NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Farm turns to desert-adapted sheep to improve dairy business
By SIERRA DAWN
MCCLAIN
Capital Press
LEXINGTON — Farm
owner Terry Felda has seen
first-hand the value of match-
ing genetics to environ-
ment: raising a breed of dairy
sheep adapted to her region’s
specific microclimate.
Introducing genetics from
the Assaf breed into her flock
the past few years has been
transformational, boosting
productivity and improving
her farm’s sustainability.
“We can already see the
difference,” Felda said.
For more than a decade,
Felda, 59, ran her operation
with standard American
dairy sheep crosses: Lacaune
and East Friesian breeds. The
problem was these breeds
need good pasture and a
temperate climate to thrive,
and Felda’s 450-acre farm lies
among the dry, crumpled hills
outside Lexington, in semi-
arid Morrow County.
Felda’s ewes struggled on
ranges with limited forage.
“I felt I had to put a lot of
feed and time into them to get
them to where I wanted,” said
Felda.
For years, she wanted
to bring in genetics from
breeds better adapted to arid
climates, such as the Awassi,
native to Israel, or the Assaf,
a cross between the Awassi
and the German East Frie-
sian sheep.
The Assaf, according to
the Israel Dairy Board, is
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Pres
Lexington sheep rancher Terry Felda holds a lamb. Felda has introduced genetics from the Assaf breed into her flock the past
few years to raise a breed of dairy sheep better adapted to the region’s microclimate.
prized for high milk produc-
tion and tolerance to almost
all climates. The breed has
spread across Eurasia and
today is the most important
dairy sheep breed in Spain,
according to the Journal of
Dairy Science.
Felda was one of many
American farmers who
wanted Assaf genetics, but
for years, the U.S. blocked
importation over concerns
about scrapie, a disease that
affects sheep.
Finally, in 2017, after years
of negotiations with U.S.
Department of Agriculture,
the Spanish Department of
Agriculture and European
Union officials, the U.S. sheep
industry brought in Assaf
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Periods of clouds
and sunshine
Showers around;
winds subsiding
Rain and drizzle in
the morning
Winds gradually
subsiding
Times of clouds
and sun
69° 42°
53° 38°
semen through a University of
Wisconsin-Madison project.
The Dairy Sheep Asso-
ciation of North America
secured some of the semen,
from which Felda got her first
batch for Tin Willows Dairy
and Sheep Ranch.
“To be able to finally get (the
genetics) was huge,” she said.
In 2019, she introduced
Separate crashes in Eastern
Oregon claim two lives
East Oregonian
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
61° 47°
56° 36°
54° 34°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
72° 45°
58° 39°
67° 50°
61° 41°
OREGON FORECAST
59° 35°
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
54/44
57/37
63/39
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
65/44
Lewiston
54/44
72/46
Astoria
52/45
Pullman
Yakima 64/40
55/41
64/43
Portland
Hermiston
56/45
The Dalles 72/45
Salem
Corvallis
55/43
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
55/37
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
57/44
65/38
61/38
Ontario
62/40
Caldwell
Burns
56°
30°
58°
33°
76° (1930) 16° (2019)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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Albany
57/44
0.00"
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65/39
61/33
0.00"
0.48"
0.44"
2.92"
3.06"
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through 3 p.m. yest.
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TEMP.
Pendleton 51/32
57/45
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
69/42
64/44
58°
33°
55°
34°
72° (2007) 11° (2019)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
56/41
Aberdeen
55/38
56/38
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
55/43
Today
Medford
66/41
Sun.
S 4-8
S 6-12
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 12-25
WSW 12-25
the semen into her f lock
through laparoscopic artifi-
cial insemination. In 2020,
she had her first cross-bred
50% Assaf lambs. In 2021,
she milked the crosses.
Felda said the Assaf-
crosses gain weight faster
and seem well-adapted to
handle heat, stress and mini-
mal forage. The ewes also
produce more milk.
Before introducing the
new genetics, each Lacaune-
East Friesian dairy sheep
was fed and milked twice a
day but produced only 300 to
400 pounds of milk annually.
Last year, each 50% Assaf
ewe was fed and milked only
once a day but produced up to
500 pounds of milk annually.
Felda expects the numbers
would be higher if she milked
twice daily, and because
last year’s milk came from
crosses, Felda anticipates
even higher production in
future years as her ewes
approach purebred Assaf
status.
Some farms in Felda’s
industry started on the
genetic improvement path
years before Felda did and are
seeing even larger gains, with
some ewes producing 1,000
pounds of milk annually.
“I’m playing catch-up,”
Felda said.
She spoke over the chorus
of farm sounds around her:
chittering guinea fowl,
quacking ducks, bleating
lambs and the occasional
bark of an Akbash livestock
guardian dog.
Felda said the combi-
nation of imported genet-
ics and new record-keeping
programs available to farm-
ers gives her renewed hope
for America’s dairy sheep
industry.
“It’s an exciting time to
be milking sheep right now,”
she said. “And it’s been a long
time coming.”
PEN DLETON — A
Condon man and a Port-
land man died in separate
crashes in two days in East-
ern Oregon.
The first deadly crash
occurred Tuesday, March 8,
on highway 19 in Gilliam
County, and the second
occurred March 9 on Inter-
state 84 in Union County,
according to Oregon State
Police.
OSP troopers and emer-
gency personnel March 8
at approximately 8 p.m.
responded to a single vehicle
crash on Highway 19 near
milepost 35, about 3 miles
north of Condon.
The preliminary inves-
tigation revealed Timothy
Bushnell, 31, was driving
northbound in a red Mitsub-
ishi Eclipse when the vehi-
cle swerved across the
southbound lane and rolled,
according to state police. The
crash ejected Bushnell, who
suffered fatal injuries.
The two passengers,
Dustin Hughes, 30, of Spray,
and Justin Martin, 31, of The
Dalles, were injured and
transported to an area hospi-
tal.
The crash resulted in the
closure of the highway for
approximately 4 hours. OSP
also reported the Gilliam
County Sheriff’s Office
and Oregon Department of
Transportation assisted at
the scene.
In the second deadly
crash, state police reported,
Brian Burton, 59, of Port-
land, on March 9 at approxi-
mately 8:50 a.m. stopped his
Mercedes GLS on the east-
bound side of Interstate 84 in
a traffic backup related to a
previous commercial vehicle
crash near milepost 259.
Eddi Morales, 30, of
Othello, Washington, was
driving a Freightliner semi-
trailer eastbound when it
rounded a curve, accord-
ing to state police, and was
unable to stop and collided
with the left side of Burton’s
car.
State police reported
Burton died at the scene.
Helen Burton, 62, from
Portland, was in the passen-
ger seat and was uninjured.
Morales also did not suffer
any injuries in the collision.
I-84 eastbound lanes
remained closed for approx-
imately five hours. Accord-
ing to the press release, OSP
is investigating icy road-
ways and speed as contribut-
ing factors in the automobile
collision.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation and
local firefighters assisted
state police.
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
59/32
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Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
6:14 a.m.
5:57 p.m.
11:54 a.m.
3:40 a.m.
Last
New
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 91° in Sebring, Fla. Low -34° in Antero Reservoir, Colo.
Mar 17
Mar 24
IN BRIEF
First
Mar 31
Apr 8
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Baker County man
facing sex crimes might
not be able to attend trial
BAKER COUNTY — A Baker County
man arrested more than two years ago on
multiple charges of sex crimes might not
physically be able to attend his trial in May.
Bill David Gonyer, 75, is undergoing treat-
ment for cancer. Gonyer’s attorney, Damien
Yervasi of Baker City, wrote in an email to
the Baker City Herald on Thursday, March
10, that “it’s hard to tell at this point” whether
Gonyer could participate.
“It all depends on how he’s doing between
now and then,” Yervasi wrote.
Baker County District Attorney Greg
Baxter said he will be prepared for a trial in
May, but that he’s aware of Gonyer’s medical
situation.
Gonyer, who lived on Stices Gulch
Road about 12 miles south of Baker City,
was initially arrested Dec. 28, 2019, in Ada
County, Idaho, where he was receiving medi-
cal care. He was extradited to Baker County in
early January 2020 and was held at the Baker
County Jail until December 2020, when Judge
Thomas B. Powers granted a motion from
Yervasi to grant Gonyer a conditional release
so he could get medical treatment at the Boise
VA Hospital and other facilities.
State court records show Gonyer faces 41
counts in all, including nine for child pornog-
raphy, five of first-degree sexual abuse and
five of felon in possession of a firearm. Fifteen
of the charges carry mandatory minimum
sentences upon conviction in Oregon.
Gonyer in 1999 pleaded guilty in Clack-
amas County to one count of first-degree
sexual abuse involving a girl younger than 14,
according to court documents. He received
a prison sentence in that case of six years,
three months.
— EO Media Group
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