THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015
Business & Ag
Mill Creek Leatherworks offers
expert cleaning and repair
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Quality and attention to
detail mark the services
offered by Jackie Emele of
Mill Creek Leatherworks.
Emele said she wanted
something to keep her busy
after retiring, so she offers
her services cleaning and
repairing leather items,
cleaning and patching
saddle blankets and “horse
gear,” and making leather
goods.
Emele works out of her
home and takes custom
orders. She can do most
kinds of leather repair,
clean and restore saddles,
and repair horse blankets
and horn wraps.
In addition, Emele can
make many types of leather
items, including scabbards,
belts, head stalls, bridles,
breast collars, and wallets.
She does not use kits,
but cuts and patterns by
hand.
Emele gained horse
experience riding for the
Wilson Cattle Company in
North Powder for 19 years.
She said she has done a
lot of work for Harrell and
Mackenzie’s March sale,
repairing horse blankets for
the colts.
Emele said, “I try to do
quality work and fix things
like I’d want them fixed.
If I can’t repair something
and it’s beyond me, I’ll say
so.”
She says she believes her
prices are reasonable, and
that she knows what she
needs to have to complete
the job. She completes
projects in a timely man-
ner.
Prices depend on the
type and complexity of
each project. For example,
Emele said her price for
cleaning a saddle starts at
$100.
Any repairs that need to
be done would increase the
price. She said saddles get
really dirty and the clean-
ing and reconditioning
process is complex. Emele
will take apart, clean,
condition, and reassemble
the saddle.
Samples of Emele’s
work hang in her office and
home, including a leather
purse tooled in an oakleaf
pattern which she made
some years ago for her
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Kevin Bradford is a
graphic designer from
Haines who likes to be
prepared with enough food
to provide for his family in
an emergency.
In 2012 Bradford and
his family bought several
boxes of quick-frozen fruit
from a cannery in Boise.
The fruit was delicious,
and the Bradford family
enjoyed being able to eat
peaches and berries, in pies
and smoothies through the
winter.
When the next summer
rolled around they went
back to the cannery for
more, only to find the ca -
nery was no longer selling
the frozen fruit.
“We were so disap-
pointed,” said Bradford.
“We were looking forward
to getting a couple of hun-
dred pounds of fruit.”
Stymied in their efforts
to buy from the cannery,
the Bradfords returned
home. Kevin then realized
they still had an empty box
from the previous year’s
purchase; looking at it he
found the name of the fruit
company who originally
packed the fruit: Willa-
mette Valley Pie and Fruit
Company.
“I didn’t know if they
would sell directly to me,”
he said, “but it was worth
a try.”
He called the company,
and found they would be
happy to sell to individu-
als, the catch being that
there was a minimum order
of 3,200 pounds—two
whole pallets.
The Bradford family did
some creative thinking and
realized that, if they loved
getting the fruit in such
quantities, other families
in Eastern Oregon would
probably be interested too.
Thus began Eastern
Oregon Fruit.
Spreading the word,
they managed to come up
with enough orders to total
7,000 pounds, more than
enough to make sending a
truck from the Willamette
Valley worthwhile.
120 families, from
Pendleton to Baker City,
participated in the order.
“We had the truck stop at
Pendleton, La Grande and
Haines,” explained Brad-
ford, “and the buyers from
each region met us. We had
them pay at the truck for
their fruit, but it was a little
hairy. We weren’t all that
organized as it was our first
time.”
Still, the effort was suc-
cessful and 120 families in
Eastern Oregon were able
to buy fresh-frozen fruit to
enjoy all winter.
The benefit of buying
the freshly frozen fruits is
that the fruit is frozen as
soon as it is picked, ensur-
ing the freshest fruits to the
customer. All fruit can be
fresh-frozen but, of course,
once thawed not all fruit
can be enjoyed in the same
manner as fresh produce.
But, as the Bradfords
have discovered, cooking
and canning the fresh-fro-
zen fruit delivers the same
delicious results as if fresh
produce were being used.
The following year the
Bradfords tried to organize
another delivery only to
find that the company in
the valley had increased
the required poundage for
a minimum order.
They weren’t able to
gather enough orders to
reach that amount, local
fruit was plentiful and
prior customers were able
to meet their needs locally.
This year, Willamette
Valley Pie and Fruit Co.
reduced the minimize
order size to 3,200 again,
so Kevin began organizing
another Eastern Oregon
purchase.
This year he has de-
signed a website, www.
EasternOregonfruit.com,
and has a very simple on-
line ordering process.
The site also has a
Facebook page and in just
a couple of weeks has 95
followers.
Friday, July 31, 2015 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to the
same quality last week. Trade activity increased
slightly this week however many producers are still
busy in the field with the second cutting. Many pr -
ducers have decided to hold on to their hay for now.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Large Square
Supreme 250 210.00-210.00 210.00
Good 300 185.00-185.00 185.00
Fair 240 150.00-150.00 150.00
Timothy Grass — Large Square
Premium 250 210.00-210.00 210.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
Jackie Emele can take apart, clean and reassemble
a saddle starting at just $100, leaving the saddle
looking brand new again.
mother.
Emele said she recently
restored the item, which
looks almost brand new.
Emele also has pictures of
past projects available.
In addition to selling
items, Emele has donated
horse tack to the Friends of
Haines for their Fourth of
July fireworks fundraiser
and donates items tos New
Hope for Eastern Oregon
Animals for auction and
fundraising.
To find out more or
request information on a
custom job, Emele can be
reached at 541-519-0645.
Buying in bulk—the offerings
of Eastern Oregon Fruit
BY SUNNY WERNER
— Weekly Hay Report —
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Vale, Oregon (No update from week prior.)
Cattle sold through the auction: 231
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 262.00 - 298.00 Top 301.00
400-500# Bulk 241.00 - 268.00 Top 270.00
500-600# Bulk 232.00 - 253.00 Top 255.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 223.00 - 267.00 Top 274.00
400-500# Bulk 214.00 - 246.00 Top 250.00
500-600# Bulk 218.00 - 237.00 Top 241.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 223.00 - 234.00 Top 235.00
700-800# Bulk 203.00 - 209.00 Top 212.00
800-900# Bulk 196.00 - 205.00 Top 207.50
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 211.00 - 221.00 Top 223.00
700-800# Bulk N/A Top N/A
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 76.00 - 89.00
Butcher Cows 94.00 - 105.00
Butcher Bulls 117.00 - 136.00
Stock Cows Yng. N/A
Younger Hfrts. 114.00 - 132.00
Stock Cows - N/A
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
Submitted Photo.
Kevin Bradford started the Eastern Oregon Fruit
effort.
In the very short time
that the site went live,
Kevin says, they have
enough orders in for a
truck from the valley.
“This year we are doing
it a little differently,” he
said. “Instead of paying at
the truck when they pick
up their order, customers
now will pre-pay online.”
He went to explain that,
as the payment must be
made to the fruit company
before the truck is loaded,
having customers make
their payment prior to
picking up fruit protects
him from being liable for
the whole amount.
“I have to send them
the check first,” he said,
speaking of the fruit com-
pany, “which was leaving
me trusting the customer
would show up for their
fruit at the pick up site, and
reimburse me.”
This year, once there are
enough orders to warrant a
truck, Eastern Oregon Fruit
will bill the customers for
their order.
When all monies are col-
lected, Bradford will send
the check and the truck
will be loaded.
“ That way,” explained
Bradford, “it also gives
customers more of an
incentive to come get
their fruit—that first year
we had some that nobody
came to pick up, so I had
to buy it.”
Being a professional
graphic designer, Bradford
was able to streamline the
online site to make order-
ing simple and straightfor-
ward.
“I also have labels to go
with every order,” he said,
“which will make pick up
from each delivery site go
much faster this time.”
As he explained, one
of the challenges is get-
ting each order out of the
delivery truck as quickly as
possible.
“It’s a refrigerator truck,”
he pointed out, “and
every time that door opens
you’re losing the cold.”
When asked what he
got out of organizing and
coordinating this huge
project, Bradford explained
that he and his family like
to purchase their fruit in
large quantities and, with
customers from all over the
region, they are able to do
that at a reasonable price.
“The fruit company might
throw in an extra box for
me,” he said “but there’s
no formal agreement or
anything like that.”
Orders are still being
taken on the website, with
payment due by August
10 and the truck arriving
either August 20 or 21st,
yet to be decided.
Bradford said, “There
is a lot of interest this
year, and if we get enough
people who still want to
order after this delivery we
will definitely get another
truck over here.”
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf
White fir is $365.00/mb
Ponderosa Pine is brought sold
on diameter splits
6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF
12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF
18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF
24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF
DIB is diameter inside bark at
small end of log.
MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale.
People interested in selling logs
should call and get specific
quotes from saw mills.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1084.50
Silver: $14.56
Platinum: $949.25
Palladium: $594.80
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $383.50/bu/USD
Wheat: $502.75/bu/USD
Soybeans: $953.25/bu/USD
Oats: $244.25 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $11.54/cwt/USD
Canola: $502.00 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $148.35/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $214.38/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $66.80//lb./USD
Bloomberg.com