A8
AG DAY
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Perusing the journals of past Extension Service agents
Here’s a look back at
Grant County’s rich agricul-
tural history from the journal
pages of past OSU Extension
Service agents:
Dec. 1, 1927 - Dec. 1,
1928
Communities Served:
Prairie City, John Day, Mount
Vernon, Canyon City, Day-
vile, Bear Valley, Izee, Mon-
ument, Silvies, Fox Valley,
Long Creek, Hamilton, Cot-
tonwood, Ritter, Galena, Kim-
berly, Top and Court Rock.
There was a change of
agents during the period of
this report, D.E. Richards
having served the county
from December 1, 1927 to
September 15, 1928, with
R.G. Johnson, Jr. ¿lling out
the year during the months of
October and November.
Grant County is essen-
tially a range livestock coun-
ty. In number of beef battle it
ranks ¿fth among the various
counties of the state with 29,
195 head. In number of sheep
the county ranks ninth, hav-
ing 99,870 head. These two
sources provide more than
75% of the county’s agricul-
tural income.
There are 591 ranchers
and stockmen in the coun-
ty and the total agricultural
wealth, including livestock
buildings and equipment,
according to the census, is
$10,173,692.
“On the evening of No-
vember 24, a call was re-
ceived that yearlings were
dying from Blackleg at Izee, a
Southworth Bros., Inc.
Ranching with a passion for the sustainable
use of our natural resources since 1885.
Jack & Teresa Southworth,
Ed Newton, Brad Smith
Ken Harvey and Lucas Moore.
Seneca, Oregon
Family Owned for 33 Years
Providing Grant County with feed and farm supplies for
its agricultural industry.
distance of 54 miles. By 9:30
a.m. of November 25, 95 head
had been vaccinated by the
County Agent. This rancher
will now vaccinate on time.
Delay cost him $210.00.”
One livestock club, a pig
club, was organized and com-
pleted its work at Prairie City.
The club had ten members
including Phillip W. Kuhl, Jr.,
Gilbert Olp, Paul Olp, Robert
Hall and Roland Bradford.
Mrs. Echo Kuhl was leader.
December 1, 1932 –
Dec. 1, 1933
The major project on the
program is forage improve-
ment. It is vital to the live-
stock man. If he can see a ton
more hay, he can see more
money to be made. If he has
not the feed, the stock had bet-
ter be dead.
Alfalfa stands are not
holding out in the John Day
Valley in most places. Many
ranches, which originally
yielded well, have quit. This
brings to mind the fact that
perhaps there are some soil
de¿ciencies.
With the large percentage
of range land in comparison to
tillable land – and that tillable
lands laying in long, narrow
strips – there is a very de¿-
nite need for some control of
rodents and pests. A very ac-
tive, continued control is nec-
essary, and this project should
never be lost sight of.
Besides the above named
larger issues, the County
Agent’s of¿ce has been kept
rather busy diagnosing and
trying to diagnose other trou-
bles. County Agent is not a
Veterinarian – having had only
two years of the work – but in
many cases we are able to run
down troubles or get help from
the outside to diagnose it.
At the present time, ac-
tivities of the County Agent
of Grant County include the
following:
Contributed/OSU Extension
Grasshoppers threatened a large acreage of range land. This shows a CCC
crew spreading poison bait in July, 1938.
Contributed/OSU Extension
Ladak Alfalfa in Bear Valley, 4,800 ft. elevation with frost almost every night. (1933)
Regular County Agent
Work
Secretary of the Grant
County Chapter of American
Red Cross
Member of the County
Relief Committee
Secretary of the Grant
County Stockgrowers’ Asso-
ciation
Chairman of the Agricul-
MARCIEL
Dec. 1, 1937 – Nov. 30,
1938
Well Drilling & Pumps
311 N Canyon City Blvd, Canyon City
541-575-2050
J OHN D AY
Proudly Supporting Eastern
Oregon Agriculture
NAPA
IS PROUD TO SPONSOR
E ASTERN O REGON ’ S
tural Committees of Pomona
Grange
In charge of agricultural
exhibits at the Grant County
Fair
Judge at the Prairie City
Round Up
Member of the ’62 Asso-
ciation
Member of John Day
Chamber of Commerce
Member of Farm Mort-
gage Adjustment Committee
541-932-4334 • WWC#1606 • CCB#156965 • CPI#101
As tabulated by the Or-
egon State Agricultural Col-
lege Extension Service, 1926
to 1930 farm income for Grant
County was $2,360,000. Of
this amount, 86.5% was from
animal products and 13.5%
represented crop products,
and these sold practically all
within the county.
The 1935 USDA census
showed the livestock popula-
tion in the county as 46,048
head of cattle and 118,870
head of sheep on 710 farms.
The demand for services
of the County Agent contin-
ued during the year with a
total of 3,221 calls received;
1,635 letters written; and 403
farm calls made.
Further trials of Victory
oats were established on the
Guttridge ranch, Prairie City,
15 acres; Oliver Brothers,
John Day, 6 acres; and Homer
Barry ranch, John Day, 1 acre.
Comparison of yields with
Swedish Select and Markton
oats under irrigated condi-
tions showed that Victory oats
out-yielded the other two va-
rieties.
Some improvement of
meadows and a consider-
able increase in the acreage
of forage crops occurred in
1938. This increase in acreage
followed closely recommen-
dations of the County Agent
of¿ce for seeding of Ladak
alfalfa for dry land; smooth
bromegrass in meadow mix-
tures; and crested wheat grass
on dry, idle crop land to con-
trol soil erosion.
December 1, 1942 –
November 30, 1943
A GRICULTURE B USINESS .
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& RANCH EQUIPMENT RUNNING
SMOOTHLY SINCE 1966.
530 NW Main St. • Suite 10 • John Day • 541-575-1911
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721 W Main • John Day • 541-575-1850
North Fork Watershed Council
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In cooperation with the
Fish and Wildlife Service as-
sist producers with their prob-
lems of predatory animal and
rodent control.
Familiarize farmers with
county production goals and
the need for increased produc-
tion in the war effort.
Develop a county victory
garden program in coopera-
tion with County USDA War
Board, Defense Council, Nu-
trition Council and Granges.
The following outline in-
dicates the progress of the vic-
tory garden project in Grant
County:
Number of farm families
in the county, 580.
Estimated number of
farm families growing gar-
dens in 1943, 500.
See JOURNALS, Page A9
John Day Basin Office
Community Focused, Landscaped Reflected!
Do you need help in the
upper John Day basin:
Oxbow Conservation Area
Reducing Fire Hazard
Battling Weed Species
Improving Water Quality
and Quantity
Evaluating Range and
Timber Resources
Planning and Monitoring
Forest Conservation Area
Contact the North Fork
John Day Watershed
Council to see what we
can do for you!
541-421-3018
www.nfjdwc.org
Connecting Grant County Youth with Landowners to
Make a Difference. Keep your eyes open this summer
to view the work of our Youth Crew.
Or, call to hire the Crew!
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has a long tradition
of natural resource stewardship. The John Day River basin is
within the Tribes ceded lands and supporting
sustainable agriculture and watershed restoration efforts are
an important part of maintaining cultural foods and fish
populations.
The Tribes want to recognize the value of local agriculture,
and the landowners that work to build and maintain the lands
and communities that we live in.
John Day Basin Office • 320 W. Main Street • John Day • (541) 575-1866 ext.11
