Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1976)
BESSIE WETZELL U OF ORE NEWSPAPER Ll'B EUGENE OR 97403 No ime to 'v, think about The Sticks Bonnie Schiller will readily admit she lives "out in the sticks." She likes the advantages but hates the disadvantages. Miss Schiller, a member of the 1976 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo Court, lives at Star Route, Echo, about 45 miles north of Heppner, on the Butter Creek Highway. . Living In the quiet peaceful canyons is alright but most 17-year-old girls would like to have a telephone. The Schillers have a mobile phone but that's it. And she gets tired of riding a bus to school every day. After all, 111 miles a day on a school bus for the last 11 years can get a little wearisome. She keeps busy, though, as an Integral part of her father's work at the Tony Vey ranch, about eight miles short of the Schiller home on Buttercrcek. Bonnie started riding at about three years old and has continued to ride, working with the family's cattle. in ih late summer. Bonnie goes to live at the ' r 1 i 4 5 ' y" I I 1 Hf". ' . , .i r t - ' . . t e 1 ' " .? . ;f ' . Jr ' I ' .. i ,. i ' .- ' f .- Princess Bonnie and Sam ride through field at Tony Vey ranch on Butter Creek. (G-T Photo) bottom of Chicken Hill on the Grande Rhonde River, 33 miles from La Grande. There she helps the family hired hand move cattle back and forth off the Forest Service land. She is kept working around the Vey ranch, swathing for her dad, moving sprinkler pipe and working with her horses. Her court appearance horse, Sam, will have to give in to the younger generation this summer as Bonnie will help with the rearing of two new colts. Both will be trained as cutting horses. Bonnie was a member of 4-H sewing for four years and of 4-H horsing for a year. She is still an active member of the Wranglers Riding Club. Bonnie lives in a household that includes five children. Marilyn and Bob, her parents still house three of their children. Bonnie, John 18, and Bobbie, 15 live at home. Tony, 26, lives on the Vey ranch and a sister, Kathy Isom, lives in Heppner. Bonnie, who will be a senior at Heppner High School this fall, is an active school member. As a freshman and sophomore, she was active in girls sports, volley ball and track. Last year she was a varsity cheerleader and a member of student council. She will be the captain of the dance team this year. Her hobbies include riding, sewing, snowmobiling and swimming. Whether it's training Chuck Solo, her new colt, swathing for her father in the fields, hauling cattle to the mountains, sewing a new blouse or riding Sam in a parade, Bonnie Schiller keeps busy . . . busy enough that she doesn't have time to worry about not having a telephone or "living in the sticks." THE HEPPBIEH (S mm? AZETTE-TIME VOL. 93. NO. 19 III -PPM It. OK Till KSIMY. JI NK 21. 197B 12 PACKS 15c From LCDC Gronts c ounfy gains $ Four Morrow County cities were a third of the way towards receiving $25,000 Monday to upgrade their com prehensive plans. The Department of Land Conservation and Develop ment Commission approved grants for Heppner, lone, Lexington and Irrigon for a total of $.45,005. The LCDC approvals went through the Joint Legislative Committee on Land Use and the Legislature's Emergency Board Tuesday and Thursday but results were not available. Tlie consensus of local offi cials is that the grants would be approved by all three com mittees. The four cities applied to gether for the $25,005. Indivi dually, Heppner receives $6405, Lexington receives $6400, lone receives $6000 and Irrigon receives $6200. The monies will be spent on new comprehensive plans and rezoning maps for the cities in a joint operation. The com- Three kinds Identified Aphids infest area wheat Farmers beware. They are here and they are invading your wheat crop. No Jok pMds re among your wheat crop. And not Just one or two, but up to 25 per head. the dough stage, it Is probably far enough along so that the aphid won't cause too much damage this year. But, farmers must be think ing of the future. growers have already sprayed for aphids this spring. Kerr said he would encourage any grower who does spray to leave some areas and try to determine if he is getting a yield increase where the aphids have been sprayed. prehensive plan and rezoning maps will have to be in accor dance with the 14 goals of the state LCDC. to comply with the current law. Each city, according to Heppner Mayor Jerry Swe eney, will contract with Coun ty Planner David Moon for a portion of the work in cooper ation with the joint plans. The mayors of all four cities, Sweeney said, will pro bably hire a person to fulfill the necessary tasks in coop eration with the county court. A total of 122 jurisdictions were granted the state general fund money last week to the tune of $2.2 million. With the receipt of funds, each local government will be able to accelerate the time when it will fully comply with the state's goals. Greenbug Three varieties have been positively Identified In Mor row County wheat fields. They arc "Greenbugs", English grain aphid and Oat bird cherry aphid. All three can be found on the leaves and heads of the wheat, according to Harold Kerr, county extension agent. After considerable consul tation with entomologists from Washington State and Oregon Statt Universities, count of 25 aphids per head or tern has been found. The average throughout the field Is to b a level which control with chemical can be Justified. This Is lot of aphids," Kerr said, noting that "we are talking about 23 aphids on every head." Entomologists told Kerr that 90 degree temperatures will stop the build up of aphid. Also, If tht wheat is in Kerr's main concern is that because "Greenbugs" have been positively Identified in the spring, "we need to be more aware of the threat they pose In the next fall's crop." The greenbug is considered the most serious of the aphids because it ejects toxic material into the plant which when the aphids are in high enough numbers, can actually kill the wheat. Aphids, Including green bugs, also can carry virus which causes Yellow Dwarf. The diseate la showing up in many wheat fields and Is cha racterized by bright yellow leaves which are transparent and once Identified, are quite different from drought caus ed, or rust caused, yellow leaves. The aphids have been found In both Irrigated and dryland wheat. And, a number of Go Boh Straub, visiting in Heppner Tuesday, discussed county problems tcith officials and citizens. See page 3 . V . r ' r -T 1 i j i i - Tommy and Roy Martin in N. Lexington tcheat field. (G-T Photo) Father, son team 1976 'Conservationists' A graveled driveway leads into a scrupulously clean surrounding, highlighted with a white picket fence and a neatly manicured yard. From this scene alone, one can realize why Roy and Tommy Martin were honored last week as the Conservation Men of the Year for Morrow County. But the conservation of the 3100 acre 4 M ranch isn't held to a neat yard or chopped roadside weeds that in many ranch areas would hide a picket fence. The two were honored because of their conservation against wind and water erosion. The area has a history in wind erosion. Ever since Roy's father started on the ranch in 1918. the wind has blown and it has blown hard. The ranch started as about 800 acres when Roy was a boy. There were farms all over the North Lexington area near Baseline Road. Today there is quite a distance between ranches. One of the reason's was the blow of 1933. According to Roy, that wind storm "blew us out 'a here." The wind blew six Inches of top soil off some of the land. It caused whole families to move to safer ground. It also caused the formation of the Lexington Blow Control District, a unique group of area farmers, destined to combat Mother Nature's blow outs. There is one other blow control district In Oregon in Warrenton. So with the wind, coupled with a cloud burst here and there, always unexpected, Roy and his son Tommy, and their families, have made conservation a family affair. The 3100 acre ranch produces about 2CO0 acres of crop land. Half Is In crops each year and the other half Is in summer fallow. The ranch, of the 1300 acres in crops each year, slates 1,000 acres of wheat and 300 of barley. The farm's rain supply is virtually lilch. According to Harold Krrr, extension agent for Morrow County, wheat isn't even supposed to grow in the amount of rain the Marti.i Ranch gets. Over the last 10 years, the ranch has had an average yield of Just 8 63 inches. With the wind that drys the ground as quick as moisture is put into it, that statistic is reinforced against plant growth. Nonetheless, the Martins produced a 23 bushel of wheat average per acre during the last 10 years on their home acreage and 27 in Sand Hollow. Martin said he raised a good crop of wheat on six inches of rain last year! He noted that the summer was cool and the deep soil kept the winter moisture. So when it comes down to conservation techniques, the Martins have to be pretty careful. What rain they get, they must retain, and over cultivating in the wind can cause severe blows. As Roy puts it. "Don't turn around twice in the same spot" while cultivating. Back when Roy was kid and his father was working the ranch, conservation Ideas included mullboard plows and harrowing with horses. Slip weeders left nothing on the grounds surface. Today the techniques have changed. The Martins, did however, sUrt with $ tation. A Wheatland plow left about half the trashy fallow and stubble needful. "It was terrible to work." Roy said. So they changed. Now they chisel plow one time, vibre nhank one time, and finally rod weed. This way, they say, leaves more solid summer fallow but they still must be careful in sandy areas. The Martins can weed up to six times a year, depending on the season's rainfall. Problems that arise even now include one of the many farmers greatest enemies. Cheat grass. "Wt keep fighting it all the time," Tommy says. Cheat grass means extra operation, going (Continued on Pae 7) ' ,r v