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Spilyay Tymoo
Warm Springs, Oregon
August 29, 1996 9
Arlene Boileau
4-H k Youth
Norma Simpson
Home Economics
Bob Pawelek
Livestock
Sue Ryan
4-H Assistant
Clint Jacks
Staff Chair, Madras
Bodie Shaw
Ag & Natural Resources
OMBCMfWI UMWMTT
GXTHMSJON
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(503) 553-3238
The Oregon Stale University Extension Service staff Is devoted to extending research-based Information from OSU to the people of Warm Springs
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The Clover speaks-
by Sue Ryan
Another year of 4-H Wilderness Enrich
ment camp at Trout Lake has come and gone.
First, let me tell that this year was something
special. Campers in our first session, from
August 3rd to August 7th, really got to experi
ence the "wilderness" in our camp name. Bears
came to camp in search of good-smelling gar
bage. The tribal wildlife biologists were in
formed and came to camp to let campers and
staff know what to do around the bears. Also,
Greg Stinson and Donnie Winishut from the
Warm Springs Police Department along with
Dave Simmons from Warm Springs Fire and
Safety and Mickey Boileau stayed up at night
along with staff to keep watch. We didn't have
any problems- but learned a few things about
bears and clean campsites. Although we man
aged fine, it was difficult for Natural Resources
to deal with the problem with people in the area.
So, the Trout Lake campground was closed
down August 7th with Session One campers
heading home after their interesting experi
ence. Then staff broke down camp and moved
to the HcHe Longhouse to finish Session Two.
Many grateful thanks to the Tribal Council for
approving our last minute move and to the tribal
Utilities department who showed up in force to
help us move over. Session Two at He He
Longhouse went as planned until Saturday,
August 10th when the Warm Springs Police
asked us to evacuate because He He Longhouse
was to be used as an emergency shelter for
evacuees from Simnasho because of the wild
fire. So, our staff bonded together and packed
gear and kids in less than an hour to move back
to Warm Springs. We still went ahead and held
our traditional Salmon dinner bake to close
camp at Agency Longhouse. Thanks to Hilda
Culpus and Bemice Mitchell for arranging the
use of this facility at the last minute. We also
want to thank all of the staff involved with our
4-H camp at Trout LakeHe He and also the
following individuals for their assistance: Tom
Kathreign from WSFPI, Kate Jackson and Ri
chard Craig, Heather and Bodie Shaw, Sandi
Thomas, Brenda Parrish, Terry Luther, Doug
Calvin, Clint Jacks, David Simmons, Russell
Graham, Effie Culpus, John Beal, and more.
Many, many thanks and I apologize if I have left
anyone off the list. One additional note on
camp- although the amount is less than in
previous years, we still have some unclaimed
lost and found at the Extension office. If you
had a camper up at Trout LakeHe He this year
please stop by to see if these are your items.
Natural Resource Notables-
by Bodie Shaw
As if Warm Springs hasn't had its share of
natural disasters this year, somebody had to
throw fire into the equation. Let's not ask what
disaster could be next. The Simnasho Fire has
rekindled, if you will, the age-old debate
weighing the pros and cons of fire. This fire has
brought about a few questions: what is our role
in fire's natural setting? How can we do a better
job of living in a fire dependent community?
To refer to fire as a "natural disaster" is a
misnomer. Fire is an essential component of
natural processes of many, if not all wildland
ecosystems. Fires rejuvenate systems and are
an integral factor for properly functioning
systems. Disruption of historic fire cycles has
led to declining ecosystem vaiues, species loss,
and catastrophic wildfire events such as the
Simnasho Fire.
Generalizations about the ecological effects of
fire are very unreliable because of variations in
the frequency, duration, intensity, and type of
fire, in the character of the physical environment,
and in the species and their adaptations to fire.
The effects on vegetation can vary from
beneficial to highly detrimental, while the major
effects on animals will depend upon whethcror
not the species is favored by the changes in the
environment wrought by the fire.
Fire does have direct adverse effects on plants
and animals, but these are often relatively
short-lived. There is growing evidence that fire
plays an important and either a beneficial or a
benign role in some ecosystems. The organisms
native to such areas have evolved with fire and
may grow better with a natural fire frequency
than with no tire. Overprotection from tire can
result in undesirable changes in the plant
community and render the community
susceptible to serious damage when a fire does
occur. Much more needs to be known about the
effects of fires of different types on particular
ecosystems so that we can prevent destructive
wildfire but retain benign and beneficial fire
where it is a natural and desirable environmental
factor.
Fire has been a instrumental tool for healthy
systems in the past, and although land managers
have attempted to mimic fire to maintain proper
functioning systems to some extent, most areas
there haven't been successful. Ecologically
appropriate prescribed fire regimes are designed
and implemented to restore and maintain
ecosystem functions and desired societal
outputs. The ramifications of not using
prescribed fire are serious, as we all can attest
to. Sounds great in theory, what about
application?
As an example, ranchers and farmers need to
know: how long a prescribed burn will take a
land unit out of production, how much flexibility
there will be to take up the slack on other range
and agriculture units, and how increased forage
production will be allocated between livestock
and wildlife. Burn objectives (the desired mix
of grasses and forbs) need to be carefully
worked out. Land managers also need to be
persuaded that short-term loss will be offset by
the increased long-term vitality and land
productivity. As one can imagine, this issue
raises many conflicting interests, not only
societal but also economical.
To resolve some of these conflicts and to form
a solid consensus tor investing in tire
management, stakeholders must come together
on the landscape, assess site specific conflicts
and opportunities and agree upon priorities.
As mcntionedearlicr.relauvely fewecosystems
have not, at one time or another, been affected
by fire. For most ecosystems, the frequency of
fire is low, but fire is such a powerful ecological
factor that regardless of frequencies, it is a
major determinant of ecosystem character.
What all this comes down to is that we as a
community have to do a better job of living
within a fire dependent community. Historically,
fire has been an ever present component of our
community. We can suppress all we want to but
the simple fact remains that we cannot and will
not keep fire out of its home. As with many
natural systems, we are a mere nuisance. We
need natural systems; they don't need us.
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Using a dehydrator or an oven to dry fruit snacks can be easy and have tastey results
by Norma L. Simpson
During the special food preservation day
at the Wellness Clinic in August, we saw the
difference between selecting fruit and ways
to prepare them before they were dried and as
they dried.
SELECTING THE FRUIT
Some varieties of the same type fruit may
be very different when they dry. If your
family likes tart apples, they will be even
more tart when they are dry. If some mem
bers of your family like sweet apples, be sure
to include those in the drying session.
Gravenstein and Granny Smith are two tart
apples. Gala apples have a mild flavor and
Braeburn apples are more tart than Gala, but
less tart than Granny Smith and Gravenstein.
USING SCREENS OR PLASTIC TRAYS
ON RACKS
If you make fruit leather, be sure to lightly
spray with vegetable oil or smear with a thin
layer of margarine or butter to keep fruit
liquid from sticking to the solid tray. We had
two great examples of why the oil or butter is
important. A visitor came to visit when I was
ready to dry the fruit leather in both the round
food dryers and in the oven. Three hours later
I discovered my error as the fruit leather was
stick to the foil and the solid tray. I had to
discard the fruit leather on the foil, and scrap
with a dull spatula to get it off the tray.
That's the first time I have made crinkled
fruit leather - tasty but shriveled.
ANTI-DARKENING TREATMENT
To keep light colored fruit from turning
dark, dip slices into a mixture of 14 cup
lemon or lime juice and 1 tablespoon honey
and a quarts of water. As you put the fruit on
the screen on the dehydrator rack, shake off
the excess water mixture. If the mixture
stands on the fruit, it becomes more sticky.
About half way through the drying time, turn
the fruit slices over. If the slices stick to the
screen, it becomes hard to get the slices off in
one piece.
Braeburn apples stayed the brightest white,
while Gala turns a golden color and the
Gravenstein turned brown as soon as it was
sliced, even when dipped in the lemon, honey
water mixture. Even though lemon juice was
smeared on the hole where the core had been,
Gravenstein turned twice as brown as the
other apples.
OVEN DRYING
If you do not have a dehydrator, you can
use baking pans to hold the fruit leather or
slices of foods. Be sure to stray oil on the pan
so fruit does not stick. Spray on and wipe off
the excess with a paper towel.
With pans about 4 inches from the heating
element, you can still dry two pans at a time.
Be sure that the vents on the top of the
oven are open so the moisture can escape
either through the hot plates on the stove or
the slots at the back of the stove.
Be sure to use the lowest temperature for
the baking temperature, which is about 1 50"F.
You use the lowest temperature to preserve
as much of the vitamins in the fruit as pos
sible. To make the fruit leather it took about 3
hours for the thinnest layer and 4 hours for
the thickest part of the leather. The fruit
leather in a pan in the oven had a thick and a
thin side because the oven shelves were not
level.
APPLES
Of the apples that we tried this time,
BRAEBURN, an apple imported from New
Zealand, was the most beautiful apple of the
three dried this time. Braeburn apples are
about the size of your fist, with very white
flesh. For some fruit, we say to peel them.
But for these three apples we found that
slicing them very thin (14 inch evenly thick)
the slices dried in about 4-5 hours.
Unless the storage carton was not sealed
properly, after they were dried and pack
aged, the Braeburn apples were very soft and
retained their white flesh and red skin. I liked
the ripples of the apples as they dried, rather
than flat.
BLUEBERRIES
Look through the jars of fruit that you
canned or froze last year. I found one jar of
blueberries that had cooked from the raw
(cold) pack to a big lump of berries that
floated and juice that separated to the bot
tom. Since we had not made the blueberries
into a pie earlier, we decided to put the quart
of juice and berries through the blender with
1 banana. The mixture is a great flavor. The
bottom tip of the banana did not blend very
well, so I had to take it from the tray.
PEACHES
Some of the peaches are a bit green, which
made it hard to slip the skins by dipping in
boiling water for 30 seconds. The peaches
that were really green had to be cooked for
about 3 minutes. That is the reason that the
dried peaches have a ring on each piece. This
batch of peaches have a wonderful golden
color because the peaches were sliced hold
ing on to the pit inside. Last year we cut the
peaches and nectarines into wedges, Because
there is so much difference in the thickness,
the peaches had to be dried for 8 hours,
compared to the 4-6 hours this year. Thick
slices that were completely dried the
same day took about 4 hours. Thick slices
dried for 3 hours then turned off for the night,
absorbed moisture from the air took 3 more
hours to complete the drying process and are
darker in color but still beautiful and tasty.
NECTARINES
Nectarines have a darker color around the
pit. The bright peach color of the flesh also
tended to stick to the screen so broke in
pieces more often than the peaches. The
slices took about 7 hours to dry enough to
store in a freezer container that seals tightly
to keep out moisture. Still a great fruit, though
a bit tart for me. Nice for variety in a trail mix.
RASPBERRIES
I had two partial bags of raspberries that
had been in the freezer getting in the way.
They now are in raspberry-banana fruit rolls.
They are tart and full of seeds for those of you
who don't like seeds. If you do, try putting
the mixture through a jelly bag to remove the
seeds.
STORAGE
Once the fruit leather and slices are dry,
put them into air-tight containers. Check the
seals to be sure that the plastic cartons are
sealed all around the edge - not just by
looking but by testing the seal before you put
the boxes or bags in a cool dry spot.
Fruit that we did last year was as tasty and
pliable as the sheets that we made this year.
The fruit leather cooked in the oven is easier
to cut into nice looking rolls when they are
put into strips of clear plastic. You might try
putting a tab of masking tape of the end of the
clear plastic, so that you don't go through a
fit trying to open the packages. It worked for
me. Happy chewing !
STOCKMAN'S ROUNDUP: Making money by selling ranch horses
by Bob Pawelek
OSU Livestock Agent
Next time you saddle up, instead of
considering your horse as a way to get the
job done, look at him as a new way to put
money in the bank.
Got a ranch horse that is as good as any hand
on the ranch? Then, in the morning when
you saddle up, instead of considering your
mount as a way to get the job done, look at
him as a new way to put money in the bank.
If you have trainable young colts coming on,
putting a little profit in your pocket by
trading ranch horses for cold, hard cash can
add up to smart ranching.
In the agricultural world, "having your cake
and eating it too" has always been a dream
but seldom a reality. Winds of change,
however, have drifted into the ranch horse
market making that cliche" a reachable goal
for today's rancher. Ask successful ranchers
who have been affiliated with horses sales in
the past several years. With smiles on their
faces and pocketbooks a little fatter, they'll
be quick to tell you that a good ranch horse at
a reputable sale will bring big bucks on
today's market
At the Fort Worth Stock Show Sale in
February, 1994, Phil Guitar sold a gelding
that brought $12,000. A cowboy who works
for Guitar had an interest in the horse, trained
him well and helped his boss earn that extra
cash.
At the same Fort Worth sale, a horse
consigned from the Four Sixes Ranch at
Burnett, Texas was the second highest-selling
horse bringing $10,000. The Fort Worth
Stock Show Sale, however, is just one
auction where high dollars are traded for
ranch horses. At the Big Country Ranch
Horse Sale held in late spring in Laughlin,
Nevada, a 1990 gelding, Docs Okie Leo,
consigned by Gray Ranch of Louisiana, took
top sale honors bringing $8,250. Another
sale in the Sacramento Valley last fall
consigned a gelding which sold for $14,350.
Before visions of $$ signs send you running
to hitch up the trailer, it's important to realize
that these top dollar prices are the exceptions
to the ranch horse sales. The averages of
$3,000 or better, however, are also enticing.
This past June, a sale at the Public Auction
Yard at Billings, Montana yielded prices
averaging just over $2,000, with quite a few
bringing much more than that.
There are several reasons ranch horses are
bringing such good prices. Firstly, it is
expensive to buy a young horse and have him
trained. You really don't know what you've
got until you train him. A prospective buyer
is better off with an animal that is over 5
years of age or so with some experience. In
fact, horses at the Billings sale sold much
better if they were between the ages of 5 and
8.
Supply and demand is a reason these horses
sell. Years ago, cowboys would break four
colts and use them through the spring. Now,
those hands have one good horse in the front
of the trailer and a four-wheeler on the back,
so there are not as many horses to sell.
There is no doubt that the ranch horse is a
used product He is often ridden from sunup
to sundown in all kinds of weather. Besides
the long hours, he's been expected to be an
all-around cow horse, no matter if calves are
standing up or sprawled on their side, and
he's loped on every kind of turf from grassy
plains to vertical rimrock. Ironically, it's the
using that makes the price rise. Rather than
losing his value, if he is good-minded, trained
well and presented at a reputable sale, his
price just gets better with the wear. When
ranchers can use their investment for several
years and then sell a horse at a fair price, that
adds up to double profits on one horse.
Not just any ranch horse w ill bring a good
profit in the sale ring, however. There are
tricks to the trade that make some horses sell
well while others bring mediocre prices. For
ranchers to have their cake and eat it too, they
need to know these tricks. Making a good
product is not enough. Knowing the best
place to market the ranch horse, as well as
who the potential buyers are and what they
are looking for, are the added ingredients that
help put an extra dollar in your pocket.
Sales
One of the main ingredients in capturing top
prices for a ranch horse is to select quality
sales. Ranchers can have the best ranch
horse in their part of the country, but without
a reputable sales management company who
will do the preliminary footwork to get
buyers to the sale, they will go home with a
horse in their trailer rather than a check in
their pocket.
Sales management is one reason for good
ranch horse prices. Many work hard to put
on good sales. They advertise. If a sale does
not, the difference is noticeable.
Often the bigger sales will initiate an intense
screening program as a way to find good sale
horses. Theses sales also require full
commission to be paid on passouts which
ensures consignors are committed to selling
their horses. If they want to run that horse up
to a figure, then that is their business, but
they must pay the commission to do so.
Sales discourage sellers who run the horse up
for advertising and then pass him out.
Before the horses ever reach the big sale
rings at Fort Worth and Miles City, horses
and sellers are screened to get the best ones
possible. Often, videos of the horse are sent
in so they can see the product Also, they
have a good network of people to depend on
for information about the horse and the seller.
The seller is researched because they want "a
good, honest cowboy who knows how to
work a horse." Screening requires
objectivity, however, because what may not
be worth its salt in your eyes may be just
what the other person is looking for.
Visual inspection of all horses at the Houston
Premier Sale, for instance, is required before
consignment That sale looks for reputable
consignors who have raised quality horses,
who have sold horses in the past in their sales
and who have good reputations in the horse
industry.
Public Education
After finding just the right sale, ranchers then
need to become familiar with the buyer
market Persons wnting the checks for
today's ranch horse put more thought into
their purchase than they did years ago, thus
forcing the sale of better horses. For some
buyers, it is a matter of pure economics. The
free-flowing dollar of the 1980s has
tightened. Others are looking for horses that
can work cattle in the morning and entertain
children in the afternoon. Still others buy
with a wary eye to keep from being burned in
the horse market as they have before.
The American horse public has gotten horse
smart. They know about horse traders.
Those who will pay good money for a
gelding have already paid $800 to $ 1200 for
a horse from a horse trader and ended up
unhappy. Today's buyers are just as smart as
the sellers, sometimes smarter. Buyers are
doing their homework because they are
buying for more purposes than just ranches,
like team penning and 4-H projects. One
buyer may want a high-performance horse
while another just likes a good horse to do
different things on.
Education has not only changed the buying
trends of the buyer, it has sprinkled new faces
among them also. With the increased activity
on sale management's part to upgrade the
quality of horses passing through their ring,
the buyers have changed from a majority of
interested spectators who would buy a horse
if the price was right to many committed
buyers hunting a specific animal.
Buyers now want something they can turn
out for three to four weeks, then catch it out
of the pasture and it be the same to ride.
Unless the horse has been ridden hard and
seasoned, he won't be that way. They had
rather pay more and get the seasoned horse
rather than a young one that will act up if
he's turned out for a while.
The decision to sell
Even though ranchers know the buyer market
and find a sale management company they
are comfortable with, deciding whether it is
economically feasible to sell a good ranch
horse depends on their personal program.
Making money is the whole reason for selling
a ranch horse, but there must be younger
horses ready to take his place for the program
to work. Most ranchers have several good
hands working on the ranch and a remuda of
young horses waiting to be ridden. In the
past a favorite gelding served the cowboy
until time to put him out to pasture and only
then w as a young horse brought into the
program. Ranchers who have become active
in horse sales, however, work on a revolving
plan. Rather than keep a ranch horse until
time for pasture, they sell the horse in its
prime and straddle a younger horse to ready
him for future sales.
Besides adding income to the ranch's bottom
line, the sale of quality horse flesh at quality
horse sales is excellent advertisement for a
ranch.
A good ranch horse in a sale is good for your
ranch's reputation and good for advertising it
if you do raise a bunch of horses. There is so
much demand for them, most ranchers won't
hardly sell a horse privately at the ranch
anymore. You can sell fillies, even studs, but
usually it's geldings that bring the best prices.
It's just good advertising for their whole
breeding program.
Going the extra mile usually pays off. To
satisfy buyers in Texas, many sellers there
guarantee their animals. They try to find out
who buys their horses and then let the buyer
dictate to them if they can get along with this
horse. If they can't, the seller will swap out a
horse with them.
The ranch horse
The horse that will whip the checkbook out
of a buyer's pocket is a highly seasoned
animal with plenty of years left to ride.
Years ago, horses were considered
over-the-hill by the age of 12 because of their
rigorous schedule. Today, although the
schedule may be as rigorous, the addition of
trucks and four-wheelers allows horses to be
rotated and thus not burned out so rapidly.
Quite a few outfits do a day's work on 15- to
18-year olds now. Ranchers feed better now,
use better minerals and do everything better.
The animals may be rested two to three days
after one hard day of work.
Today's trend shows buyers looking for
horses 5 years of age and up. Ranchers want
an animal that is physically appealing to the
eye and one that can handle every aspect of
ranch life from separating a cow to opening
gates. They are looking for a combination
horse that can drag calves, won't spook
carrying a flag in a parade and will patiently
ride Junior and Sis around and around in the
trap.
If this describes your ranch horse, if you have
a replacement for him, and if you find a
reputable sale, then your horse may be your
ticket to having your cake and eating it too.
Who knows, he may even top the sale!
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