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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2018)
Ag Day Blue Mountain Eagle CATTLE Continued from Page A10 “It could get to 20 below zero some winters,” Holliday said. “We didn’t see many visitors on those days.” The cattle drive could be a big tourist draw. Visitors would call ahead of time to find out when the AG Continued from Page A10 can remove about 13 tons of dust and gases every year from the surrounding environment. • Almost a third of the world’s total land area is covered by forests. • Hamburger meat from a single steer will make about 720 quarter-pound hamburg- er patties. That’s enough for a family of four to enjoy hamburgers each day for nearly six months. • Straight from the cow, the temperature of cow’s milk is about 97 degrees Fahrenheit. • Farmers and ranchers provide food and habitat for 75 percent of the nation’s wildlife. • Americans eat about 125 pounds of potatoes a year, about half from fresh potatoes and half in pro- cessed foods. • Onions contain a mild antibiotic that fights infec- tions, soothes burns, tames bee stings and relieves the itch of athlete’s foot. • Peanuts are not actually nuts. Peanuts, like soybeans, are members of the legume family. • One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of pop. • A family of four could live for 10 years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat. • Each American con- cows would be coming through, and motels would be booked. A photo of the cattle drive has been hanging in Washington, D.C., for about 35 years, Holliday said. “Three TV shows were made of the drive,” he said. “One crew filmed here for about a week, from start to finish.” Holliday said the early drives in- volved about 100 cows, but that in- creased to 2,000 head over the last sumes, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year. • Pigs can’t sweat. Pigs have no sweat glands, which is why they roll around in mud to cool off. • Heart valves from hogs are used to replace damaged or diseased human heart valves. • One acre (43,560 square feet) of soybeans can pro- duce 82,368 crayons. • One bale of cotton can produce 1,217 men’s T-shirts or 313,600 $100 bills. • Cotton is a food crop. Almost 200 million gallons of cottonseed oil are used in food products such as marga- rine and salad dressing. Cot- tonseed and cottonseed meal are used in feed for livestock and poultry. And even prod- ucts such as toothpaste, ice cream, and the paper money used to buy them contain by-products of the cotton seed. • It takes just 40 days for most Americans to earn enough money to pay for their food supply for the entire year. In comparison with the 129 days it takes the average American to earn enough money to pay federal, state and local taxes for the year. • More than 96 billion pounds of edible “surplus” food is thrown away in the U.S. each year. It is estimat- ed that almost 27 percent of our food supply is wasted. • Grant County appreci- ates its farmers and ranch- ers. Wednesday, March 14, 2018 15 years. Cows lined both sides of Highway 395 in three bunches for 10 miles, he said. “The front of the herd usually got home before the end got through John Day,” Holliday said. The work was divvied up into three sets of four riders, with drovers in front and back of each bunch. Over the years, the Hollidays’ children and grandchildren took part in the drive. And there were plenty of volunteers, but the Hollidays put a cap on the number of riders at around 20 total. “We had to be pretty selective about who,” Holliday said. The riders typically went home each night and returned in the morn- ing. A big meal was served at the Hol- liday ranch on the final day. “Something funny always hap- pened on the drive,” Holliday said. “Some serious, some funny.” The drive was good exercise for the cows, he said, but a few got hit by cars. None were killed, but a few were crippled up, he said. One by one, the cattle drives came to an end. For the Holliday brothers — Ron, Darrel and Ken — the last drive was in 2006. Ken is the only brother with a divided ranch, but he relies on trucks now to move his cows, Darrel said. “It has lived its life,” Holliday said. Ag history in Grant County Leland Gibbs and his 4-H horse — a good project for ranch boys along with a beef project in 1948. Contributed photos Lincoln Brome on Homer Barry Ranch in John Day in 1953. Homer says, “This is the grass with alfalfa for hay on well drained land. I also like alternate rows for more grass in the mixture.” At Grayback Foresty we provide family wage jobs to our employees, in an environment that promotes integrity, honesty, and an excellence in work ethic built on a strong foundation that will last many generations to come. Sharon Carter and her 4-H heifer, one of the 24 in Grant County in 1948. Pioneer Feed 60561 Hwy 26 | John Day | 541-575-0023 43015 Supporting Agriculture for 10 years and providing for all your animal needs. 42714 43017 Ranching is hard work. I’ll work hard to protect your ranch and auto. Get to a better State . Get State Farm. 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