THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017
Business / Agriculture
Chamber
awards
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
“Last week I was in a
conversation with our
superintendent of schools,
Mark Witty,” explained
Savage. “And he was tell-
ing us about their desire to
put forth a piece of media
that showcases all of the
amazing reasons why we
love Baker City and why
people need to come to
Baker City and bring their
children here and go to
school.”
Savage then explained
that the Chamber of Com-
merce wanted to recog-
nize Baker’s Hometown
Heroes.
“They felt that it was
time that they recognize
some of our Hometown
Heroes,” explained Sav-
age. “Some of those people
who work hard every day,
behind the scenes, who
make our community a
much better place. They
reached out to all law
enforcement agencies, to
all of our fire departments
rural and throughout the
entire county. And we
would like to recognize
some of these outstanding
public servants.”
The Hometown Heroes
recognized were Baker
City Fire and Rescue’s
Lieutenant David Blair,
Baker City Police School
Resource Officer Lance
Woodward, the Baker
County Sheriff’s Office,
Baker Rural Fire Depart-
ment’s Howard and Sandy
Payton, and Haines Fire
Department’s Larry Curry.
Savage explained that
they want to honor the
home town heroes from
Eagle Valley Fire, Hun-
tington Fire, Keating
Fire, Medical Spring Fire,
North Powder Rural Fire,
Sumpter Fire and Unity
next year.
Martin explained that
this year there is a full
board for the Chamber of
Commerce, now hav-
ing seven members. The
other six members are
Vice President Jeff Nelson,
Cindy Endicott, Jerry
Peacock, David Kassien,
Anthony Leggett, and Dan
Koopman.
Martin also recog-
nized Shelly Cutler, the
executive director for the
Chamber of Commerce
and Visitors Bureau, office
manager Cassie Petrucci,
and the emcee for the night
Ginger Savage.
Cutler, who has now
been with the chamber
for a year, presented the
executive discussion.
Cutler explained that the
chamber has gained 47
new members and hun-
dreds of renewals. Cutler
also explained that the
chamber was involved with
seven events.
They helped at the state
basketball tournament,
hosting the Relay for Life
where they raised $28,000
for Baker County Cancer,
participated in Miners Ju-
bilee, held Baker County’s
first Downhill Derby, the
Hell’s Canyon Motorcycle
Rally Breakfast at the
high school, organized the
Shriners football game
windows for businesses,
and were a part of Com-
munity Night Out.
For 2017, Cutler
explained that the cham-
ber will organize Miners
Jubilee, moving it to the
14, 15, and 16 to follow
the Motorcycle Rally.
The theme for the
evening was the 70s and
Vice President Jeff Nelson
asked trivia questions per-
taining to the 70s culture,
movies, and music.
Each table was given
the opportunity to win a
prize for the most correct
answers.
To end the evening, Sav-
age hosted the live auction
and explained to the guests
how to win the centerpiec-
es on the tables.
Cattlemen discuss BMFPR
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County Live-
stock Association (BCLA)
held its first meeting of the
year, on Thursday, Janu-
ary 19, 2017, 7 p.m., in
the Sunridge Room, of the
Best Western Sunridge Inn,
which included an Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association
(OCA) Political Advo-
cate Report discussion,
and a U.S. Forest Service
(USFS) Blue Mountains
Forest Plan Revision
update, from guest speaker,
Baker County Commission
Chair Bill Harvey.
BCLA President Drew
Martin, Treasurer Martin
Arritola, Secretary Dotti
Miles, Myron Miles, Ralph
and Myrna Morgan, and
Cheryl Martin were pres-
ent for the meeting, which
saw less attendance than
normal, due to weather and
road conditions.
Among the first top-
ics discussed was the
Pacific Northwest Young
Cattlemen Tour, origi-
nally scheduled for Friday,
January 20, 2017, in Baker
City, but Drew said it was
canceled due to weather
(BCLA members had al-
ready been notified of this,
he said).
Drew said OCA has a
new Political Advocate,
Portland-based Tonkon
Torp LLP attorney Rocky
Dallum (he fills the posi-
tion previously held by
Jim Welsh, who retired last
June). Drew said, “What
I’d like to do for our meet-
ings is to have legisla-
tive updates...” to track
bills of concern to OCA
and BCLA (the Oregon
Legislature convened on
January 9, and over 1,500
bills were introduced), and
this meeting included a
20-page Political Advocate
Report, copies of which
were provided for those
present.
Drew said that an imme-
diate impact of the major
state budget shortfall of
at least $1.8 billion is in
the cattle industry, and he
mentioned that Wallowa
County’s funding for non-
lethal methods to resolve
predator conflicts will be
cut, as a prime example
of one of the high-priority
issues of concern to OCA
and BCLA (the major-
ity of Oregon’s wolf
packs are located in the
northeastern region of the
state). House Bill (HB)
203 is aimed at requiring
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)
to develop and implement
programs which provide
technical assistance to state
landowners, businesses,
and communities, regard-
ing non-lethal methods to
reduce wildlife and human
conflicts, according to the
report summary.
Drew spoke about
another high-priority
concern, the possibility of
water metering, included
in HB 2705,part of a push
to provide more funding
to the Water Resources
Department (RWD). Ac-
cording to the summary, a
device would be required
at the point of diversion or
appropriation, to mea-
sure the amount of water
being used (there would
be an exception for water
being used for an exempt
purpose), with the amount
reported to RWD, and a
civil penalty of up to $500
per day, for violations of
the requirement. Cheryl
said, “We really want to
fight that. That’s going to
cost us dearly.” HB 2097
covers the overall state ap-
proach to water resources
management.
Another area of major
concern for OCA and
BCLA, which was dis-
cussed at the meeting, is
the significant transforma-
tion in the requirements
covering the administration
of antibiotics to livestock,
covered in HB 2396, and
Senate Bill (SB) 0222.
Under HB 2396, the
administration or other
provision of medically
important antibiotics to
food-producing animals for
non-therapeutic purposes
would be prohibited; the
operator of a concentrated
feeding operation would
be required to file an an-
nual report regarding the
administration of medi-
cally important antibiotics
to food-producing animals;
and these requirements
would take effect on or
after January 1, 2018. SB
0222 directs the Oregon
State Veterinary Medical
Examining Board to adopt
rules requiring veterinar-
ians to provide written
copies of prescriptions
for animal medications to
owners.
Arritola expressed great
concern about conse-
quences for producers as
a result of the proposed
changes, and he said, “The
— Weekly Hay Report —
Friday, January 20, 2016 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady in a limited test
compared to week ago prices. Most demand
lays with the retail/stable hay. According to some
producers, horse owners prefer lower sugar, higher
protein hay. The recent snows slowed movement as
trucks cant get to the farms to get loaded.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Large Square Fair
60 105.00-105.00 105.00
Last week:
Alfalfa / Orchard Mix — Small Square Premium
32 185.00-185.00 185.00
Timothy Grass — Small Square Premium
10 200.00-200.00 200.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1,295
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 136.00 - 177.00 Top 179.00
400-500# Bulk 149.00 - 169.00 Top 172.50
500-600# Bulk 129.00 - 155.00 Top 156.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 132.00 - 148.00 Top 152.00
400-500# Bulk 129.00 - 142.00 Top 143.00
500-600# Bulk 118.00 - 135.00 Top 136.00
600-700#
700-800#
800-900#
900-1,000#
Yearling Steers
Bulk 124.00 - 139.00 Top 139.75
Bulk 119.00 - 132.00 Top 133.00
Bulk 108.00 - 123.00 Top 126.30
Bulk 106.00 -121.00 Top 125.00
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 119.00 - 126.00 Top 126.75
700-800# Bulk 106.00 - 116.00 Top 117.50
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 37.00 - 49.00
Butcher Cows 51.00 -57.00
Butcher Bulls 56.00 - 66.00
Pairs Young N/A
Hfretts. 63.00 - 88.00
Stock Cows Young - N/A
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
The BCLA met last Thursday in spite of severe
weather conditions.
Veterinary Feed Direc-
tive (VFD) is already a
nightmare...The VFD takes
all of the power away from
the veterinarian...Nobody
understands it...” The VFD
is an effort spearheaded by
the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).
According to the FDA,
“Once the changes (in
FDA’s Guidance #213) are
fully implemented, it will
be illegal to use these med-
ically important antibiotics
for production purposes,
and animal producers will
need to obtain authori-
zation from a licensed
veterinarian to use them
for prevention, control or
treatment of disease...”
Dotti said that BCLA
should voice its concerns
to state representatives,
regarding issues it sees
with legislation, and Drew
said, “That’s what we’ll
do. OCA does that.” Dotti
said, “Two knocks on the
door is better than one.”
Drew said he agrees, and
that BCLA will be echoing
OCA’s official positions.
Cheryl expressed praise for
the Advocate Report, and
she said that BCLA can
choose a few of the priori-
ties to focus on.
Prior to Harvey’s Blue
Mountains Forest Revision
Plan (BMFPR) update,
Cheryl mentioned OCA’s
Spring Quarterly, an event
which includes updates re-
garding legislative effects
on agriculture and ranch-
ing, to be held in Salem,
from Monday, March 6,
through Tuesday, March 7.
She said it’s crucial for as
many people as possible to
attend, in order to send a
strong message to Gover-
nor Kate Brown, that more
attention should be paid to
the people and the issues
in the eastern region of the
state.
Harvey said, “Most of
you know the issues with
the Forest Revision Plan.
They’ve been working on
it for quite a while...They
have failed so miserably at
rewriting this plan (he said
the plan from 1990 is still
in effect, because the U.S.
Forest Service has been
unable to form an accept-
able revision since that
time).
He explained the issues,
among them road closures,
which he has fought hard
to prevent, since access
to forest land has been
a major emphasis from
both the public, and the
County. “Their (the USFS)
goal is for us to be gone,
and if they were to have
their pristine desire, they
would have corridors, from
Canada to Mexico, with
no people--just wild lands,
and no say, no control, no
nothing...”
Harvey said when he
first asked staff of the
USFS about the process of
coordination, the reply was
that they were unaware of
the idea. He said that the
process of cooperation has
been emphasized instead,
“...where they get many
counties to sign on, and
they say that they’re on the
project with you, except,
you’re not told what it
is, you’re not allowed to
speak about it, if you at-
tend the meetings, and they
make these back-room
deals...”
Harvey also mentioned
collaboration, which he
said is even worse than the
coordination process (coor-
dination, cooperation, and
collaboration have been
much-debated processes,
during various County
meetings).
SEE BCLA PAGE 5
— Log Price Report —
Prices are based on the majority of saw mills in
Northeastern Oregon and Central Idaho. The prices
listed below are a composite prices of various saw-
mills willing to visit with me about this topic.
Ponderosa Pine—small diameter class 8-11 inches
diameter class $250 per mbf. Only one sawmill was
willing to buy small diameter pine at this time.
Ponderosa Pine—medium diameter class 12-17
inches diameter class $300 to $350 per mbf
Ponderosa Pine-large diameter class 18 plus inches
diameter class $380 to $410 per mbf
The Pine prices are still approximately $40 per mbf
below average lumber/log market due to 2017 fire
salvage
Doug Fir & Western Larch—$380 to $420 per
mbf. Normal prices typically ranged between $425
to $475 per mbf.
White Fir-$300 per mbf. Normal prices typically
ranged between $340 to $360 per mbf.
Engelmann Spruce—$350 at one Idaho sawmill,
other sawmills including with White fir prices.
In general, the log prices still impacted from 2015
fire season and fire salvage that resulted. Sawmills
are starting to get log yard inventory in line with
sawmill production needs. With a new Administra-
tion as of 1/20/2017, a more normal economic envi-
ronment should result and hopefully a more healthy
housing situation will result in a better climate for
Northeast Oregon Sawmill and private forest land-
owners.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,208.20
Silver: $17.07
Platinum: $994.14
Palladium: $788.99
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $361.75/bu/USD
Wheat: $424.50/bu/USD
Soybeans: $1,052.00/bu/USD
Oats: $258.50 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $9.96/cwt/USD
Canola: $552.10 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $118.40//lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $130.18/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $67.63/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com