Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1970)
Thunu, January 29. 1973 Werffoir tf Infcfo Citord $$M ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT OF January 1, 1970 Bank Balance Jan. 1, 1969 $1,880.69 Jan. 8, Times saving Acct 1,000.00 Received from Coo Cooperators Credit Gross income from Cc Donations for annual Gross Income Minus Cooperator credit Bank deposits and on hand for 19G9 .... $ .$ 355.75 .30 ..$ 356.03 .. 129.00 .. 132.00 ..$ 617.05 .30 ..$ 616.75 880.69 616.75 Disbursements during 19C9 Dues and membership (State & National) $ 147.50 Stewardship Material 24.00 Stamps 18.00 Advertisements and notices 181.95 Hall rental 15.00 Refreshments for annual and water meeting 28.65 Four members attended State Consv. Meet 150.00 Trophy awards 33.50 5th grade tour 25.00 5th grade tour bus driver 8.75 Treasurer Bond 10.00 Liability Bond 46.00 Sect, of State; State audit 5.00 Graffex Camera, attachments and supplies 419.16 $1,497.44 J . ; . . " v '. ... j - - 'A.vr.' I I! How Do Columbia By KEN TURNER We Obtain River Water It has been 6 years since Cal ifornia threatened to divert the The Soil Conservation Service has nearly completed detailed soil mapping on 150,000 acres In Columbia. This had the positive " . i ,'. Uation development group U getting fea-sibility cost figures to see how we compare with Total Expenses $1,112.51 Paid out by checks $1,112.51 Bank balance and on hand Jan. 1, 1970 $ 384.93 On time savings account $1,000.00 value of equipment $ 957.24 Total cash and equipment Jan. 1, 1970 $2,342.17 Accounts receivable $ 115.50 Less account credits 1.00 $ 114.50 Will have earned on Time Savings 50.69 Equipment Rentals and Sales Gopher Getter 35 per acre, Minimum $5.00 rental Grass Drill 50 per acre, Minimum $5.00 rental Land leveling stakes ..1.00 per acre, Minimum $2.00 sale Survey stakes 5.00 per bundle Minimum $2.00 rental $ 5.00 $ 57.50 $176.10 $129.70 AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER going on potato patch at Nelson-Tucker farm. Columbia river watet could make possible mora crop scenes In Mor row county such as this. Imgafioe. Potential Giret Foir fitoinrow County km effect of arousing our interest in Irrigation. Financing high lift and long othef joctJJ mental challenge. The three leading possibilities for supple menting Irrigation pumping and delivery costs are 1) Coolant Water There is a real prospect of getting a nu clear generator siting in Morrow County. In this event the Port of Morrow can design an irrl gat ion grid to use coolant wa tcr. 2) Bureau of Reclamation Reclamation projects are desir able in many ways and the prime reason Is long term fed eral financing. There are two Now that the Blue ML RC&D has been designated and fund ed the area should get top pri orities for resource development. USDA, the Secretary of Agri culture, and the Nixon admlnis- tration has an official commit tal to help rural areas grow and reverse the trend of increasing city congestion. This is the key that can assure our area get ting nuclear generator along with an industry-agriculture combination. But many more people will drawbacks however, one being v " the slowness getting government getting government sanctioning and the 160 aere limitation make them imprac tical 3) State Revenue Bonds State supplemental irrigation funding can give necessary long term, lower cost financing. Rep. Irvin Mann spearheaded a bill at Ore gon legislature that nearly pass ed last session. Private Privately financed Total Received $368.30 Noble blade, Packer, Terracer not used during year. Respectfully, EDMOND GONTY, Treasurer Port of Morrow Nuclear Plant Siting Makes Progress By RUPERT KENNEDY Port of Morrow Coordinator The Port of Morrow nuclear power plant siting and coolant water irrigation to 80,000 Mor row County acres is moving In the right direction. On January 15, 1970 a tour of the project was conducted with Mr. Russ Richmond, ad ministrator of Bonneville Power Administration, and Mr. Larry Wilkinson, administrator of the Oregon Nuclear Development Council. They were impressed with the project, the quality and terrain of the lands to be irri gated and the plant site on the river. Mr. Wilkinson will direct his task force to determine if the, site meets the criteria of the State. It is the intention of the Port commission to have the state designate the Morrow multiple site as one of Oregon's prime nuclear sites. If this is accomplished, the Port commission may employ a competent engineering firm to lay out a water coolant irriga tion grid and install the system several years ahead of the pow er plant installation with reve nue bond financing. It is hoped that the future will call for a two cell plant doubling the irrigated acreage. Port of Morrow Commission Rupert Kennedy, Coordinator By HAROLD E. KERR A wide variety of crops can be grown in Morrow County with irrigation. A partial list would include wheat, potatoes, dry beans, sugar beets, grass seed, seed peas, mint, pasture, alfalfa, legume seeds, grapes and others. Each of these crops have distinct advantages and disadvantages. The largest sing le determiner of what kinds of crops we will grow under irri gation is what crops we can market. Marketing channels can be developed: often one or two years is needed to test the mar ket, to determine quality levels and achieve production levels high enough to attract process or, packers or other users of an agricultural product. A brief description of various commodities and expected pro duction levels from this area follows: These yields are based on yields received in Eastern Washington and results from demonstration plots on Shutler Flat in Gilliam County conduct ed by Tom Zinn, Gilliam Coun ty Extension agent. Alfalfa is well adapted to this area. Yield potentials are as high as 10 ton per acre. Aver age yields in Washington are around 5 ton. Alfalfa is a soil building crop, it works well in a rotation with row crops. Another advantage of alfalfa is the high demand for alfalfa in this area. Livestock numbers will increase, as well as more livestock feeding which will in crease the demand for forage crops such as alfalfa. Potatoes are an excellent crop for new irrigated areas. They are especially well adapted to lands receiving irrigation for the time. They are a high return crop with rather high risks In volved in producing a market able crop. Yield potentials are as high as 35 ton per acre. Six teen to 20 ton of No. 1 potatoes is an excellent crop. Potatoes re quire a large amount of water over a relatively long period of time. They are especially at tractive because of the high re turn per acre which will help to cover the high investment costs needed to set up irrigation systems. The average yield of marketable potatoes for the Basin area in Washington over a four-year period 1965 to 1968 was 19.66 tons,, with an average return per acre of $466.48. Dry Beans are a crop well adapted to this area. They fit well into a rotation and require a relatively small investment in new equipment for the average dryland wheat grower. Yields of 2,000 to 2,500 lb. sohuld be ob tained in this area providing an estimated gross income of $140.00 to $175.00 per acre. Soil born diseases plague this crop and keep it from becoming a permanent crop in established irrigated areas. Suaar Beets have a nlace if a 1 ProJocts are limited to the prime sugar Beets nave a piace u a , llf. ntka.rlv .- rph. market channel is available. Yields of nearly 30 tons per acre were recorded at Shutler Flat, using 31 inches of water. Peppermint has a place in the future of this area. The present peppermint producing area ap parently has exceeded produc tion requirements for this crop. lields of 60 to 80 lb. of mint oil per acre would seem possl ble in this area. Peppermint is another crop which, after a cer tain number of years, tradition ally looks to new areas for "clean" ground, free from soil disease organisms. Seed Peas appear to be well adapted to this area. Yields ap parently are comparable with other areas. If marketing chan nels are available, this crop has real possibilities here, also. Grass Seed as well as other seed crop, are another good pos sibility. The limiting factor for these crops are marekting chan nels open to new producers. Fu ture possibilities for these types of crops are excellent. Wheat certainly has a place in irrigated agriculture. It is an excellent crop in rotation with other irrigated crops. Yields of Soil Surveys And Resource Development (Continued from page 4) near-river Decome unieasmie wnen area tute an Important contribution wiae development is considered, to the RC&D concept. Only recently has an irriga tion development committee fi nally been formed. Such a group is essential for various agencies to deal with if an area wide project is going to happen. The Bureau of Reclamation contact ed this committee as soon as they heard of its existence. The Bureau has been doing land classification and topographical work for the past two years here. This began due to the Joint ef fort of our County Court and Congressman Al Ullman. RC&D elude: Project objectives in- over 100 bushels a're' commonly I obtained. However, at today's! depressed prices, irrigated wheat does not appear to be an at tractive alternative, except on a I rotational basis. Pasture also may provide many possibilities as an alterna tive irrigated crop. Studies in other areas indicate pasture will return as high a dollar income per acre as many other Irrigated crops. If livestock is a part of the iarmlng operation, Irrigated pasture offers some real possi bilities. Forestry Tour at Bull Prairie. w gr-K""7""" i ft. . A c 1 Czi (a) Development of 13 water shed areas for full use and management of wa ter resources. (b) Coordination of activities with other U. S. Depart ments. (c) Further development and management of ground water. (d) Improved drainage in ir rigated areas. (e) Recreation development. (f) Cropland conversion for about 100,000 acres. (g) Improved cropping sys tems on 900,000 acres of dryland farming. (h) Special attention to wheat lands involving crop his tory and soil depleting base protection, (1) Additional soil surveys. (J) Increased technical help to plan and install needed land treatment measures on cropland, woodland and range areas. (k) An overall long range pro gram for maximum pro tection on grasslands and woodlands. RC&D Project benefits expect ed are: in useable water THIS PICTURE thowf Bob Jepeen. rancher, talking to one of the classes about outdoor manners. (Photo by SCS). Lake Penland To Be Constructed This Year By HARRY ODONNEU. Jr. Lake Penland was originally conceived by O. W. Cutsforth who bought a tract of land there in the Blue Mountains. A group incorporated in March, 1969. Of ficers of the corporation are Harry O'DonnelL Jr, president and board of directors: Cornett Green, Howard Bryant, Joe Green, Edwin Dick. The Lake Penland Corporation is a non-profit corporation. Much work has gone into the formation of the corporation. Lots have been sold to a group who will pay for construction of the dam that will form a lake ofj about 60 acres. Height of dam will be about 30 feet Bids are to be let for construction of the dam and other improvements this spring. Much cooperation has been seen with help coming from the U. S. Forest Service, the Soil Con servation Districts, the Morrow County Court and the State Wa ter Resources Authority. HEPPNER SWCD is 2nd place winner in 1968 Goodyear contest for all Ore gon Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Shown here Is Heppner super visor Dick McElligott receiving award from Art Weaver of Goodyear. (Photo by SCS). Grass Seeding Is Essential By DICK McELLIGOTT We have had another year in which we have been reminded several times that there are many many acres of Morrow County cropland that cannot take moisture as it is sometimes provided. We have had both summertime cloudbursts and winter rains running down our gullies and streams. There doesn't appear to be any way that we can prevent these storms from oecuring or any way that we can know when they will come. Our best course of action is to prepare our land so that we can minimize the dam age done by these storms. There is probably no area in the Northwest in which as much work has been done to combat water erosion as has been done in the Hepnner Soil and Water Conservation District, but it on ly takes a winter like this to show that we have only made a beginning on the work that needs to be done. Most of the shallow and steeper soils in the southern part of the county are now at or near saturation and light to moderate rains cause runoff erosion. We can't very well add more soil to hold the water. In fact, we know that we have much less water holding capacity than we once had due to loss of topsoiL What we can do is cover the areas most sus ceptible to erosion with grass. We can use our diverted acres to lay out ground with severe erosion problems, to Install grass waterways, to build diver sion and filter strips without fear of losing our wheat base on these acres. We can also cut our annual operating costs un der the cost of farming all our ground and destroying a grow ing crop. The time to make the plans is now. The Soil Conser vation Servlvce is prepared to do any engineering needed. The County Agent can recom mend the best grass or grass combination and can advise you on what ACP cost sharing pay ments you can claim. This should be a good spring to plant grass with our good soil mois ture conditions. Remember to apply for the ACP cost sharing before the work begins. i (a) Increase supply. (b) Reduction of land use problems. (c) Improved drainage. (d) Improved, efficient use of availbale water supply. (e) Recreation developments for income on private lands, coordinated with recreation facilities on public land. (I) Progress toward solution of big game management In the area. (g) Improved economic con ditions in the areas. While RC&D projects Involve primarily U. S. Department of Agriculture Agencies, other ag encies and organizations who can contribute to the overall conservation and development effort will be invited to partici pate. For example, active sup port and a high priority estab lished by the RC&D sponsors could possibly speed up the Corps of Engineer Construction of the authorized Willow Creek Project. The Bureau of Reclama tion study of the proposed South Side Project will be a valuable contribution to overall project evaluation. The potential of this Colum. bia-Blue Mountain RC&D Pro ject Is limited only by the Imag ination. The human and natural resources are certainly present This RC&D Project is only the catalyst, which If properly used, can result in beneficial accomp lishments which will be a cred it to each and every person who has been Involved. We trust this will be everyone in the area.
