THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016
Business & Ag
B&K Recycling opens in
Baker City on 17th
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
B&K Recycling And
Pipe Supply in Baker
City held its official grand
opening last Friday, May
13, 2016, treating a larger
than anticipated crowd
of between 150 and 175
to hamburgers, hot dogs,
chips, cold beverages, and
raffles, in order to intro-
duce the community to the
company, whose presence
here was established earlier
this year.
This business, at 3370
17th Street, is actually a
component of B&K Auto
Salvage, Inc., whose large
salvage yard is located
along Highway 203, in La
Grande.
During a post-grand
opening interview, B&K
Manager/Salesman Bow
Boston, who’s been with
the company for four
years (and in the general
business for ten years), dis-
played a video which was
taken using B&K’s aerial
drone with a mounted Go-
Pro camera, of the lot on
17th Street on the day of
the event, including a shot
of a unique B&K barbecue,
in the shape of a pistol.
Boston said the barbecue
was a major hit at the
event, with the huge barrel
emitting smoke, while the
hamburgers and hot dogs
cooked.
There was also a B&K
and United Metals semi
truck display during the
grand opening, includ-
ing B&K’s Breast Cancer
Awareness model, the
company assembled, four
or five years ago, Boston
said. B&K is partnered
with United Metals, with
about 40 trucks on the
road in full force, includ-
ing seven or eight in-house
B&K trucks, he said.
Cleanup and organiza-
tion of the property on
17th took about a month,
Boston said, after B&K
acquired it from former
owner Sam Haines in
January (County records
indicate that Charles and
Marcella Haines own the
property and have a lease
contract with B&K Auto
Salvage, Inc.). “Baker was
a place we were looking to
expand to,” Boston said,
explaining that there was
a gap in the company’s
large salvage coverage
area, between La Grande
and Caldwell, Idaho, and
Baker City filled that gap.
Changes for the property
included remodeling of
the office, and updating of
the restrooms, and a safe,
tidy lot.
He said that, with Ladd’s
Auto, traditionally the larg-
est auto salvage yard in the
local area on David Eccles
Road, in an unclear state
of limbo, B&K’s presence
here seemed like a good fit.
Friday, May 13, 2016 — Eastern Oregon
Not enough of any one class reported last week for
accurate price trends. A softer undertone was noted
on Press hay. Trade remains slow to moderate with
light to moderate demand.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Mid Square Good
150 190.00-190.00 190.00
Alfalfa — Small Square Premium
23 170.00-170.00 170.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 558
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Bow Boston poses with trusted customer service assistant, Ott.
BC Auto Salvage, located
on H Street, is another lo-
cal auto salvage yard. “We
figured, if we were here,
even if we don’t do auto
salvage pick-and-pull here
(a service available at the
La Grande B&K location),
we at least service Baker.”
He said that the location
serves as a hub for auto
parts orders, including
providing significant com-
mercial business to local
auto repair shops.
Manning the Baker City
B&K location are Boston,
Joe Ashby (customer ser-
vice/labor), Cody McCue
(truck driver/manager), and
Boston’s three-year-old
canine “right-hand man,”
Ott (he said Ott was so
named, because it was the
first word he said to the
dog, as a pup). Boston
moved to Baker City, to
manage the location here,
and Ashby and McCue are
local residents, as well.
Between the La Grande
and Baker City locations,
there are approximately 22
employees, he said.
Boston said he noticed
that people don’t seem to
be hanging onto their older
vehicles as much nowa-
days, in part due to, for
example, the program Cash
for Clunkers, and less strict
criteria for purchasing
newer vehicles, so, there’s
been a decline in the de-
mand for used auto parts.
The upside is that more
used parts can be kept in
stock, but, the downside is
that fewer used parts are
being purchased, he said.
The scrap metal market—
the other component of
B&K Recycling’s busi-
ness—has seen a decline
within the last couple of
years, Boston said. If fuel
prices rise, he said, the cost
of steel goes up with that.
He motioned toward
a stack of salvaged 46”
diameter, 1/4” thick, steel
pressure pipe in the lot,
which he said had been
used previously to pump
water out of the Columbia
River onto a farm, at the
rate of 14,000 gallons per
second.
B&K’s pipe and scrap
metal hauling service
reaches out to cover areas
such as Ontario, Burns,
Pendleton, Boardman,
Richland, Oxbow, and
Halfway. He said that
the company has hauled
as far as Troutdale, but
that’s an exception, and the
coverage area depends on
the specific job, and fuel
prices, when it comes to
hauling scrap metal, for
example. B&K’s hauling
service includes equip-
ment, when required, to
dismantle, and process the
metal.
One of the larger dis-
mantling and hauling jobs
B&K has been involved
with was the Grant West-
ern saw mill, in John Day,
last year, Boston said.
That was a three-month,
two-man project, which in-
cluded a shearer, a scissor-
type piece of equipment,
used to cut metal down to
manageable pieces.
Another large job, one
just completed, was for
Plymouth Farm, in Plym-
outh, Washington, which
included the dismantling,
and baling of 600 irrigation
pivot spans (the individual
sections in a pivot system).
He displayed a map of
the farm’s pivots, which
showed 804 pivot systems.
These were examples of
larger jobs, with 800 to
1,000 tons of metal each,
and B&K, as a whole,
does around 1,000 tons
worth of hauling a month,
Boston said. Most of the
scrap metal from B&K--
about 85%, he said--goes
to steel mills in western
Oregon, while around 15%
is exported. Boston tries
to keep the metal in the
U.S., but he can’t control
the whole market, and he
understands some is neces-
sarily exported, he said.
Further explaining
B&K’s scrap metal pro-
cessing role, he said that
the company just finished
baling metal at the Baker
City landfill, and that B&K
is in the process of baling
the metal at the landfill in
John Day. These con-
tracts also include B&K’s
purchasing of plastics,
cardboard, and other mate-
rial, and he said that many
items assumed to be buried
in the landfills are actually
recycled. “It’s amazing
what’s recovered,” he said.
B&K Recycling also
sells new, steel culverts,
stacks of which were pres-
ent in the lot. “I can get
as big as you want, to as
small as you want,” Boston
said. The culverts are
U.S.-made, from Ohio-
based Contech (he said his
are delivered from a Utah
satellite location). Other
suppliers in the area also
source their pipe from
Contech, he said.
He said that B&K Recy-
cling averages around five
customers a day, usually
selling scrap metal, and
around two customers a
day, purchasing pipe, used
and new. Advertising has
been via social media,
radio, newspapers, word of
mouth, and even billboard
signs. He said B&K was
also in the process of
becoming a member of the
Baker County Chamber of
Commerce, noting that the
company is a member of
the La Grande Chamber.
Boston, 24, at a younger
age, was frequently around
his grandfather, John Bos-
ton, a long-time salvage
hauler in the Boise, Idaho
area for many years. The
experience attracted Bow
to the business, he said.
“We’re new to the com-
munity, and we’d like to
have people know that
we’re here, and comfort-
able with what we are,
and what we have going.
We’re a small business,
family-owned and oper-
ated, and we want to be an
asset to the community,”
Boston said.
Marvin Wood Products announces
several new initiatives
Marvin Wood Products
is continuing to expand its
operations and capabilities
with new machines and a
plant expansion.
Marvin Wood Products
will add a 20,000 square
foot addition to the facility
over the next three years.
They will also replace a
rip and cut line with an
optical rip scanner. The
new scanner will allow
— Weekly Hay Report —
Marvin to increase its
wood ripping capacity and
supply wood at a far faster
and more efficient rate.
“We’re excited to con-
tinue investing in Marvin
Wood Products,” said Bak-
er Plant Manager Everett
Vassar. “This state-of-the-
art machinery and factory
expansion are crucial to
supplying the wood needs
for Marvin Windows
and Doors and Integrity
Windows and Doors in a
timely manner. As those
companies continue to
expand and lead in the
marketplace, it is vital that
Marvin Wood Products
be able to keep up with
demand. We’re confident
that our expansion and
new machinery will set
the company up for new
heights of success.”
A subsidiary of The
Marvin Companies,
Marvin Wood Products
supplies the wood used
in Marvin® Windows
and Doors and Integrity®
Windows and Doors.
Based in Baker City, Ore.,
Marvin Wood Products
has 30 years of experience
providing cut stock, clear
finger-jointed cut stock,
etc.
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 136.00 - 153.00 Top 155.00
400-500# Bulk 155.00 - 170.00 Top 177.00
500-600# Bulk 146.00 - 172.00 Top 177.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 159.00 - 176.00 Top 178.00
400-500# Bulk 139.00 - 162.00 Top 164.00
500-600# Bulk 136.00 - 152.00 Top 156.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 141.00 - 156.00 Top 157.00
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
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 129.00 - 137.00 Top 138.00
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 51.00 - 63.00
Butcher Cows 67.00 - 74.00
Butcher Bulls 74.00 - 92.00
Pairs Yng. N/A
Hfretts. 82.00 - 99.00
Pairs Older. - N/A
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Currently the local log market is flooded with
fire salvage logs. The log buyer for Malheur
Lumber Co. stated they have all the logs they
need under contract and are not accepting any
new purchases. BCC/LLC of La Grande has
receive so many burned fire salvage logs they
are no longer accepting logs at the La Grande
log yard. Any additional pine logs have to be
delivered to the Elgin Log yard cut in plywood
lengths and to a 8 inch top. For these pine
logs cut in plywood lengths, BCC is offering
$280.00/mbf. They are also paying $410.00/
mbf for Doug Fir & Western Larch. For White
Fir they are offing $310.00/mbf. At the Pilot
Rock Saw Mill BCC is offing $360.00/mbf for a
12 to 15 inch top, for 16 to 19 inch top $400.00/
mbf & offing $425.00/mbf for 20 inch plus top
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,274.20
Silver: $17.14
Platinum: $1,041.58
Palladium: $579.95
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $399.95/bu/USD
Wheat: $481.75/bu/USD
Soybeans: $1076.25/bu/USD
Oats: $193.25 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $1,077.00/cwt/USD
Canola: $518.60 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $119.50/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $149.03/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $81.63/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com