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ON INVESTORS VOLLEYBALL SEASON DURING PANDEMIC
BUSINESS, A6
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SPORTS, A10
THE WEEK
IN
PHOTOS
The Back Page, A16
136th Year, No. 52
Farmers
relieved by
precipitation
After dry winter,
March brought snow;
spring rains expected
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
— A few weeks ago, Wal-
lowa County farmers gear-
ing up for spring planting
were worried the snow-
pack wouldn’t be suffi -
cient once irrigation season
arrived.
Then came March —
and repeated snow and
rainstorms.
In mid-February, Tim
Melville, of Cornerstone
Farms, was particularly
concerned that soil mois-
ture on the fl oor of the
Wallowa Valley was seri-
ously down. He noted
that on Wednesday, Feb.
10, according to Oregon
SNOTEL, the snow-wa-
ter equivalent was only at
62% of normal at the SNO-
TEL site at Mount Howard.
But by Thursday, April 1, it
was up to 88% of normal.
“I can be a bit more
optimistic, but what really
counts is where that’s at
about the fi rst of May,” he
said last week. “100% back
in November doesn’t mean
much, but 100% the fi rst of
May, and you’re in pretty
good shape.”
Dan Butterfi eld, of
Butterfi eld Farms east of
Joseph, said his high-eleva-
tion farm off Liberty Road
has gotten plenty of mois-
ture. On Friday, March 26,
he said he’d received about
6 inches of snow there.
“I kind of wish it would
dry up,” he said, adding that
the level of Wallowa Lake
is coming up satisfactorily.
See Snow, Page A7
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
A TIME FOR (NO-)TILLING:
COUNTY FARMERS TREAT SOIL GENTLY
As planting begins,
direct seeding
helps soil, economy
Destiny
Wecks
Enterprise-Joseph
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
W
She’s starting
her own herd
ALLOWA COUNTY
— With the arrival
of spring, most Wal-
lowa County farmers
are gearing up to break
ground for planting
season.
But maybe “break ground” is
the wrong term here, since most
here are advocates of “no-till”
farming. No-till — or direct seed-
ing — involves no or minimal cul-
tivation, the application of her-
bicides to fi ght weeds and the
planting of cover crops that cattle
can graze and will return nutrients
to the soil.
“We got rid of our tillage equip-
ment — the plows, the discs and
the cultivators — over 40 years
ago,” said Tim Melville, patriarch
of the family owned Cornerstone
Farms near Enterprise. “We have
fi elds that have not been tilled in
over 40 years. We just rotate one
crop after another year after year.”
He sees the practice as environ-
mentally friendly.
“We stop soil erosion to next
to nothing from both wind and
water,” he said. “The other big
advantage is you’re sequestering
carbon because all your residue is
being cycled back into the soil by
all the biology that is created in
those top few inches. They’re con-
suming all that residue; it just dis-
appears. All the worms and bugs
that’re in that soil are consuming
the residue. A plant is mostly car-
bon; they breathe it in.”
Melville sees the relationship
between man and plants as one
where each helps the other.
“They (plants) are taking what
we breathe out and turning it into
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
A no-till grain drill is overhauled in preparation for the upcoming
planting season at the Melville family’s Cornerstone Farms just outside
of Enterprise on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Kevin Melville, of Cornerstone Farms, welds a part onto a grain truck
Wednesday, March 31, 2021, at the farm shop near Enterprise in
preparation for planting season.
something we can breathe,” he
said. “It’s what you call a symbi-
otic relationship.”
The Mevilles — including
Tim’s wife, Audry, and their sons
Kevin and Kurt and their fami-
lies — farm about 5,000 acres in
the county raising a wide variety
of crops. They hope to gets started
planting this week, Kurt Melville
said.
“We grow everything,” he said.
“Wheat, barley, hay, fl ax, canola,
timothy hay, peas, oats, mustards,
quinoa. A lotta things.”
Other growers in the Wallowa
Valley have followed the lead of
the Mevilles, who began their
no-till practices in the late 1970s.
“They were the ‘groundbreak-
See Soil, Page A7
Kerry Searles tests a harrow Thursday, April 1, 2021, on the Melville family’s
Cornerstone Farms just outside of Enterprise. The Melvilles — like other Wallowa
County farmers — are getting ready for planting season.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Vaccination totals continue to rise
Close to 3,000
individuals have
received at least
one dose of vaccine
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The Wallowa
County Health Care District has
given more 2,100 fi rst doses of the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and
has fully vaccinated close to 1,500
individuals in the county, Wallowa
Memorial Hospital Communica-
tions Director Brooke Pace said.
In updating the Chieftain on the
status of the vaccine in the county
Monday, April 5, she said that there
had been 1,804 fi rst doses already
administered, and about 340 more
shots were being given during a
clinic Tuesday. That would put the
county at 2,144 initial doses given
through the health district. Sixty
more fi rst shots are still on hand.
In addition to that, 1,350 people
have been fully vaccinated through
the WCHCD with both doses of
the two-shot Moderna vaccine.
Another 100 doses of the one-shot
Johnson & Johnson vaccine have
also been given.
More second doses are slated to
be given next week.
“We’ve been saving back sec-
ond doses as they have been com-
ing in,” Pace said. “Right now, we
have 250 second-dose vaccines on
hand that will be given at an April
13 vaccine clinic.”
Pace said the health district, as
of late Monday morning, had actu-
ally exhausted its current waitlist of
those eligible for a vaccine.
The count she gave “is everyone
in Phase 1B, Groups 1-7, as well as
Phase 2, Group 1,” who currently
wants a vaccine, she said.
“As you can tell by the numbers,
we are really beginning to reach a
period where the majority of peo-
ple who are interested in being vac-
cinated (have been),” she said.
In fact, with where things sit in
terms of its waitlist and on-hand
vaccine — Pace said she expects
the district will receive 500 more
fi rst-doses this week — it will be
moving next week to what she said
are “smaller, more frequent vac-
cine pods.” Rather than the large
clinics at the Cloverleaf Hall it has
been doing throughout the year to
this point, they will have options
See Vaccine, Page A7
ENTERPRISE — Destiny Wecks
has lived in Wallowa County
all her life. She lives on a ranch
between Joseph and Enterprise
with her parents, Jeff rey and Vixen
Radford-Wecks.
Her dad is an electrician and her
mom is a community health worker
out of La Grande.
On the ranch, they raise hay for
their more than 30 horses and she
has fi ve of her own cows and a cou-
ple market steers.
Destiny is a junior at Enterprise
High School. Last year, when the
school was forced by the COVID-19
pandemic to do online instruction,
she discovered its benefi ts.
After she graduates, she plans
on attending a community college
before going to Oregon State Uni-
versity for veterinary science. She
hopes to practice here as a veteri-
narian one day, but realizes she may
need to seek work in a larger city
fi rst where jobs are more available.
“That’s the main idea, but it’s
not exactly set in stone yet,” she
said.
True to her roots, she shows
horses in 4-H and cattle and swine
in FFA. She used to play basketball
at school, but now her time is taken
up with high school rodeo.
“My falls and springs are pretty
busy,” she said.
Destiny recently shared her
thoughts about living in Wallowa
County.
What’s your favorite thing
about Wallowa County?
Because I live so close to the
base of the mountains at Hurricane
Creek, I love to get up in the morn-
ing and see the beautiful moun-
tain range. That’s one of my favorite
things about the county and how
small it is — you know everyone in
the county.
How has the COVID-19
pandemic aff ected you?
For school, Enterprise has
off ered online or in-person school.
I’ve found I really enjoy (online)
because I can take diff erent classes
than in school, so I’ve learned a lot
more with online learning, and I
get more free time so I can ride my
horses more and fi nd new opportu-
nities in life.
Do you plan to get the vaccine
against COVID-19 or are you
hesitant?
I’m a little hesitant. My brother
had cancer and my grandmother’s
battling cancer so I want to protect
them. … I don’t want to bring it
back to them. I’m just hesitant.
Which vaccine do you prefer?
I’m not really sure.
What have you learned from
living in Wallowa County?
With doing 4-H and FFA, having
the community behind you to meet
your goals is important. For the
past couple years, I’ve been doing
rodeo court, and getting sponsors
and selling tickets it helps having a
strong community behind you.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about
moving here?
Don’t try to change it. Bringing
new people in can be good because
they’d have new ideas, but I don’t
want them to change how it’s been
— a beautiful place with great
community. … If people do want
to live here, I value my farmland, I
don’t want to see subdivisions on it.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain