County Agent's Office
Weed Control Need
Growing In County
By N. C. ANDERSON
One of the responsibilities of
the extension program is that
of weed control. Over the years
a lot of emphasis has been placed
on this important project, how
ever, there are many inquiries
each year as to why weed con
trol has not progressed more
rapidly. Many feel that the coun
ty control program is moving
slowly and that many ranchers
are not as concerned as they
should be with weed control on
their ranches.
The county court declared the
county a Weed Control District
in 1937. While there are many
"teeth" which can be used to
force control, it is still up to the
individual to carry out control
practices on his own ranch and
to make it a point to see that
weeds growing on public road
right-of-ways, and threatening
infestations on adjacent private
land are being controlled. This
concern is quite justifiable when
we take into consideration that
a "whopping" 4 billion dollars
is spent annually in cost; of labor
and materials for weed control,
added to losses from reduced
yield and lower quality in crops
throughout the county. It is also
estimated that the average cost
of cultivation alone for weed
control amounts to 8 of the
total value of crops produced.
It is easy to see from (his that
it is not a good management
practice to let weeds go to seed
on your farm or to permit your
land to be infested from care
lessness of neighbors. Because we
have a definite responsibility in
planning research on specific
weed problems; planning re
search and development pro
grams on new herbicides; plan
ning long range basic research
that will open "new frontiers"
for practical weed control de
velopment; predicting problems
that may be encountered in rec
ommending herbicides for use
by farmers, and developing edu
cational programs, the weed con
trol project is one of the very
important ones here.
Research and education in
weed control is especially im
portant since new herbicides are
coming on the market at an un
believable rate each year. Since
1950, the number of basic herb
icides has increased from 14 to
over 100. In planning weed con
trol practices for 1964, this re
sponsibility was given to Joe
Hay who has met with our Coun
ty Weed Control committee dur
ing the past several months in
working out an accelerated pro
gram including the county op
erated weed sprayer and exper
imental, demonstrational and
educational work with our farm
people. While Joe will be leav
ing very shortly, we do plan to
continue with a weed control
shortcourse which was planned
by him and the weed committee
recently.
A letter is in the mail to all
of you at this time asking that
those interested return a regis
tration form indicating his in
terest in attending the short
course. The shortcourse has been
well planned. During the two
days, there will be some good
basic materials presented which
will help our ranchers to better
understand how weed cnemicais
work and why they get good
control of weeds on one occasion
and poor control on another.
There will be a discussion on
some of the new herbicides and
why there has been such a rapid
introduction of new ones during
the past few years.
Believing that many of our
ranchers do not understand fully
the weed problems of the coun
ty, nor can they identify many
of the important perennial nox
ious weeds, there will be some
time spent on this. I would sug
gest that you study the agenda
for the weed control shortcourse
scheduled for February 5 and 6
then plan to attend. Your regis
tration form will help us in
planning for interest and partici
pation. Line-breeding Improves Weight
The USDA announced recently
research showing that an extra
25 pounds of weight can be ex
pected on your weaner calves
by line-crossing Herefords. USDA
work shows line-crossed bull
calves to be about 20 pounds
heavier and heifers about 30
pounds heavier than the pure
breds produced within lines. This
indicates that the wide genetic
variance available within the
Hereford breed makes it possible
to obtain cross-breeding advan
tages, yet stav within the breed.
While some of our ranchers have
discussed this and have been
aware of the possibilities for sev
eral years, few have practiced it.
I am sure that the increase in
weaning weights in some of our
herds have been partially, at
least, due to line-crossing, per
haps accidentally.
Major Breeds Compared
Some additional research by
USDA on breed differences in
cattle is interesting. The USDA
conducted research on 7 breeds
of cattle involving beef type,
dairy type, and Sebu type (Brah
man) steers. Herefords gained
faster, had higher cutting yields,
and scored higher on platibility
tests than Angus. Angus carcass
es had the most marbeling and,
therefore, graded higher on
USDA carcass grade, but they
had lower cutting yields due to
a higher percent of fat. Both
Herefords and Angus scored
higher on paltibility than dairy
type or Brahmans crosses.
Holstein steers made high
daily gaines. produced carcasses
with fairly good cutting yields,
and ranked about average among
all the breeds on eating quality.
Jersey steers produced the most
tender carcasses, but were very
low on average daily gain and
were least efficient on produc
tion. Brahmans had the highest
percentage of separable muscle,
had very poor feedlot perfor
mance, and ranked lowest on
platibility. Brahman crosses had
acceptable gains and carcass cut
ability, but ranked next to bot
ton on paltibility scores.
Farmer Efficiency Increased
Twice as Fast as Industry
Here are some facts that few
people realize. Did you know
that in the past 15 years the
efficiency of the American farm
er has increased at twice the
rate as has industry? On about
300 million harvested acres we
produce all the food and fiber
needed for our 190 million
people, plus all we can sell for
cash to our neighbors overseas,
plus other millions of dollars
worth of food and fiber shipped
each year to needy countries un
der special disposal programs.
Food is cheaper today than at
any other time in history. The
average family today spends
over 197c of its income for food.
No other group in history has
used such a small percentage
for food.
During the same time that we
have produced all of this food,
we, too, have had drouths. In the
50's this country experienced
wide-spread drouths over large
areas of our wheat and livestock
country but never a shortage of
any agricultural food products.
We hear so much about the prob
lems that surplus seem to create,
that we seldom stop to think just
how much worse it would be to
have just 10 less than we need
in any commodity, that we have
only a 6 month's to a year's
reserve of many commodities.
I know this information is of
little benefit to the people that
read this column. Many times
I have been asked how we can
get city people to realize some
of these things. It would be a
good project for each farmer to
clip out such facts as these and
mail them to their city cousins
from time to time. Little by little
these people might become bet
ter informed of things they take
for granted about agriculture and
the price of food, clothing and
other things they use in every
day life that come from the soil.
Zinc Phosphide Treated
Grain Controls Field Mice
During the fall and winter
months, meadow mice do dam
age to orchards, lawns, pastures
and other agricultural crops.
These are the mice that caused
so much damage to range lands
only a few short years ago and
whose population seem to be
building back up again this year.
Their presence may be detected
at this time oi year aiong aucn
banks, fence rows and in weed
Datches. Occasionally, they in
vade flower gardens and lawns
in town.
Meadow mice can be controlled
with 1 zinc phosphide treated
grain. To be effective as well as
safe, 6 to 12 kernels of the
poison grain must be placed in
the mouse holes, or runways
this is an average of 3-5 pounds
per treated acre. This grain
should not be applied by broad
casting. The bait can be applied
by using a quart jar with a
small hole in the lid, the hole
to be large enough to allow 6-12
kernels of grain to be easily
shaken out. It can be applied
just about as fast as a person
can walk. There should be a
space of 10-12 feet between bait
ed places.
When applied correctly, this
rodenticide is considered safe for
wildlife and other animals. The
best time to control meadow
mcie is when a small colony is
starting to develop. This coloni
zation, or presence of even a few
mice, can be identified by a
group of holes, runways and in
some soils, fresh diggings, A
thorough job of baiting these
small colonies can safely and
effectively prevent agricultural
damage and it can be done at
a reasonable cost. The meadow
Single
Male Drivers - Under
Age 25
ARE DIFFICULT TO INSURE
But We Have A
SPECIAL POLICY
For This Purpose
Come in and see us about it today.
C. A. RUGGLES, INSURANCE
Heppner Ph. 676-9G25
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES. Thursday, January 2. 1964
Canadian Wheat
Pricing Concept
Concerns Growers
By JOHN WELBES
Executive Vice President
Oregon Wheat Growers League
A new and daring concept in
wheat marketing has been init
iated by t ho Canadian Wheat
Board which should be of in
terest and concern to the entire
U. S. wheat industry. Known as
Guaranteed Forward Pricing it
contains two features which are
extremely desirable from the
point of view of the foreign buy
er. (1) The buyer is given a
long-term commitment on the
price of the wheat. Assurance is
given that the agreed upon gen
eral price will not, change de
spite delivery periods of as much
as three years. (2) Desirable
credit terms are offered to the
buyer. The major sales efforts
have been in the balance-of-payment
building cash markets
of the world where credit terms
are important.
These increased efforts by
Canada to sell wheat, point out
again a problem which must be
faced by U. S. wheat producers,
the grain trade, and the govern
ment itself. Basically and some
what oversimplified the prob
lem is whether the U. S. should
take steps to become aggressive
competitors for the world wheat
markets. The alternative, which
exists to a large extent today
(except for the special efforts
of wheat; producer groups) is to
continue only as residual sup
pliers. The foreign wheat sales offen
sive has been made possible to
some extent at least by the pol
icies of our own government,
which has assured other export
ing countries that it will not
flood the world market with our
wheat by selling below the In
ternational Wheat Agreement
range. In fact, the world price
may be maintained at a level
somewhat above the IWA min
imum. This assurance was given
following the defeat of the wheat
referendum last May.
Since then, Canadian wheat
salesmen have been working
overtime in the wheat import
ing countries of the world ob
taining orders for as much as
three years in advance. A recent
estimate of commitments by
Canada for the next three years
is 779 million bushels in the
cash markets of the world.
Just how significant is the
agressiveness of the Canadians
is best answered by the man
ner in which it has affected the
wheat producer. On the strength
of increased sales, Canadian
growers increased acreage in 1963
and production reached an all
time high. The same thing has
happened in Australia record
acreages, record production, rec
ord exports, and record income.
Since the 1959-60 crop year, Aus
tralia's growers have increased
their wheat acreage by 88.
Meanwhile, U. S. producers are
restricted to an acreage allot
ment of one-third of their ca
pacity. Canadian wheat farm
ers are being urged to go all out
in 1964, to plant from "fence
line to fenceline."
There are other implications
as well. A concerted move is
underway to drastically change
the international agreements be
tween countries in regard to
wheat trade. One proposal is a
system of international market
ing quotas whereby each export
ing country would be allowed to
sell only to a designated im
porting country. The amount
which could be sold would be
based on "traditional" history of
sales, which explains the present
mice do not roam the fields in
search of food, but mostly stay
confined to holes or established
runways.
The 1 zinc phosphide treated
grain specially prepared by Fish
and Wildlife Service can be ob
tained at cost from this office.
5
?amm mm
Federal Income
Tax Aid Offered
Period for filing 1963 Federal
income tax returns will extend
from January 2 to April 15, in
clusive, A. G. Eiickson, district
director of the Internal Revenue
Service for Oregon, has announ
ced. In this area, help is offered
in offices at Pendleton and The
Dalles. They are to be open for
information to taxpayers each
Monday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:45
p.m. Office at Pendleton is at
611 E, E. Emigrant and in The
Dalles at 26 Post Office build
ing. The Portland office, 827 N. E.
Oregon Street, will provide infor
mation service Monday through
Friday, from January 2 through
April 13, with office hours set at
8 a.m. through 4:45 p.m.
Boardman News
Mr. and Mrs. Dewey West and
children Larry and Dewena, and
Keith Gronquist spent the week
end visiting in The Dalles at the
home of West's brother-in-law
and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Dale
Russell. They also visited in Lyle,
Wn. at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Marshall Hamm, former resi
dents here.
Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Forthman
and daughter, Cathy Loop of
Payette, Ida., visited last week
at the home of Mrs. Forthman's
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Claud
Worden. Week-end visitors at the
Worden home were Mr. and Mrs.
John Roberts of Klickitat, Wn.
feverish activity of Canada and
Australia in foreign sales. We
feel some very pertinent ques
tions arise if the U. S. is to
actually attempt to overcome the
offensive of our competitors in
world wheat trade. We recognize
the wheat industry and market
ing structure of each competing
country differ considerably from
that of the United States, and
especially in the area of govern
ment backing of credit and gov
ernment participation in the ac
tual trade transaction. It is well
that the entire wheat industry
be aware of the situation dis
cussed in the preceding article.
'TOO C
Ice water feels fine to him. But not to you. If
you're short of hot water every now and then,
your whole family will appreciate an automatic
electric water heater
You'U have all the hot water you want, when
you want it, for dishes, laundry and bathing.
Modern electric water heaters are the quick
recovery type No matter how much hot water you
use. there's always plenty more An electric water
Unit Meetings
To Study Lesson
On Will Making
By ESTHER KIRMIS
During the month of January,
the extension unit women will
turn their attention to "Wills"
and their importance.
The lesson provides informa
tion about legal matters import
ant to every family.
Ask yourself these questions:
How do you own your prop
erty and what effect .does type
of ownership have on transfer
at time of death?
Under Oregon law who would
receive your property if you did
not leave a will?
Why have a will?
What requirements must a
will meet in Oregon?
Do you need a lawyer to pro
pare your will?
What is Probate?
What does an executor do and
what does lie get paid?
What about property held in
other states and wills made in
other stales?
These and other topics load
finally to the steps of, making
a wiil, which are, nJrai'ly out
lined for easy usigfi'
The lesson closes with a game
of "legal lotto" designed to help
everyone check on how well he
understands the language of
law.
Oregon State Bar Approval
The lesson material, prepared
by Dorothy S. Miller, former OSU
family finance specalst, has
been prepared in cooperation
with the Oregon State Bar.
Mrs. Paul Slaughter, Irrigon,
told me that their lawyer gave
them a copy of this bulletin to
read before they made out their
will. He said it was the best lay
man's manual he had ever come
across. When it came off the
press a year ago every lawyer
in Oregon was sent a copy. Her
man Winter, our district attorney,
told me ho had a copy.
If you want answers to ques
tions about your property and
heirs attend one of these unit
meetings in your community.
January 8 Rhea Creek, Grange
hall, Mrs. John Graves and Mrs
Emma Cecil, leaders.
January 8 Pine City, Pine
City school, Mrs. Weldon Wither
rite, leader.
January 9 lone, Norman Nel
son home, Mrs. Norman Nelson
and Mrs. Bryce Keene, leaders.
January 9 Irrigon, Old school
building, Mrs. Charles Mead,
Mrs. Andrew Skiles and Mrs. Don
Kenny, leaders.
art m jtt mm
OLD" ?
heater does the job
quietly, quickly, effi
ciently, economically.
It can be installed
almost any place.
ELECTRICITY the heart of modern living
Columbia Basin Electric
CO-OP
"SERVING MORROW AND GILLIAM COUNTIES"
Angus Sale Set
For January 25
Oregon Angus Association is
sponsoring the Oregon Trail
Angus sale at the Umatilla
County Fairgrounds in Hermis
ton on Saturday, January 25.
This is expected to be a quality
bull and female sale from lead
ing breeders in Oregon, Wash
ington, Idaho and California,
and will include a few calves
for the 4-H and FFA boys and
girls.
Angus calves and cross-bred
calves with angus bulls have
been selling at top prices through
the year among breeders.
There will be a no-host get
together and dinner Friday, Jan
uary 24, at 7:30 p.m. at Me
Cabe's Cafe on Main Street in
Hermiston.
The one day show and sale
will start with the show at 9:00
a.m. on January 25, with the
sale following at 12:30 p.m.
January 11 Heppner, R. G.
Watkins home, Mrs. William
Heath and Mrs. Ray Massey,
leaders.
January 21 Boardman, Art
Allen home. Mrs. William See
hafer and Mrs. Hazel Carpenter,
leaders.
All meetings begin at 10:30
a.m.
Other Uses of This Lesson
Mrs. Norman Nelson, Lexing
ton, tells me that she will also
give this lesson to the Topic
club of lone.
District Attorney Herman Win
ter will assist me in giving this
lesson on wills at the Money
Management shortcourse in Irri
gon on February 3.
Three Inescapable Events
Three inescapable events
which everyone should recognize,
says Mrs. Miller, are (1) You
are going to die, (2) You can't
take it with you, and (3) Some
one else is going to get your
property.
A sensible person makes suit
able plans to pass on his estate.
Training To Project Leaders
Project leaders for "A Will of
Your Own" will be trained on
January 7 at the Lexington
school, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Mrs. Alberta Johnston, OSU
Family Finance Specialist, will
assist me with this training.
She is in the county to speak
at the Money Management short -course
in Irrigon on January G
and will meet with a steering
committee from this part of the
county, to investigate possibil
ities of having a money manage
ment shortcourse in Heppner this
winter.
wim j yy
i. r
An electric water heater doesn't have to be
placed in the basement or an out-of-the-way place
There are no flues, vents, flames or odor to
interfere with where you place it.
You can tuck it neatly away in a clothes closet
or under a kitchen counter.
An electric water heater is attractive enough to
be out in plain view for everyone to see. End
your hot-water worries. Sec your electric appliance
dealer or your rural
electric representative
today and take advan
tage of the modern
way to heat water.
Wheat Group Names
Pakistan Director
Western Wheat Associates to
day announced the appointment
of Fred Sehneiter, Walla Walla
Chamber of Commerce Manager,
as Director of their marketing
program in Pakistan.
Richard K. Baum, Executive
Vice President of the organi
zation, said Sehneiter will join
their staff as of January 1, i964
and would move to Karachi, Pak
istaa with his family in Feb
ruary. He will be responsible
for the organization's wheat
marketing program in both East
and West Pakistan.
Western Wheat Associates is
the foreign marketing arm of
the wheat commissions and
grower associations of Idaho,
Orogon and Washington.
The new director for Pakistan
is a 1952 graduate of the Uni
versity of Oregon. He has worked
for newspapers in La Grande,
Pendleton, Portland and Boise.
Before joining the Walla Walla
Chamber of Commerce as Man
ager in 1959, he was manager of
the La Grande Chamber of Com
merce for four years.
Christmas day found Mr. and
Mrs. Merrilt Gray, David and
Harold, in Hermiston spending
the day with Mr. Gray's mother,
Mrs. Jenn Gray.
The Nels Anderson family
spent Christmas day in The
Dalles with Mrs. Anderson's
brother and sister-in-law, Mr.
and Mrs. Calvin Yackley, and
family, former residents.
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Lynch and
their son, Mike, departed Friday
for their home in Eugene after
spending Christmas in Heppner
with family and friends.
LIVESTOCK LOSSES
imount to over $2 Billion annually,
(according to USDA estimates)
USE OUR LIVESTOCK
SUPPLY DEPARTMENT
It if designed to icrv you in your
livestock Disease Prevention Program
WE MATURE
VACCINES
and SUPPLIES
HUMPHREYS
REXALL DRUG
Heppner
Ph. 676-9610