Friday, March 12, 2021
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Water: 2020 allocation was the second-lowest on record
Continued from Page 1
the April NRCS hydrology report.
While there is still time for
improvement, Payne said irrigators
should expect a dramatic reduc-
tion in water available from Upper
Klamath Lake this season. The
bureau currently forecasts 130,000
acre-feet, which is even less than
last year’s allocation of 155,000
acre-feet.
The 2020 allocation was the sec-
ond-lowest on record, and far less
than the Klamath Project’s histori-
cal demand of 400,000 acre-feet.
Paul Simmons, executive direc-
tor of the Klamath Water Users
Association, a nonprofit group that
represents 1,200 family farms and
ranches, said the dry conditions
pose multiple challenges for irriga-
tion districts and the growers they
serve.
“Given the multiple places
where water is diverted, and the
way water moves through the sys-
tem, how do you manage what
is on the order of one-third of the
total needed?” Simmons said. “The
In addition to the Klamath Proj-
ect, the Bureau of Reclamation
must also manage water to pro-
tect endangered fish under a Bio-
logical Opinion, or BiOp, with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
National Marine Fisheries Service.
The agencies are operating under
an interim management plan that is
set to run through 2023. That plan
calls for both minimum water lev-
els in Upper Klamath Lake for Lost
River and shortnose suckers, and
high enough streamflows in lower
Klamath Lake for salmon.
plumbing isn’t really designed to
work like that.”
Ty Kliewer, a third-generation
family farmer in Midland, Ore., and
board president for the Klamath
Irrigation District, said the year is
looking “pretty disastrous” for the
region’s agriculture.
“Nobody really knows what
to think right now,” Kliewer said.
“Our best-case would be to have a
really wet spring. But between the
hole that we’ve been put in by sev-
eral entities, including nature, it’s a
pretty scary looking situation.”
However, Payne said the bureau
does not expect to have enough
water this year to meet either of
those thresholds. The BiOp nor-
mally calls for a minimum water
elevation in Upper Klamath Lake of
4,142 feet for suckers, while main-
taining up to 440,000 acre-feet of
water for salmon below Iron Gate
Dam, depending on conditions.
The bureau has hosted a half-
dozen meetings with agency offi-
cials, irrigators and local tribes to
develop its approach, which it hopes
to adopt by the week of March 22.
Waterfowl: ‘If it had feathers, I had it’
Continued from Page 1
A love for animals
Holderread was born in
Twin Falls, Idaho.
His dad was a high school
agriculture teacher, and
Holderread’s earliest mem-
ories are of tagging along to
see students’ FFA projects.
Animals captivated him.
“I was fascinated by any-
thing that moved,” he said.
Dave Holderread approaches a small group of African Geese.
He remembers, from an
early age, seeing ducks and
geese as the animals that
could do it all: walk, swim,
fly. Whenever Holderread
disappeared at parks, his
parents looked for the near-
est body of water, where
they’d find him at the shore
watching ducks and geese
splashing.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Jungle island
When Holderread was
3, his parents whisked him
away to Puerto Rico, where
his dad got a job managing
the first modern dairy opera-
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
tion on the island.
“What’s better for a kid Dave Holderread holds a Silver Appleyard Duck.
that loves animals?”
His dad took him to live- gle on the side of a hill, he
Holderread’s mom was a
nurse, and within three years, stock fairs and got him books raised more than 100 variet-
ies of water and land fowl —
she helped deliver about 100 on poultry.
Through his readings, ducks, geese, chickens, tur-
babies. Holderread recalls
she would often ride off on a Holderread learned that study- keys, pheasants, guinea fowl,
horse into the jungle to help ing pigeons is one of the best quail and pigeons.
ways to learn about genet-
“Ducks and geese per-
with deliveries.
“She was short and sweet, ics. Many geneticists, includ- formed by far the best,” he
but nobody messed with ing Charles Darwin, raised said. “That’s what solidified
pigeons, widely considered a my path.”
her,” said Holderread.
He taught people about
He stroked his beard and “model organism” for under-
standing genetic variations.
feed conversion, small-scale
smiled.
Holderread
subscribed poultry management, incu-
With his parents working,
Holderread said he had “free to three pigeon magazines, bation, how to handle dis-
run” of mountains, meadows which he read cover to eases and run a business.
His required term of ser-
and jungles he explored with cover. Even after his parents
said “lights out” at night, he vice was two years, but
his collie puppy.
secretly read the magazines Holderread stayed four.
Two yellow ducklings
And that’s where he met
by flashlight.
When Holderread was
Millie.
Teen years
7, his family moved back to
As a teen, Holderread con-
Millie
Idaho.
Millie Miller, origi-
The
transition
was tinued studying genetics and
nally from Delaware, was in
bumpy; he got kicked out of raising birds.
“If it had feathers, I had it,” Puerto Rico serving with the
second grade for talking back
Mennonite Voluntary Ser-
he said.
to his teacher in Spanish.
In high school, he got into vice Program.
A year later, the family
Holderread and Miller
moved again, to Corvallis, racing pigeons and using
were an unlikely couple;
Ore. His dad, who had injured pigeons to send messages.
Historical records show he was already engaged to
his back and could no lon-
ger do agricultural labor, took pigeons, which have a strong someone in the States, and
a job as a Spanish teacher. “homing” instinct and can Miller had promised herself
Holderread soon had three therefore carry messages long ago she would never
sisters, and his family owned home, have been used in marry a farmer.
a small farm.
But Holderread’s engage-
communication systems for
ment broke off when he and
Third grade brought Hold- millennia.
erread’s first foray into raising
Holderread bred pigeons his fiancée realized they
ducks.
selected for speed, endur- didn’t share the same vision
His teacher brought two ance, feather quality, aerody- for life, and Miller gradually
yellow Pekin ducklings to namic body shape and hom- softened to the idea of farm
school and told the students ing instinct.
life.
whoever wrote the best essay
The two fell in love.
Back to Puerto Rico
about ducks could take them
“As you can see, he
As a young man, Hold- changed my mind,” said
home.
erread considered becoming Millie.
Holderread won.
“I have a hard time believ- a pilot or wildlife biologist,
She leaned against him
ing I really wrote the best but eventually chose to study and laughed.
paper. I think she just knew horticulture, animal science
The two married in Dela-
how much I wanted them,” and poultry science at Ore- ware and then moved to Cor-
vallis to build the waterfowl
gon State University.
he said.
Then the Vietnam War business.
With the encouragement
and help of his parents, Hold- disrupted his plans.
erread expanded his flock.
Beginnings
Holderread, a Mennonite,
The couple lived with
Around age 8, he got his applied as a conscientious
first clients: Jenks Hatch- objector and was sent to do Dave’s parents while they
ery Inc. in Talent, Ore., and development work as alter- looked for land.
a local general store both native service in Puerto Rico.
Knowing that they’d
He took leave of OSU make multiple trips to a post
offered to pay him for hatch-
ing eggs.
in 1972. On the island, he office daily during shipping
served as a vocational poul- season, they searched for
try instructor and director land near one.
The little geneticist
By age 9, Holderread hun- of a research and breeding
At last, they found a par-
cel in Philomath about 2
gered to know more about center.
genetics.
In a cut-out of dense jun- miles from the post office.
Millie said Dave gets
letters and emails from
around the world and has
spent countless hours on the
phone answering people’s
questions.
On one occasion, a
14-year-old boy from Aus-
tralia who had read Holder-
read’s books stayed a week
with the couple when visit-
ing the U.S.
“He was brilliant. He had
memorized the genotypes
for every color and he would
quiz me,” Holderread said,
and laughed.
The boy wanted to breed a
color of duck that didn’t exist
in Australia. He and Holder-
read stayed up until midnight
diagramming how to make
the color.
“When he went home, he
tried it. He sent us pictures of
the crosses. And in two years,
he did it,” said Holderread.
The kids that came late
Holderread Waterfowl Farm and Preservation Center
White Call ducks
The property was an
abandoned mink farm turned
junkyard with waterlogged
clay soils, stunted weeds and
a few scrawny trees. Sev-
eral acres were piled with
buildings, mink cages, pizza
ovens, stacks of old cars.
“My dad was like, ‘No,
you don’t want this place.’
But we knew we’d never find
another place this close to the
post office. So we took it,” he
said.
They burned and bull-
dozed for months.
“Let me tell you, there
is no smell as bad as mink
urine-soaked wood burning,”
said Holderread.
Today on the farm, green
pastures grow thick and lush
and more than 50 types of
fruit, nut, shade, timber and
decorative trees adorn the
property.
Getting ducks in a row
The couple also faced
challenges with permitting,
high feed prices and shipping
logistics.
“People thought we were
crazy,” Holderread said.
But word about Holder-
read spread. Soon, commer-
cial farms and homesteads
across the nation and world
began ordering hatchlings.
Major hatcheries, includ-
ing Hoover’s Hatchery in
Iowa and Metzer Hatchery in
California, also bought from
the Holderreads.
In a peak year, the Hold-
erreads typically shipped
20,000 to 25,000 birds.
Feathered friends
One of Holderread’s
greatest contributions, some
experts say, was in educating
people about the benefits of
“underutilized” and “under-
appreciated” waterfowl.
Geese, experts say, pro-
duce excellent meat, fat for
baking and flavoring, huge
eggs and soft down. They eat
pests, break parasite cycles
and are good foragers.
Geese can also serve
as sentinels, scaring away
hawks and small preda-
tors. The birds have been
acclaimed as “watchdogs”
as early as 309 B.C., when
they were credited with sav-
ing Rome from an attempted
sneak attack by the Gauls.
Holderread, who also
raises horses, said geese are
similar to horses: powerful,
intelligent beasts that must
trust and respect you in equal
amounts.
“I also enjoy their chatter
— and their grace,” he said.
Ducks, too, are efficient
meat, egg and down produc-
ers, are hardy and require
minimal shelter.
They consume flies, mos-
quito larvae, slugs, snails,
fire ants, spiders and weed
seeds.
Most importantly, Hold-
erread says, ducks’ playful
antics “bring beauty” to peo-
ple’s lives.
The Holderreads have
produced what many experts
consider the best books in the
world about ducks and geese.
Dave wrote them; Millie
illustrated them.
“I would say that they’ve
touched thousands and thou-
sands of people with their
books,” said John Metzer,
owner of the California
hatchery.
Rare birds
Holderread has focused
his career on preserving
rare and endangered breeds.
Without his efforts, experts
say several species would
likely have gone extinct.
At its peak, his farm was
full of color and life, includ-
ing chubby-cheeked Call
Ducks, emerald green East
Indies and tall Indian Run-
ners that walk upright like
humans.
He even invented a new
breed of duck, which Millie
named the Golden Cascade.
“He’s a brilliant color
geneticist,” said Beranger,
the rare breeds expert.
Generosity
The couple, friends say,
has been generous with their
knowledge.
Through the years, Dave
and Millie welcomed five
college students to live
with them and learn about
agriculture.
One young man, Beau
McLean, grew up on a cattle
ranch in Montana. At age 10,
he found a used copy of one of
Holderread’s books at a garage
sale, which furthered his desire
to raise poultry. When prepar-
ing to attend OSU a decade
later, he met, then lived, with
the Holderreads.
“They became like second
parents to me,” he said.
Today, McLean co-runs
a pastured poultry and beef
operation in Montana.
Phillip Landis, a sheep
rancher in Albany, Ore., also
lived with the couple during
college.
Landis said he learned how
to be frugal, wise and a keen
observer of animals. He also
learned about hospitality and
putting others first.
Holderread said helping
young people has brought him
and Millie joy.
“We thought we’d have
kids, but they never showed
up. But we like to say they
showed up as young adults,”
he said.
A legacy
When Holderread began
planning for retirement, he
strategically spread out his
bird genetics.
“We still need more cham-
pions of waterfowl, but Dave
went above and beyond to
place the genetics with peo-
ple who want to carry on the
legacy,” said Beranger, the
rare breeds expert.
Davis, owner of the
waterfowl preservation farm
in Canada, bought many of
Holderread’s birds.
Davis said Holderread
changed his life. Davis now
aims to prevent breeds from
going extinct.
“I have a chance in history
to preserve something beau-
tiful that would otherwise be
lost,” he said.
Today, the Holderreads
continue to raise horses and
keep a small flock of geese
and ducks.
“I can say one thing about
life,” said Holderread, grin-
ning. “It’s been interesting.”
Overtime: Amendment could severely penalize employers for even slight pay miscalculations
Continued from Page 1
tections for farm workers were
carved out of the Fair Labor Stan-
dards Act, a seminal 1938 federal
statute, due to a “legacy of racism”
that’s reflected in the state’s over-
time exemption for agriculture.
“It was wrong then, when most
farmworkers were black. It is wrong
now, when most farm workers are
Latino,” said Teresa Romero, pres-
ident of the United Farm Workers
union. “Every worker should have
the same basic rights.”
The bill’s detractors argue the
good intentions behind HB 2358
would fail to materialize in reality
because farmers and ranchers are
“price takers” subject to the com-
modity markets who cannot pass
along higher costs to their customers.
Farmers cannot afford to pay
higher overtime wages and will
instead seek to avoid work sched-
ules longer than 40 hours per week
by increasing the number of shifts,
shifting to less labor-intensive crops,
increasing mechanization, or mov-
ing out-of-state, according to the
bill’s opponents.
“I think you may find you’re hurt-
ing my employees rather than help-
ing them,” said Chuck Thomsen,
R-Hood River, who grows pears.
Critics of HB 2358 said the
exemption for agriculture is nec-
essary because the industry faces
short, weather-dependent windows
in which work must be completed.
Oregon’s cost of doing business
is increasing and the state already
has strong protections for workers,
such as paid sick leave and a higher
minimum wage, while the growing
season is relatively short, said Jenny
Dresler, lobbyist for the Oregon
Farm Bureau.
An amendment to the bill could
also severely penalize employers for
even slight pay miscalculations, she
said.
A survey of the Oregon Wine-
growers Association found that only
10% of its members could absorb
the additional costs of paying higher
overtime wages, said Brooke Del-
mas Robertson, a representative of
the group whose family owns a vine-
yard in Northeast Oregon.