A10
NEWS
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Grain Growers celebrates 75th anniversary
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Established in 1944, Wal-
lowa County Grain Growers
is one of the longest continu-
ously operating businesses in
Wallowa County. In keeping
with its practice of chang-
ing and growing with the
times, Grain Growers just
celebrated its 75th anni-
versary, introducing a new
line of user-friendly fi shing
tackle. Like everything else
it stocks, the mostly trolling
tackle--poles, reels and lures-
-fi ts the needs and budgets of
most local folks. There’s not
a fl y rod or reel to be found.
But if you want spinning gear
for kokanee or crappie or
you’re planning to catch trout
at Marr Pond, Grain Growers
can outfi t you. “It’s a line of
gear that won’t compete with
the serious fi shing and sport-
ing goods stores”, said Terry
Potratz, Grain Growers retail
manager. “But it’s good qual-
ity, some is suitable for kids,
and it’s pretty affordable
overall. We’ve tried to offer
lures that will appeal to local
fi sh, too.”
Wallowa County Grain
Growers was established
as a farmer-owned coop-
erative in mid-February of
1944. The board of directors
included Vic Searles, Ray-
mond Kooch, and Alfred
Butterfi eld. The newly
founded business took over
the local Woolgrowers Ware-
house, and issued shares for
two types of memberships:
a voting membership or a
preferred non-voting, pre-
ferred membership, each
for $25 per share. Then, as
now, only “agriculturalists”
Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Grain Growers manager, Mike Hayward,
explains how Grain Growers has changed and grown over the
past 75 years. Grain Growers now has equipment dealerships/
retail outlets in LaGrande and Baker City.
could be members. Within
three weeks, the group had
sold 928 shares, and Wal-
lowa County Grain Grow-
ers was on its way. It was the
dark days of WWII. D-Day
was yet to come. A 50-pound
bag of potatoes could be
had at the Enterprise Safe-
way for 84 cents. Valencia
Oranges cost 10 cents per
pound. Charlie Chaplin’s
movie “The Gold Rush” was
playing at the Vista Theatre
in Enterprise; in Wallowa,
the McLean Theatre offered
“King of the Cowboys,” star-
ring Roy Rogers. A 100 acre
farm in Wallowa Valley, with
60 acres irrigated, could be
bought for $5250.
From the get-go, Grain
Growers looked toward
expanding their services
and offerings. In July, 1944,
only a few months after their
founding, they merged with
Grange Supply, the local pur-
veyor of fuels to Wallowa
County farms. The gas and
oil tanks were moved to the
site along the railroad tracks.
Grain Growers was now
serving most of agriculture’s
needs here. Those services
have included grain storage,
equipment sales and service,
custom-mixed feeds, and
retail sales of hardware and
supplies for livestock and
farm animals.
In 1978 they opened an
agronomy department in
Island City. Then, in 2011,
Grain Growers purchased
the John Deere dealerships
in Union and Baker County,
to complement their Wal-
lowa County dealership. The
Deere dealerships are oper-
ated as a subsidiary, Tri-
County Equipment and are
separate from the co-op.
Grain-Grower’s growth
and success can be attributed
to it’s penchant for changing
with the times, said manager
Mike Hayward. He noted
that Pendleton Grain Grow-
ers ultimately failed because
Ellen Morris Bishop
Grain Growers sporting-goods salesman T.J. Miller helps Joannah Vaughn choose a fi shing
pole for her grandson. Fishing equipment suitable for Wallowa County’s favorite fi shing spots
is a new specialty at Grain Growers.
it continued to rely on grain
storage as a major component
of its income at a time when
grain prices have fallen, and
marketing strategies have
changed. “We still mix cus-
tom feeds for our clients,” he
said. “Sometimes, if there’s
a demand and an agreement
with the customer, we sort
of package their blend and
sell it to other people. And of
course, give the blend-origi-
nator a royalty.” The special
chicken-feed mix used by the
Hawkins Ranch is one exam-
ple of that, he said.
More than 300 people
enjoyed tri-tip sliders, hot-
dogs, coleslaw, and other
goodies at Grain Grower’s
75th anniversary bash May
4th . “We enjoy sharing our
success with our members
and the community,” Potratz
said. “We’re looking forward
to many more years here.”
Tariffs slow U.S. beef, pork exports; medium-sized markets see growth
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
U.S. beef and pork
exports in the fi rst quarter
of 2019 fell below levels a
year earlier on fewer ship-
ments to some large cus-
tomers. But there were also
signifi cant gains in some
other key markets.
Beef exports were down
3% in volume and 1% in
value, and pork exports
were down 6% in volume
and 14% in value.
“On the beef side, con-
sidering all the noise out
there on the trade front and
some of these countries that
have duties, we’re relatively
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encouraged by that per-
formance,” Dan Halstrom,
president and CEO of the
U.S. Meat Export Feder-
ation, told reporters in a
media call from the feder-
ation’s spring conference in
Kansas City, Mo.
On the positive side,
beef export volumes were
up 2% to Japan, 1% to
Mexico, 8% to South Korea
and 17% to the Caribbean
region.
“I think we made some
broad-based gains in some
key regions,” he said.
But two regions that
stand out with a downward
spiral are Hong Kong and
China and the Middle East,
which decreased import
volumes of U.S. beef 34%
and 11%, respectively.
U.S. beef shipments to
China face a 37% tariff
compared with 12% or less
for competitors, he said.
On the pork side, exports
the fi rst quarter also saw
signifi cant growth in some
markets and challenges in
others, he said.
There’s been signifi cant
growth in some of the more
medium-size markets. Spe-
cifi cally the South Ameri-
can region was up 41% in
volume. And some of the
medium to small markets
including Taiwan, Central
America and the ASEAN
region are all showing sig-
nifi cant growth, he said.
But exports to Mexico
and Hong Kong and China
saw challenges, both duty
related.
Pork shipments to Mex-
ico were down 17% in vol-
ume and 29% in value,
attributable to the 20% duty
leveraged last summer, he
said.
“This has been a real
focus for our industry
and USMEF in particular.
We’re seeing share decline
a bit year over year, to the
tune of about 4%,” he said.
Thank you to the following businesses for supporting
Newspapers in Education
Their generous support of the Wallowa County Chieftain NIE program
helps provide copies of the newspaper and unlimited access to
Wallowa.com and the e-Edition to schools throughout the community.
WALLOWA COUNTY
GRAIN GROWERS
541-426-3116
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911 S. River St.
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Jr. Jason Follett, DMD
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Bed & Breakfast
309 S. Main St.
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541-432-0230
BronzeAntler.com
Valley Bronze of Oregon
307 W. Alder St. Joseph, OR 97846
541-432-7551 | ValleyBronze.com
603 Medical Parkway
Enterprise, OR 97828
541-426-4502
WindingWaters.org
205 W. Main St. 541-426-3124
Enterprise, OR 97828 UmpquaBank.com
541-426-3531
WallowaValleyDental.com
204 Residence St.
Enterprise, OR
Open to incoming 7th & 8th graders.
306 W. North St.
Enterprise, OR
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Contact Ron Pickens at 919.634.0297
(rpickens@oregonbhf.org) or
Hailee McClure at 541.571.2048
The Summer Outdoor Program is designed to provide teens
with outstanding outdoor recreational opportunities,
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541-426-7455
202 N. Storie St.
Wallowa, OR 97885
541-886-9151
OliveBranchFamily.com
CommunityBankNet.com
Heidi’s Gift Shoppe
59974 Mt. Howard Rd., Joseph, OR
541-432-0830
HeidisGiftShoppe.com
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Josephy.org
541-426-2700
1200 Highland Ave.
Enterprise, OR 97828
EaglesViewInnAndSuites.com
403 Main St.
Joseph, OR 97846
541-531-9939
DivideCamp.org
P.O. Box 49.
Joseph, OR 97846
YOUR
BUSINESS HERE:
Call Today & Donate!
800-522-0255
For more information on the NIE Program, visit Wallowa.com/nie.
To make a donation, call 541-426-4567.
Safe Harbors
Wallowa County DYS
Building Healthy Families