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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1969)
HEPPNEH GAZETTE-TIMES. Thundery. MoT 1. 1969 Research Results Reported At Beef Cattle Field Day Ranee and cropland Improve ments, plus Improved livestock management can add up to three times the beef output on a given land area, an Oregon State University researcher re vealed recently. W. A. Sawyer, superintendent of the Squaw Butte Experiment Station, reported to more than 200 ranchers and beef cattle in dustry personnel attending; the stations annual field day. "Such practice as seeding range to crested wheatgrass, spraving to control sagebrush, use of feed supplements, and fertilizing to boost meadow hay yields have more than tripled saleable beef production on the Station during the past 15 years with no Increase in land area," Sawyer said. R. J. Raleigh. OSU animal nu trltionlst, reported that supple menting cattle on the range can provide ranchers a good return. "Our studies," he said, "show that with supplemental feeding of barley and cottonseed meal, yearling steers can be brought to acceptable slaughter grade right on the range for total feed costs of less than 9c per pound." Results of a fall calving pro gram, now being studied at the Station, were discussed by H. A. Turner, assistant animal scien tist. "Fall calving," he said, "looks extremely promising for ranchers. Half of the station herd is now on this program, and we have found that the higher weaning weights of fall calves more than pay for the extra feed required." Raleigh also discussed the relative merits of alfalfa and meadow hay, and indicated that alfalfa hay appears to have some advantages particularly with animals under production pressure. "However," he noted, "alfalfa can cause severe bloat problems. And although a sure way to pre vent bloating has not yet been developed, we have found that It helps greatly to make sure that animals have a good sup ply of feed available at all times." During the field day, ranch ers also toured Section 5, win tering quarters for the Station's experimental beef herd. Among the topics discussed by OSU re searchers during the tour were: creep feed for fall calves; pro tein and energy requirements for fall-calving cows; the rela tive value of grain and hay in relation to size of animal; the results of several digestibility studies; and the use of biuret and urea to replace protein in the growing ration. Ranchers can obtain a detail ed report on much of the re search now in progress at the Squaw Butte Station from the Station headquarters in Burns. Forest Service Prepares to Sell Additional Timber Pacific Northwest Region Na tional Forests will sell an ad ditional 410 million board feet of timber in the next 14 months, if Coneress approves money for expanded timber harvest on fed eral lands. Regional Forester Charles A. Connaughton said the expand ed program will be launched as soon as there Is reasonable indication Congress will approve supplemental funds to process and administer timber sales over and above regular pro grams. The White House has an nounced that President Nixon Is asking Congress for sufficient money to cut an additional 1.1 billion board feet of timber irom federal lands during the sext 15 months in a move to increase timber supplies and ease rising lumber prices. Agriculture Sec retary Clifford Hardin said the bulk of 910 million board feet additional cut assigned to the Forest Service would come from the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regions. National Forests In Oregon and Washington would be called upon to sell an additional 64 million board feet by the end of Fiscal Year 1969 (June 30), nd an additional 346 million board feet in Fiscal Year 1970, Regional Forester Connaughton reported. Additional sales would largely Involve salvage and thinning volumes, he indicated. The expanded sale program would affect all National For ests in the Region, except the Siuslaw National Forest, where the regular timber sale program already includes salvage and thinning sales. Quotas are being assigned to the National Forests, with the reservation that necessary ad ditional money and manpower will be forthcoming, Connaugh ton said. Quota for the Umatil la National Forest for the bal ance of 1969 is 5,800,000 board feet, and for 1970, 26,000,000 board feet. in Improve Home, Shop, or Office Efficiency With REDIFORMS We Have Available the Following REDIFORM SPEEDISETS Eedi-letter mes sage and reply, in triplicate SPEEDIMEMO Message and reply, in triplicate TELEPHONE Message Pads STATEMENTS of Earnings and Deductions MONEY RECEIPT Books, duplicate & triplicate REGISTER Sales Slips AUTO REPAIR Orders SALESBOOKS, duplicate and triplicate PURCHASE ORDER Books INVENTORY Sheet Books STATEMENT Pads GUEST CHECK Pads Others Available By Order ALSO STATIONERY SUPPLIES File Fold ers, Mimeo, Duplicating, Bond and Typing Paper, Envelopes (variety of sizes), Type writer Ribbons, Metsker County Maps, Western Notes and Stationery, Scratch Pads. GAZETTE-TIMES OFFICE BOX 337 HEPPNER Higher Meat Price, Stabilized Wheat Seen This Year Higher meat prices and stab ilized prices for wheat products can be expected this year, says S. C. Marks, Oregon State Uni versity Extension economist. In general, Marks says, cattle ranchers will continue to get better prices than they did lust year and meat will be costlier for both the processor and the housewife. But he expects the lower wheat prices will help stabilize the cost of bread. He savs that meat animals will continue to trade well be cause of the strong demand for meat at the supermarket. And there Is only a slight possibility of some respite from the higher meat prices later this spring as farmers market seasonally more cattle but fewer hogs. Beef Demand Off Beef steaks and roasts are short of the strong demand even though the nation's farmers have more beef cattle than ev er before. But Oregon Is produc ing less beef, due to last years severe drought, he noted. Ore- gons cattle population dropped slightly last year after holding stable duing the preceding two years. The state's cattle popula tion was estimated at 1,577,000 head. There was a one per cent decrease in beef cattle and a three per cent drop in dairy cattle. Sheep and lambs are scarce Oregon this year, Marks points out in the circular be cause their number has been de clining steadily during the past years. Lambs are so scarce that prices of Oregon slaughter and feeder lambs now are high er than at any time since 1951. The local market situation was aggravated in Oregon by the heavy losses of lambs dur ing January's heavy snowfall Nearly 38,000 sheep and lambs died from exposure and starva tion, it is estimated. Stock sheep now number only 483,000 head This is a 99-year low and 3 per cent less than a year ago. Stock sheep in the United States are more scarce now than at any previous time since records were started 102 years ago. Pork to be Plentiful Hog prices usually decline from late winter to mid-spring, Marks said, but this year at last appears to be an exception, des pite the fact farmers are send ing 4 to 5 per cent more hogs to packing plants this year. However, if farmers continue to increase hog production as they have each year since 1965 pork will become increasingly more plentiful this fall. If this happens and hog-feed price ratios become less favor able, there may be only a small Increase in the market supply of hogs a year from now. Wheat surpluses are building up again, Marks says, thanks to the three consecutive record world bread grain crops. The in creased production exceeds ef fective demand and exporting countries have engaged in an other wheat price war. Current cash wheat prices are 4 to 5 cents below the minimum spec ified in the International Grains Arrangement that went into ef fect last July. Northwest growers will har vest less wheat acreage this year, Marks said, following the national trend. But this will not solve the wheat export problem unless foreign wheat output is brought into balance with ef fective demand. Copies of the Outlook circular are available at County Exten sion offices. Equation Predicts Beef Cutability Near Actual Yield A new, more precise equation for predicting the "cutability" of beet carcasses has been worked out bv researchers at the Ore gon State University meat scl ence laboratory. W. II. Kennick reports that the equation will predict with In only 2.3 per cent the actual yield of trimmed retail cuts from 95 out of 100 beef carcass es. Prediction methods presently In use come within about 5 per cent of actual v eld. Among other things, the new equation will help the beef cat tie industry produce animals with carcasses of superior cut ability. 'This Is beneficial all the way rrom the cattle ranch to the din ing table," Kennick points out. "It not only costs more to pro duce and market a "wastey' an imal. It also costs more to pur chase the retail cuts such an animal yields." In most cases, the beef car casses used to develop present prediction methods were quite variable in weight and finish. "However," Kennick notes, "it seemed likely that the Influ ence of various carcass charac teristics upon cutability would be different with more uniform croups of cattle, such as are being marketed today." To work out the new eo.ua tlon, the OSU researchers used 4J highly uniform steers that had been finished out to an average slaughter weight of 1.050 pounds. Following slaugh ter and proper aging, the left side of each carcass was cut in to trimmed retail cuts. Kennick explains. "The Infor mation obtained on 18 major variables of each steer for In stance cold carcass weight, fat thickness and rib-eye area was then fed Into a computer, Next, what is known as a step wise multiple linear regression analysis was run on all this information." In this type of analysis, the computer chooses the variable with the greatest amount of in fluence on what Is to be pre dicted and develops an equa tion based on that variable. Then. In succession, each pro gressively less influential vari able Is considered, until all the variables are accounted for. "Without the computer." Ken nick notes. "It would have been virtually impossible to make the many millions of calculations involved In developing the equation." After studying the results of this analysis, the osu researcn era chose six variables which would be the easiest and most practical to obtain In a typical carcass evaluation. These Included cold carcass weleht. conformation score, rib eve area, fat thickness, round weight and flank weight. From a further computer analysis of these variables, the new cuta bility equation was achieved. Prices of Cattle Moving Upward At the beginning of 1969. It was predicted that prices of cat tle would continue about the same as the year previous. What this prediction meant to the pro ducer was again, another year of little or no profit However, the "prophets of no profit" were, thank goodness, in error. Prices of cattle in Oregon and through out the nation continued to move upward starting in Feb ruary and as of April 7, Chicago steer price was topping out at $35, the highest price in the cattle business since the early 1950's. Commenting on the current market trend, Denny Jones, Ore gon Cattlemen's Association president, "Today's cattle price is very heartening to many pro ducers who have been losing money on their operation for well over a decade. The consu mer should understand that to day's beef prices are not high. They reflect a proper and well adjusted profit range for the cattle producer and feeder. It's about time that those of us in the cattle business start realiz ing a fair profit margin for a commodity so essential and so much in demand for the con suming public, as is beef." The OCA indicated that one of the reasons the market is being pushed upward is the growing scarcity of replace ments and the realization that the recent hard winter has re sulted in a high feedlot death loss as well as losses in cattle weights, which will be hard to regain. However, all indications are that the beef boom, in cur rent high prices and consumer demand, will continue. Light Wheat Crop Forecast in Valley, May Cut State Yield An Oregon winter wheat crop of 25,542,000 bushels is forecast as of April 1, according to the Oregon Crop and Livestock Re- porting Service. A crop this size compar.-s with 28,706,000 bush els of winter wheat produced in 1967. Acreage seeded last fall was 21 percent below a year earlier. Moisture conditions are good throughout the state. Winter loss has been at a minimum in east ern areas, However stands are onlv fair in many Willamette Valley areas, due in part to ex cess winter moisture. Some re seeding in this section has been necessary, ueveiopmeni was re tarded earlier, but recent warm temperatures have stimulated growth. This April 1 forecast is based on grower reports on the condit ion of the crop as of that date. Condition was reported at 91, 4 points above April 1 last year. The highest condition was report ed from eastern Oregon counties and the lowest from Willamette Valley areas. The winter wheat crop in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington and Idaho) is fore cast at 158,558,000 bushels, com pared with 180,446,000 bushels in 1968. The U. S. winter wreat crop is forecast at 1,139,825,000 bush els, down 7 percent from the 1228.638.000 produced in 1968. Kansas, with an increase of 28, 375,000 bushels over 1968, is the only "major" wheat state with an increase in production fore cast this year. CROP-WEATHER SUMMARY Morrow County (For week ending April 25, 1969) Soli moisture supply ade quate. Plowing for summer fallow 50 completed. Spotty growth in grain in tome areas but outlook generally faror able. Calving and lambing nearly completed. Most live stock turned out Some annu al grasses heading. Perennial grasses progressing. Stock water excellent Jack Melland traveled to La Grande early this week for meetings on Monday and Tues day with the Oregon State Game Commission. Meeting Slated By Recovery, Inc. The public is invited to at tend a Recovery, Inc., Demon stration Panel on Saturday, May 3, at 7 p.rru, to be held in the parish hall of St Mary's Church, 800 S. E. Court. Pendleton. Recovery, Inc., is a non-profit organization which offers a pro ven system of self-help after care to prevent cnronicny in nervous patients and relapses in former mental patients. The national organization of Recovery. Inc.. is In Its Sina year and, at present, there are 17 groups throughout the state of Oregon. The Pendleton group was formed in January of this year and meets each Tuesday at the Pendleton Neighborhood Center at S. W. 5th & Dorion. For more information write Recovery, Inc., 316 N. W. 7th, Pendleton, or call Joan Pfaff 276 0829. NEED ENVELOPES? The Ga zette-Times can furnish you with any size or kind. Includ ing special needs. Many are carried in stock, others avail able on order. MONEY TALKS Save Some Before It Says, "Goodbye" OPEN AN ACCOUNT TODAY ACCOUNTS NOW INSURED TO $15,000 FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION BOX 848 PENDLETON Packwood Sponsors Irrigation Bill Senator Bob Packwood has an nounced co-sponsorship of a bill which will change a 67-year-old law "that is out of step with the times." The bill, Packwood said, would Increase from 160 to 640, the number of acres ior which a farmer may obtain irrigation water under a reclamation law passed in 1902. "The 160-acre limitation is unrealistic, uneconomic, unjust and obsolete today," Packwood said. "The original 160-acre lim itation was enacted 67 years ago in an apparent effort to follow the philosophy of the Homestead Act. That Act was designed to encourage family settlement on public lands. "But times have changed dra matically since then. In fact, the acreace limitation which was intended to provide certain benefits for the so-called fam ily size farm is now having just the opposite effect in many cases. Today it forces individu al farmers to engage in limited operations which, in the world of today's modern agriculture are inefficient and uneconomic, perpetuate 'subsistence farm ing.' and Impede businesslike growth. "Because of the heavy need for capital investment for cost ly machinery and the Increased costs of farm labor, the cost per acre of operating a farm unit of 160 acres is much higher than for larger units. "The result is that the costs to the small farmer are higher, and he, in turn must pass along these increases to the consumer." UNCOLN-MERCURT LEADS THE WAY MIMEOGRAPH and duplicator paper stocked in 84x11, 84x14, 16 lb. and 20 lb., white and wide range of colors at The Gazette- THE CAT THAT LETS YOU OUTOF THE BAG s FREEDOM IS COUGAR. 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