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CapitalPress.com
March 30, 2018
People & Places
Students get real-world lessons
Trent Van Leuven
brings college-level
learning to high
school classes
Western
Innovator
By DIANNA TROYER
For the Capital Press
In their FFA and agri-
science classes, students at
Mackay High School in cen-
tral Idaho are enrolling in col-
lege classes and experiencing
unforgettable lessons through
an innovative and flexible
curriculum.
Under the supervision of
Trent Van Leuven, 34, agri-
science instructor and FFA
adviser, students enroll in col-
lege classes, become certified
to do artificial insemination in
cattle through the Idaho De-
partment of Agriculture, and
help biologists trap deer.
They also run the state’s
only year-round high school
warm- and cold-water aqua-
culture laboratory, where
they raise tilapia, trout and
sturgeon. Van Leuven plans
to eventually build a new lab
with $35,000 in grants and
other funding already com-
mitted to the project.
“I’ve always considered
the whole world as my class-
room,” said Van Leuven, who
began teaching in Mackay in
2014. “Some teachers have
come to accept a traditional
role of what the world thinks
teaching has to be. I try to use
all my resources and ingenu-
ity to bring basic concepts
home to students. If an oppor-
tunity arises, I take it — even
if it means ranchers asking for
help working cattle and call-
ing me up at 6 a.m. that same
morning.”
Several years ago, a teach-
Trent Van Leuven
Age: 34
Hometown: Roberts, Idaho
Education: University of
Idaho, ag education, 2007
Family: Wife and son
Motivational sign in
classroom: “I am who I
choose to be.”
Courtesy Kathy Neville
Trent Van Leuven, agriscience instructor and FFA advisor at
Mackay High School, checks on fish in the school aquaculture lab.
ing opportunity arose when
a local rancher donated a
two-headed stillborn calf to
the ag program. Van Leuven
presented a dissection and
taught an embryology class
with it.
This winter, his students
helped Idaho Department of
Fish and Game biologists trap
mule deer to study population
trends.
His students also run a hy-
droponic greenhouse, have an
annual plant sale, raise calves,
plan an itinerary and raise
money to attend the National
FFA convention, and organize
a blood drive.
“I really appreciate great
administrators who help make
these opportunities possible,
especially our dual-enroll-
ment college classes,” he said.
He has received instruc-
tor endorsements, enabling
him to provide students dual
enrollment college options.
Through the College of
Southern Idaho, he teaches an
animal science class and agri-
culture management, enabling
students to earn inexpensive
college credits while studying
in their Mackay classroom.
He also teaches a range prin-
ciples class through the Uni-
versity of Idaho.
Not all of Van Leuven’s
lessons are limited to U.S.
agriculture. When appropriate
to a class, he shares his inter-
national teaching experiences.
Three years ago during the
summer, he lived in Benin, a
tiny country in West Africa
known for cotton production.
He developed a curriculum
for school gardens through
the U.S. Agency for Interna-
tional Development’s Farm-
er-to-Farmer Program ad-
ministered by Catholic Relief
Services. The program pro-
motes sustainable economic
growth and food security. An-
other year, he has also learned
tilapia-raising techniques in
Brazil.
Van Leuven’s students also
use an innovative award-win-
ning teaching aid he built, a
mobile cow skeleton. In 2012,
the National Association of
Agricultural Educators hon-
ored him with an Ideas Un-
limited Award for using the
skeleton.
“My lessons about things
like primal carcass cuts, ru-
minant digestion, artificial
insemination, and cattle body
structure needed a hands-on
aspect that would grab and
hold students’ interest,” he
said. “I couldn’t bring a cow
into the classroom, so I did the
next best thing.”
In 2016, his teaching phi-
losophy and projects earned
him a National Agriscience
Teacher of the Year Award
from the National Association
of Agricultural Educators.
Van Leuven was one of six
winners nationwide and rep-
resented District 1, a region
that encompasses nine west-
ern states.
“My peers who nominated
me have taught me so much at
various conferences and set-
tings,” he said.
A self-described lifelong
learner, Van Leuven said he
“tries to encourage my stu-
dents to follow suit. I read
once that 60 percent of col-
lege graduates never read an-
other book after college. We
should never stop learning.”
On a recent family va-
cation in San Diego, he met
aquaculturists who helped
him tap into a nationwide net-
work of people who raise fish.
“We also went to a botan-
ical garden to admire their
succulents and tropical fruit
section and explored eco-
systems at a beach and zoo.
There are always opportuni-
ties to learn whatever we do
and wherever we go. Lifelong
learning can help ag instruc-
tors — and they should seek
out professional development
that really would help them
help students.”
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Don Bailey, well-known Oregon veterinarian, dies at 92
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
ROSEBURG, Ore. — Don
Bailey, a long-time veteri-
narian and rancher in Doug-
las County, died at his ranch
home March 20.
He would have been 92 on
April 30. He died of age-relat-
ed natural causes.
It was appropriate that
there was a flock of sheep in
a nearby pasture on his Bar
None Ranch because Bailey
spent much of his 65-year
career as a veterinarian and
rancher working with that an-
imal. After he and his wife,
Betty, moved to Roseburg to
serve an internship after he
graduated in 1950 with a de-
gree in veterinary medicine
from Colorado State Univer-
sity in Fort Collins, Colo.,
most all of his work dealt with
sheep and cattle.
The couple opened Bailey
Veterinary Clinic in Roseburg
in 1951. In addition to help-
ing with the care of livestock
throughout Douglas County,
Bailey also got involved in
numerous agricultural, veter-
inary and civic organizations
and activities at the local, state
and national level.
Bailey retired from his
clinic in 1991 after a 40-year
career and he retired as a
rancher a couple of years ago.
He had both a cattle and sheep
Courtesy of the Bailey Family
Don Bailey of Roseburg, Ore., was a long-time veterinarian and
rancher who specialized in the care of livestock. Bailey, who died
March 20, was involved in numerous agricultural, veterinary and civ-
ic organizations and activities at the local, state and national level.
operation, and at one time had
about 2,000 ewes.
“He was young, ambitious
and a really good veterinar-
ian who was very good with
sheep,” said Bob Hall, who
owns and operates a ranch east
of Roseburg. “He knew a lot
about them and when he came
out to the ranch, he would tell
you how to do things so you
wouldn’t have to call him the
next time you needed help
with the same problem.”
Eugene Holcomb and his
sons, Richard and Roger, also
learned from Bailey when the
veterinarian visited their cattle
and sheep operation near Elk-
ton, Ore.
“He was really good at
sharing the practical things he
had learned over the years,”
Richard Holcomb said. “He
didn’t hesitate to try to bring
our skill level up so we could
do a lot of things we had pre-
viously called him out to do. I
had such admiration for him.
He was such a mentoring type
of man, a man filled with a lot
of graciousness.”
Rex Heard, a sheep rancher
near Lookingglass, Ore., said
he was impressed by Bailey’s
eagerness to continue to learn.
“He was well into his 80s
and he was still sitting in the
front row at meetings and con-
ferences, with a tablet and pen-
cil, taking notes,” Heard said.
“I learned from him that when
you take notes, you’re forced
to be attentive and it helps you
learn. When I talk to 4-H and
FFA groups, I tell them that
is something I learned from a
local veterinarian. You have to
apply yourself.”
Bailey shared his knowl-
edge beyond his own prac-
tice. Recognizing a need in
small ruminant medicine,
both in colleges of veterinary
medicine and in food animal
science, he helped organize
the American Association of
Sheep and Goat Practitioners
(now the American Associa-
tion of Small Ruminant Prac-
titioners) in 1968. He served
as the organization’s second
president, secretary-treasurer
and executive director.
The Roseburg veterinari-
an also held positions in oth-
er organizations: A member
of the board of directors of
the Intermountain Veterinary
Medical Association, chair-
man of the Health Committee
of the National Wool Growers
Association, a member of the
American Veterinary Medical
Association House Advisory
Committee, president of the
Oregon Veterinary Medical
Association and the Oregon
Sheep Growers Association,
the OSGA’s delegate to the
National Wool Growers Asso-
ciation and one of the found-
ers of the Douglas County Soil
and Water Committee.
In 1974, while Bailey was
president of the OVMA, he
was an advocate of increasing
the opportunities for Orego-
nians to study veterinary med-
icine. The School of Veteri-
nary Medicine at Oregon State
University was established
later in the 1970s and a veteri-
nary teaching facility was con-
structed at the school in 1980.
Bailey became a member of
the Oregon State University
President’s Committee on Ag-
riculture Education.
Since 1976, he was a fre-
quent keynote speaker at state,
national and international
meetings.
On his ranch, Bailey and
his wife, Betty, hosted hun-
dreds of grade-school students
for many years during lamb-
ing season so the kids could
get that agricultural experi-
ence.
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Index
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on
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“Submit an Event.” Calendar items
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and common form of welding on
farms. General metalwork will also
be covered. Cost: $50 each per-
son. Contact: paula.burkhalter@
oregonstate.edu or 541-776-7371.
Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonSmall-
Farms
Saturday, March 31
Idaho FFA State leadership
Conference. College of Southern
Idaho, Twin Falls, Idaho. Website:
https://www.idahoffa.org/confer-
ences-conventions/
Welding and Basic Metal Work
for Small Farms. 1-5 p.m. Dunbar
Farms, Hillcrest Road, Medford,
Ore. This popular class is small and
hands-on. With space limited, regis-
ter early. David Mostue, farmer and
equipment guru, will teach the ba-
sics of welding techniques on-site
at his farm. Particular focus will be
on those skills most useful to farm-
ers, including the types of welders,
tools and safety equipment needed.
Participants will have a chance to
try MIG welding, the most useful
Ad fax .............................. 503-364-2692
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Wednesday-Saturday
April 4-7
Thursday, April 5
Part 4: Farm & Ranch Succes-
sion Planning Workshop. 6-8:30 p.m.
Clackamas Small Business Devel-
opment Center, 7726 SE Harmony
Road, Milwaukie, Ore. This program
is offered and taught by the Clack-
amas Small Business Development
Center, along with guest presenters
such as attorneys and CPAs. A com-
plimentary light dinner will be at 6
p.m. To register, call 503-594-0738.
Cost: Free. Website: http://bit.ly/
2CX1jvl
Friday, April 6
In the Field: Yakima Agricul-
ture Seminar. 12:30-5 p.m. Hilton
Garden Inn, 401 East Yakima Ave.,
Yakima, Wash. The topics include
estate and succession planning
for farmers and ranchers in light of
the new tax laws; air, water rights,
pesticides and CAFO permits; and
employment laws and immigration.
Sponsored by Schwabe, William-
son & Wyatt. Cost: Free Website:
http://bit.ly/2FRZoKG
Saturday, April 7
28th Dayton FFA Alumni Auction
and Dinner. 5:30-9 p.m. Old Day-
ton High School Gym, 801 Ferry
St., Dayton, Ore. The auction is the
largest fundraiser the Dayton FFA
Alumni does each year. If you or
your business would like to donate
an item, time, money or services to
this year’s auction, or if you are inter-
ested in joining Dayton FFA Alumni,
please contact Mitch Coleman at
(503) 864-2080. The silent auction
starts at 5:30 p.m. The first table
closes at 6:30 and dinner featuring
local foods will be served at 7. Cost:
$10 at the door or from the Dayton
Ag Shop at 503-864-2080.
Basic Irrigation System Design
and Operation. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Dunbar Farms, Medford, Ore. This
class will look at a variety of irrigation
systems suitable for different crops.
The class will be particularly useful
for those planning to build or alter
their irrigation systems. The day of
instruction includes a trip around
Dunbar Farms to look at a wide va-
riety of pump stations and irrigation
methods in operation. These sys-
tems include overhead sprinklers for
hay, drip irrigation in wine grapes,
rotator sprinklers for row crops,
canons for infrequent irrigation and
flood irrigation in hay. Directions to
the farm will be sent to registrants.
Registration options other than on-
line, contact Paula, 541-776-7371.
Register online: http://bit.ly/Jack-
sonSmallFarms Cost: $35. Website:
http://bit.ly/JacksonSmallFarms
Dairy ...................................... 9
Fieldwork report ..................... 3
Livestock ............................... 9
Markets ............................... 12
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon FFA ........................... 5
Tuesday, April 10
Correction policy
Southern Idaho Livestock Hall
of Fame induction. 6:30-9 p.m. Turf
Club, 734 Falls Ave., Twin Falls, Ida-
ho. This year’s inductees are: cattle
rancher Jim Baker of Filer; sheep
and cattle ranchers Ed and Emily
Baker (posthumously) of Filer; cattle
ranchers Scott and Sarah Bedke of
Oakley; dairy producers Harry and
Flora Bokma of Buhl; long-time Bu-
reau of Land Management super-
visor Dean Brown of Jerome; and
cattle ranchers Wade and Gwenna
Prescott of Carey. Cost: $25
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.