- ing and I didn’t see much, if any, outreach to the consum- ers. “I asked, ‘How can we get the importance of farmers to our communities?’” she said. “The best way was through the kids.” Swanson said at that time animal activists and their or- ganizations and the anti-ge- netically modified organisms groups were being vocal in public about their beliefs. She said there was no program to educate the public about agri- culture. So Swanson, who was al- ready in the entertainment busi- ness with her mother, Joyce, as the Wacky Women of the Wild West, developed the “Thank a Farmer” magic show. She fig- ured that children are attracted to magic and including two or three tricks would help keep their attention as she talked about agriculture. She also noted that one of the first things taught to chil- dren is to say “Thank you” af- ter being given something. Swanson said she believes kids today begin to devel- op prejudices in elementary school so she thinks it is im- portant to get the message out about respecting agriculture to those youngsters. “The idea behind ‘Thank a Farmer’ is to raise their re- alization through thanking a farmer, that something is be- ing done for them,” explained Swanson, who is now a Las Vegas-area resident. Swanson recently spent 24 days at the Fort Worth, Texas, Livestock Show and Rodeo, giving her presentation to a total of 20,000 pre-school to fourth-grade kids. “I know how hard farming is from my own family’s back- ground,” she said. “To have people outside of the industry criticize it and to criticize the people who are farming makes me mad. I know it is their own ignorance because they are so far removed from the process. I created something that would educate them, starting at a young age. “The people in agriculture are a special people,” she con- tinued. “They are willing to take those risks when other people aren’t, they are will- ing to put in long days when other people aren’t, they miss vacations when other people don’t, they miss special occa- sions when other people don’t. Farmers are a committed group who are deserving of a ‘thank you’ every now and then. “As more kids live in cit- ies and towns, they don’t have contact with a farmer,” she added. “The goal of this magic show is to educate and to ex- plain to kids why they should thank a farmer.” Ad fax .............................. 503-364-2692 or ...................................... 503-370-4383 Telephone (toll free) .......... 800-882-6789 Online ......www.capitalpress.com/classifieds Subscriptions Mail rates paid in advance Easy Pay U.S. $3.75/month (direct with- drawal from bank or credit card account) 1 year U.S. ...................................$49.99 2 years U.S. .................................$89.99 1 year Canada .................................$275 1 year other countries ......... call for quote 1 year Internet only .......................$49.99 1 year 4-H, FFA students and teachers ....$30 9 months 4-H, FFA students & teachers .....$25 Visa and Mastercard accepted To get information published Mailing address: Capital Press P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 News: Contact the main office or news staff member closest to you, send the in- formation to newsroom@capitalpress.com or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press. Include a contact telephone number. Letters to the Editor: Send your comments on agriculture-related public issues to opinions@capitalpress.com, or mail your letter to “Opinion,” c/o Capital Press. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Deadline: Noon Monday. Capital Press ag media Calendar 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. Write “Calendar” in the subject line. Saturday, March 10 GOP Gubernatorial Forum. 2:30-4 p.m. University of Idaho, Administration Auditorium, 841 Campus Drive, Moscow, Idaho. The University of Idaho Food and Agricultural Business Club presents the GOP Gubernatorial Forum. The community is invited to hear from GOP candidates about issues that affect agriculture in Idaho. Candi- dates Tommy Ahlquist and Lt. Gov. Brad Little will answer questions during the forum regarding agricul- ture in Idaho. Farm and Ranch Succession Planning Workshop. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Klamath Community College, Building 6, Room H138, 7390 S. Sixth St., Klamath Falls, Ore. To help growers take the next step in succession planning, OSU Exten- sion, Klamath Community College, Klamath Small Business Develop- ment Center, Klamath Watershed Partnership and Rogue Farm Corps are coordinating a farm succession workshop. Presenters will include Diana Tourney of the Oregon Small Business Development Center Net- work on how to create a plan with your family, attorney Joe Hobson of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt on how to prepare your estate, local farmers who have been through the process, and Nellie McAdams, Farm Preservation Program Di- rector at Rogue Farm Corps. The event is free and lunch is included. RSVP to help make sure we pro- vide enough food. Cost: Free. Con- tact: nellie@roguefarmcorps.org or 971-409-6806 Website: http://bit. ly/2EvUzpB GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE www.oxarc.com Monday, March 12 Farm Land Access and Succes- sion Planning Workshop. 2:30-8:30 p.m. Pine Grove Grange, 2835 Van Horn Drive, Hood River, Ore. Rogue Farm Corps, Gorge Grown, OSU Extension, Hood River Soil and Water Conservation District, Wasco Soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict, Friends of Family Farmers and the Small Business Development Center are coordinating a farmland access and succession workshop for farmers and ranchers through- out the Columbia River Gorge. The afternoon session will concentrate on land access, followed by din- ner at 5 p.m. The farm succession workshop will follow dinner. RSVP by March 5 or send any questions to Nellie McAdams, nellie@rog- uefarmcorps.org, 971-409-6806. Friday, March 16 Ten Acres and a Dream small acreage workshop. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Ponderay Events Center, 401 20 Northwest Locations Bonner Mall Way, Suite E, Sand- point, Idaho. Topics include living on the land, growing crops, raising livestock, managing pastures and forestry fundamentals. Cost: $15. Website: http://bit.ly/2Gxia5S Saturday, March 17 Ten Acres and a Dream small acreage workshop. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Centennial Distributing Co., 701 West Buckles Road, Hayden, Idaho. Topics include living on the land, raising crops and livestock, managing pastures and forestry fundamentals. Cost: $15. Website: http://bit.ly/2Gxia5S Sunday, March 18 Fruit Propagation Fair. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Clackamas Coun- ty Fairgrounds, 694 NE Fourth Ave., Canby, Ore. The fair offers attendees hundreds of variet- ies of free scions and cuttings. If you graft, this is paradise. Or you can choose custom grafting by experts for only $5. Free with 1-800-765-9055 admission are hundreds of vari- eties of apple, pear, cherry, plum and persimmon scions. There will also be cuttings of grapes, kiwis and figs to root. Arrive ear- ly for the best selection. Home Orchard Society experts will be available to answer fruit-growing questions. Mason bee supplies are available for sale, as well as fruit-growing publications. Cost: $7 per person or $12 per family for non-members. Website: http:// homeorchardsociety.org Tuesday-Thursday March 20-22 International Mass Timber Con- ference. Oregon Convention Cen- ter, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, Ore. There will be 70-plus speakers from 20 nations and more than 60 exhibits, plus a tour of Oregon’s mass timber build- ings. Website: www.forestbusiness- network.com www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com marketplace.capitalpress.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo Index Markets ................................11 Opinion .................................. 6 Snowpack .............................. 4 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 503-364-4431, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.