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CapitalPress.com
May 25, 2018
People & Places
Helping dairy workers stay safe
Ryan DeWit runs
unique safety
training effort for
employees
Western
Innovator
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
It hasn’t been all that long
since Ryan DeWit was milk-
ing cows on his family’s dairy
in Friona, Texas, but now he’s
helping Idaho dairy farm-
ers keep their workers safe
through a unique training pro-
gram.
The Idaho Dairy Worker
Safety and Training Program
is a collaboration of the Idaho
Dairymen’s Association and
Idaho Milk Processors Asso-
ciation to provide training to
dairy workers across the state.
While the first phase of the
program was developed with
university expertise and con-
tinues to be expanded with
that expertise, DeWit heads
up the practical on-the-ground
training to promote worker
health and safety.
“We provide dairy workers
with training and educational
content focused on general
farm safety and animal han-
dling,” he said.
The goal of the program is
to initiate safer interaction be-
tween workers and cows and
educate workers on farmwide
safety when it comes to such
things as equipment and elec-
tricity. It’s aimed at ensuring
they go home safely at the end
of the day, he said.
Active response
The program is the re-
sponse by dairy farmers and
processors to heighten work-
er training and safety after
a dairy worker fatality in
February 2016. That worker
drowned in a waste pond af-
ter mistakenly driving a feed
truck into the pond in pre-
Ryan DeWit
Occupation: Dairy worker
training and safety specialist
Employer: Idaho Dairy-
men’s Association, IDA
Consulting
Home: Twin Falls, Idaho
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in the subject line.
Saturday, May 26
Goat healthcare/nutrition/pack-
goat seminar. 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Workshop, 7211 40th Court NE,
Olympia, Wash. Seminar includes
handouts and hands-on time with
goats. If you are new to goats or just
need a refresher for goat care this
is a great event. Instructor has 30-
plus years of successful goat care
experience. Cost is $25 for public;
$7.50 for 4-H/FFA members/family/
Established 1928
Board of Directors
Mike Forrester
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Susan Rana
Harrison Forrester
Mike Omeg
Cory Bollinger
Jeff Rogers
Corporate Officers
Heidi Wright
Chief Operating Officer
Rick Hansen
Chief Financial Officer
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Age: 24
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Ryan DeWit, right, dairy worker training and safety specialist with IDA Consulting Services, and Rick
Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association.
dawn hours during flooded
conditions.
To prevent future trage-
dies, IDA engaged experts in
worker safety and training.
Idaho’s dairy processors com-
mitted to the effort soon after.
IDA contracted with David
Douphrate, assistant profes-
sor of epidemiology, human
genetics and environmental
sciences at the University of
Texas, and Robert Hagevoort,
extension dairy specialist at
the New Mexico State Uni-
versity, to develop a program.
DeWit met Hagevoort
through the U.S. Dairy Edu-
cation and Training Consor-
tium, and Hagevoort referred
him to IDA to facilitate the
training.
DeWit uses iPads with
headphones to deliver indi-
vidualized training in English
and Spanish and can deliver
that training in groups of up to
20 workers.
“It’s always fun for me to
explain why I’m here and why
it’s important to have safety
training,” he said.
Bottom line
The bottom line is having
workers go home to their fam-
ilies intact, he said.
Some workers are a little
intimidated at first, but they
soon discover their trainer
grew up milking cows and
clearing water troughs and re-
spond favorably. And they ap-
preciate that the dairy owner
is investing in their training,
he said.
The iPad training session
is followed by a live animal
handling session. Workers of-
ten do the “what” of the job
but don’t know the “why”
of safety issues and animal
handling. Helping them see
things from a cow’s perspec-
tive allows them to predict the
cow’s behavior and get the
animal to do what the workers
want them to and avoid injury,
he said.
“At the end of the day,
we’re helping employees rec-
ognize those hazards on the
dairy,” he said.
He encourages managers
and owners to participate in
the worker training because
it reinforces how important
safety is and creates a dia-
logue of safety on the dairy.
The mission
“My mission with this role
is to help Idaho’s dairymen
improve the safety culture on
their dairies while providing
consumers’ assurance that
our workforce is working in a
safe environment and is well-
trained,” he said.
The program began in
August 2017, and DeWit has
trained more than 500 work-
ers at 25 dairies with 50 milk-
ing barns. But there’s more to
do, with 500 dairies and an
estimated 8,000 employees in
the state.
He’s also given a three-day
“train the trainer” workshop
for processor and co-op field
personnel and plans more in
the future to broaden the reach
of the training program and
Education: Master’s degree
(2017) and bachelor’s
degree (2016) in Agribusi-
ness, Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, Texas
Family: Wife, Kathryn
reinforce safety concepts. He
also offers safety, compliance
and record-keeping consult-
ing to owners and managers.
Additional training is
being developed to cover a
broader array of safety issues
on the dairy, such as safe feed-
ing and safe maternity care.
Idaho’s program has also
caught the attention of Na-
tional Milk Producers Fed-
eration, which has pulled to-
gether a task force to address
safety issues in response to
consumer concerns.
“This is an issue that af-
fects the industry as a whole,”
he said.
IDA will play a key role
in developing a safety man-
ual that will be part of the
NMPF’s Farmers Assuring
Responsible
Management
program.
“At the end of the day, I
think we’ll have a solution for
dairymen that’s workable, ef-
fective and user-friendly,” he
said.
Emmett Earl Pryor, wheat industry leader, dies at age 92
Emmett Earl Pryor, a for-
mer chairman of the Oregon
Wheat Commission and past
president of the National As-
sociation of Wheat Growers,
died May 11 at his home in
Salem, Ore. He was 92.
Blake Rowe, CEO of
the Oregon Wheat Growers
League and Oregon Wheat
Commission, said Pryor was
a strong advocate for Oregon
agriculture.
“Oregon Wheat notes with
sadness the passing of one
of its most respected grow-
er leaders,” Rowe said. “We
extend our deep appreciation
for his service and our condo-
lences to his family.”
Walter Powell, chairman
of the Oregon Wheat Com-
mission and a farmer near
Condon, Ore., knew Pryor for
20 years. The two men were
friends, neighbors and fellow
advocates for the wheat in-
dustry.
“We have a tradition in
Oregon of growers going to
Asia, going to South Amer-
ica,” Powell said. “I don’t
know all the countries Earl
went to, but he was as active
as anyone.”
Powell said that when he
thinks of Pryor, he thinks of
all the growers from his gen-
eration who gave their time —
and many times their money
— to serve the industry, blaz-
Capital Press
ing the trail for Oregon wheat
overseas.
“That’s what I think about,
is how lucky we are to have
these people,” Powell said.
As president of the Na-
tional Association of Wheat
Growers, Pryor was featured
in the April 1984 cover story
of Oregon Business maga-
zine, detailing his role lob-
bying for the industry in the
face of record surpluses, low
prices and export difficulties
caused by a strong dollar.
In the article, Pryor was
described by one agricultur-
al expert as “very dogged. ...
He’ll be in there fighting and
scratching and clawing for his
members.”
Pryor was born in Condon,
Ore., July 12, 1925. His moth-
er, Julia Jones Pryor, preceded
him in death when he was 3
years old. He was raised by
his father, Emmet Pryor, and
his step-mother, Jean Law
Pryor.
He graduated in 1943 from
Condon High School, where
he was student body president
and senior class president.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy
immediately after graduation.
After attending Oklahoma
University, he served on the
USS Merrimack as engineer-
ing officer.
After World War II, Pryor
returned to Condon and began
volunteers. For more information
contact Donna at 360-742-8310 or
dsemasko@comcast.net. Website:
edelweissacresobers.com
Saturday-Sunday
May 26-27
Alpaca Shearing Day & Fleece
Sale. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas of Or-
egon, 21345 SW Aebischer Road,
Sherwood, 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 Suzanne at
503-348-6954 to reserve a spot.
$25-$75 covers materials and in-
struction. Cost: Free. Website:
www.easygofarm.net/AOOMem-
Day
Capital Press File
Emmett Earl Pryor spent his adult life working for his community
and for agriculture.
farming. He believed deeply
in public service and advoca-
cy for agriculture and specif-
ically the wheat industry, ac-
cording to his family. He once
said in a speech that “Every
man worth his salt should give
back to his community and in-
dustry at least 10 percent.”
He was as good as his
word.
He served on numerous
community and industry
commissions and boards, in-
cluding the Gilliam County
Assessor Advisory Commit-
tee, Gilliam County Board of
Equalization, Gilliam County
Budget Board, Gilliam Coun-
ty School District 25, the Bud-
get Advisory Board, Gilliam
County Board of Review,
chairman, Gilliam County
Grain Growers as chairman,
Mid-Columbia
Production
Credit Association, Oregon
Highway Federation and the
Oregon State Extension Advi-
sory Board.
He was also on the Ore-
gon Agricultural Research
and Extension Project Advi-
sory Board, Committee for
Senate Bill 100/LCDC Citi-
zen Advisory Committee, Or-
egonians for Food and Shel-
ter as a founding member,
Agriculture Political Action
League as a founding mem-
ber, Oregon Wheat League
as president, Agriculture Re-
covery Council as a founder
and chairman, Oregon Wheat
Commission as chairman,
Council for Economic De-
velopment in Oregon as
founder and chairman, Ore-
gon Economic Development
Saturday-Monday
May 26-28
Friday-Saturday
June 1-2
Memorial Day Weekend Festi-
val. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Redhawk Vine-
yard & Winery, 2995 Michigan City
Lane NW, Salem, Ore. Join us for
wine and barrel tasting, food, our
incredible view and music. $12
tasting fee. Website: www.redhawk-
wine.com
WSU Beef 200 Course. Okan-
ogan County Fairgrounds, Annex
Building, 175 Rodeo Trail Road,
Okanogan, Wash. Topics for Friday
night session, which will be 5:30-
8:30 p.m., include management of
lupine on range and beef pairings
with wine and beer, with a focus on
direct marketing of your beef. Topics
for Saturday, which will be 8 a.m.-
5:30 p.m., include live animal evalu-
ation and grading, ruminology 101/
beef nutrition, factors affecting beef
quality and palatability, carcass and
retail cutting demonstrations, grid
pricing, team evaluating and auc-
tion, and fetal programming. Spon-
sored by WSU Extension and the
Methow Conservancy. Access the
information brochure and hard copy
registration at: http://extension.wsu.
Wednesday, May 30
Field to Market Workshop. 1-4
p.m. OSU Extension Service, 505
N. Columbia River Highway, St. Hel-
ens, Ore. Learn from experts about
Oregon Department of Agriculture
regulations, recipe selection, la-
beling guidelines and other issues
involved in producing value-added
products. Cost: $25/person, $40/
couple Website: http://extension.
oregonstate.edu/columbia/
Commission, National Asso-
ciation of Wheat Growers as
president and the U.S. Com-
mission on Agriculture Trade
and Export Policy.
Pryor was preceded in
death by his wife of 30 years,
Bernice “Peetie” Petroff of
The Dalles, Ore.
He is survived by his wife,
Laura Pryor of Salem; son,
Marc and Paula Pryor of Tor-
rance, Calif.; son, Ty Pryor
of Condon; grandchildren,
Damon Pryor of Damas-
cus, Brittany Pryor Lodge of
Boise, Idaho, and Stepha-
nie Moore of Maryland; and
great-grandchildren, Maggie
and Grant Pryor of Damascus;
nieces and nephews that he
was always very close to, Rod
and Jean Pryor of Olympia,
Wash.; Joyce and Mike Al-
len of Brewster, Wash.; Scott
Pryor of Spokane, Wash.; Lar-
ry and Kay Lear of Condon,
David and Marlene Johnson
of Bend, and Julie Johnson of
Florida.
Memorial contributions
may be made to the Condon
Scholarship Foundation, P.O.
Box 385, Condon, Oregon
97823.
A celebration of life was
held at the Condon Elks
Lodge May 19 for family and
friends.
Sign the condolence book
at sweeneymortuary.com
edu/okanogan/ Cost: $60/person
(additional $25 after May 21); Fri-
day or Saturday session only: $40/
person (additional $25 after May
21). Website: https://okanogan-
beef200.brownpapertickets.com
Saturday, June 2
81st Annual Marion County
Lamb & Wool Show. 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Turner Elementary School, 7800
School St., Turner, Ore. The show
is a day of fun with 4-H & FFA
events, wool animals and market
lambs. The show also includes craft
vendors, an ice cream vendor, a
local spinning club and plants for
sale. Again this year we will start
the day with the children’s class-
es: Most Beautiful Lamb, Young
Herdsman and Young Market Lamb
classes for children under the age
of 10. Website: http://marioncoun-
tylambandwoolshow.yolasite.com/
Entire contents copyright © 2018
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
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Index
Dairy .................................... 10
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
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