PESSIS WET2ELL
OF QRE
3 P A P R LIB
Jtt O-K 9 7 403
The Heppner
la1
FEME
On(y 12 Days
w7 Christmas
Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
VOL. 97
NO. 50
12 pages
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1979
20 cents
HEPPNER, OREGON
So dam construction can begin
City council discusses where to move water tank
Three possible sites to move
the city water tank were
talked about at the special city
council meeting last week in
Heppner.
The councilmen present at
the meeting-heard Scott Kvan
dall and Frank Barrett of
Rarrett and Associates engi
neering firm talk about the
three alternatives and then
met with Dick Patton of the
Army Corps of Engineers.
The council verbally agreed
unanimously for alternative
three but the final decision
will not be made until a cost
comparison is made by Bar
rett and Associates.
Alternative three would
move the city water tank from
its present location on the side
hill above the Balm Fork Road
to the top of the hill above the
cemetery.
The council agreed that it is
best to move the tank as little
as possible and still have the
best system.
The tank has to be moved
before the Army Corps of
Engineers can begin work on
the Willow Creek Dam.
Alternative one would be
paid for compfetely by the
Corps. It would relocate
reservoir one. which is the
reservoir in the Corps' way.
just around the corner of the
side hill. This would put it
underwater in a cement cas
ing, which would make it hard
to get to for repairs.
With this system, the Corps
would use 10-inch instead of
the eight-inch pipe that is in
use now. There would be some
low pressure areas in some
sections, Kvandall warned.
Alternative two would relo
cate the tank to the other side
of the valley. Wells would flow
into the reservoir and it would
supply 750 to 1.000 gallons of
water each minute with 10
inch pipe. This proposal would
probably cost the most be
cause of the additional pipe
line and the distance to move
the tank.
The third proposal made
by Barrett and Associates is to
move the reservoir above the
cemetery to the 2.300 foot
level. The reservoir would
flow to town by gravity so
there would be no need for a
pump. With this proposal
homes on Rock Street would
have better water pressure
and therefore would receive
better fire protection.
Since that is a city planning
potential growth area, the
council said that would be a
good site even though another
reservoir and a high pressure
line will be needed.
One problem the council is
looking into is how to get the
money to pay for the move-
leu j W fit
n Or )j h -tylvy
7 pyWj l! if
1 11 i ir.L i l
liniirnii ( ri ii i ii in linn i I VbmI - I " fc Mfc.at,au
Morrow County's Livestock Growers of the Year, Herb and Bob Peterson of lone, pose with the trophy
they received at the annual livestockmen's banquet at the fairgrounds last Friday. From left are
Barbara Peterson and her husband Herb, and Bob Peterson with his wife Donna.
Livestock growers of the year
mont of the tank and setting
up a new water system.
The Corps will pay for
alternative one because it is
no better than the system
Heppner now has. But. if the
city wants a better system, it
will have to a "betterment
cost" which is the difference
of what that will cost and what
the Corps will pay.
To get a loan or grant.
Kvandall said the city will
have its best chance if Hepp
ner tries for the best system so .
the community will get the
most out of it.
Kvandall said the present
system supplies 375 gallons a
day to commercial and resi
dential users which is a
"pretty high figure." he said.
He added that 20 to 30
percent of the water is being
lost somewhere in the present
system probably on the old
line built in 1936 from reser
voir one to well three.
"Well number three is not
contributing much to the
system." Kvandall said. "It is
producing but its not reaching
the community."
Patton said the Corps is
anxious to get started nd an
agreement is already in draft
form but a contract cannot be
signed until Heppner has the
money to pay the betterment
cost.
The council may have to
wait until a bond levy can be
passed by the voters and that
may cause a delay, Patton T
said.
In the meeting with Patton.
Kvandall explained the three
alternative plans.
The council asked Patton.
"What is meant by betterment
costs?"
The council wants to know if
the corps will pay the same
amount no matter which
alternative is chosen.
Patton said the city has to
stay in the same general area
in which the Corps was
planning to move the water
Link because the Corps does
not want to disturb other areas
in town.
The councilmen wanted to
get a commitment from the
Corps for a certain amount of
money so Heppner could apply
for grants and loans. Patton
said he will have to get back to
the council about that.
The city decided to have
Rarrett and Associates work
out the system instead of
having the Corps do it. The
Corps wants the water tank
moved in July of 1980.
Kvandall said they should be
able to have a new site and
(Continued on page 3)
Rep. Bellamy
speaks on
rural problems
Representative Billy Bel
lamy spoke about the last
legislative session at a meet
ing of the Morrow County
Livestock Growers Associa
tion Dec. 7 at the Catholic
Parish Hall. ,
He said the cattlemen had a
fair session with a few bills
introduced and endorsed.
"The bill on trespassing got
through." he said, "but it was
a moral victory more than
anything else. By the time we
took care of the criminal
difficulties and the lawyers in
the House and Senate rewrote
it the bill was not what we
wanted but it may help
sometimes."
Bellamy said the coyotes
and predator animal problem
is multiplying and causing
more trouble but the cattle
men are going to have a fight
on their hands "no matter
what."
"The urban people think the
coyote is an endangered
species," he said. "The urban
representatives gang up on us
(the rural representatives).
We help them but they don't
help us."
Bellamy said not much was
done in the area of workman's
compensation.
"Little was done to increase
the benefits to meet the cost,"
Bellamy said. "We are dis
couraged because it is being
blocked by organized labor
which will benefit the most
from it. We have (in Oregon)
the highest rates for work
man's compensation in the
country. The rates are double
and triple of other states and
yet the benefits are not any
better.
"Probably half of the total
disability cases in the U.S. are
in Oregon because we are so
liberal in giving disability
claims. All you have to do is
say you hurt your back and
you can collect total disability
for the rest of your life."
Bellamy recommended to
the farmers to separate their
hired hands to pay workman's
compensation rates for em
ployees who only work with
crops and ones who only work
with livestock to get a better
rate.
He said the legislature
increased the benefits but did
not do anything to cut the
rates.
In a question-answer session
that followed his short talk,
Bellamy elaborated on the
workman's comp problem.
"Two percent of the labor
force is not interested in
working and organized labor
is protecting them at the
f v
H ( A
; i i
f iiMimiw irrT'
f
Rep. Billy Bellamy, R-Culver, whose district includes
Morrow County, was a Heppner visitor last week when he
spoke before the Morrow County Livestock Growers
Association.
expense of hard workers who
have to pay the increased
rate." he said. "Most of these
disabled workers deserve to
be mistreated after years of
being on disability."
Bellamy said less benefits
are given to people with
specific injuries who are given
specific amounts of money
and more money is available
to people under total disabili
ty, who may be faking a back
problem.
"Anything is conceivable."
he said. "Someone could
injure his back in another
state and come to Oregon and
go to work and then say he
injured it here just because we
have such liberal laws and it is
such an advantage to be
totally disabled."
He said some people cannot
afford to go back to work.
They are hurt on the job and
collect $600 to $1,000 a month
tax free from workman's
comp and then if they have
other disability insurance on
possessions, those things are
paid for until he is no longer
disabled.
Bellamy then commented
on the energy problem.
"I am afraid of the energy
situation." he said. "In my
first term I was a strong
backer of nuclear power. My
goal was not to let the radicals
dictate the future for nuclear
power but to let the experts
decide.
"Special interest groups in
the legislature have been
dictating policies. Pebble
Springs (nuclear plant) pro
bably will not be built but the
coal-fired plant will be. I was
surprised there were not too
many environmental road
blocks to that.
"Environmentalists say no
to all the alternatives to
nuclear power. If Pebble
Springs is not built. PGE will
be in financial difficulty and
rumor has it they may have to
sell the coal-fired plant.
(Continued on page 3)
Using Simmental bulls has been successful for the Petersons
Herbert and Robert Peter
son of lone were honored as
Morrow County Livestock
Growers of the Year at the
Farm City Banquet last Fri
day. The Peterson partnership
operates a cow-calf yearling
operation. They have 280 cows
to calve and 220 yearlings,
which are last year's calves
that have not sold.
Two secrets to the Peter
sons' livestock success are the
use of intense breeding with
Simmental bulls and the
transporting of their cattle to
, the best grazing ranges for the
"time of year it is.
The Petersons participate in
the More Grass Grazing
Association. As stockholders
in More Grass, the Petersons
can graze their cattle on the
10.000 acre farm they own with
six other ranchers. The More
Grass Ranch can hold 1,000
cattle.
The Petersons have their
cows for five months in
Morrow County in the winter
and early spring.
The other seven months of
the year the cattle are trucked
loo miles to Long Creek in
Grant Countv. About four-and-
one-half of those months the
cattle are on federal reserve
land and the other three-and-one-half
months the cattle are
on the More Grass Ranch.
With all the moving and
transporting of the cattle, the
Petersons surprisingly do not
lose too many stray cattle.
"The first couple of years
we lost some but we have not
lost any the last couple of
years," Robert Peterson said.
"They know the range now."
Robert Peterson said full
time riders work for the More
Grass cattle ranchers and
they keep an eye on the cattle
so they do not lose strays.
The Petersons say they like
the high summer elevation for
the cattle and the low winter
range because it gives the
cattle the best grazing condi
tions. While in Morrow County, the
cattle graze on stubble' left
over after the harvest of the
grain on their 4.000 acre
ranch.
"That is the advantage of
having winter facilities," Her
bert Peterson said. "In the
winter, the cows can eat a half
a ton of hay off the stubble and
grain waste and hay is getting
expensive."
"We have one of the best
summer ranges available and
there is an excellent rainfall
belt there." Robert Peterson
said. "This area (Morrow
County) lacks a good summer
range. With hay at $90 a ton.
winter costs could be high if
we did not transport our
cattle."
"Transporting between the
two areas gives us as good a
grazing area as we could
have," he continued. "Some
people say the cost of trans
porting the animals would be
prohibitive but it has worked
well for us."
The Petersons have one
large truck for transporting
their cattle and the More
Grass ranchers use each
other's trucks to make the job
less expensive.
Now the Petersons breed
their cows with Simmental
bulls. The Petersons believe in
Ron Baker who did research
with breeds of bulls and his
data showed the Simmental
bulls from France have the
most to offer.
So. since 1975. the Petersons
have continually purchased
Simmental bulls from Ron
Raker. Before using the Sim
mental bulls, the Petersons
cattle had a weaning weight of
about 470 pounds which
"showed a lot of room for
improvement," Robert Peter
son said.
With the Simmental bulls,
the average weaning weight
the last few years has been 590
pounds with the average being
about 610 pounds this year.
Herb Peterson's son. Treve.
had the grand champion 4-H
steer and top carcass steer for
both 4-H and FFA. It was a
Simmental bred steer raised
out of the Peterson herd that
won the prizes for Treve.
"It proved the end result to
our program had been accom
plished Herbert Peterson said.
Prior to breeding, the Peter
sons give their range cows
energy pellets.
"This is beneficial because
it helps to bunch up the
breeding." the Petersons ex
plained. "We put out extra
bulls and fresh bulls and it
works because we have had
only three open cows the last
two years."
"The toughest breeding is
for a young cow having her
first calf and we had all of
them bred last year 100
percent."
The Petersons said they
have one bull for every 15
cows while most cattle raisers
have a one to 25 ratio.
"Because we transport we
need more bulls and more
intense breeding," Robert
Peterson said. "We have more
bulls than most farmers
because we like to have all the
breeding done before we do
the trucking. It disrupts the
breeding cycle somewhat by
taking them to Long Creek so
we put freshbulls out every
two weeks to make sure it gets
done."
The Petersons started farm
ing with their father. Henry
Peterson. 20-some years ago.
They used to operate a feed lot
and would buy calves and
fatten them up to slaughter.
They have lived in lone all of
their lives in the Eight-mile
area. They started farming
when they got out of high
school.
About five years ago. the
Petersons began to intensify
their cow-calf operation when
the More Grass Association
was formed.
The Petersons tag all of
their cattle with permanent
numbers. Records are kept on
each one in the herd so that
when the productions is down
hev can bo sold Thoy usually
breed the cows from age two
to age 10 if they are putting out
quality calves.
"To identify all the cattle
takes determination and
everybody has to have a
cooperative spirit for the
endeavor because it takes
detailed work," Herbert Pe
terson said. "We have to keep
the cows and their calves
paired .)getr r at all times,
even when we transport
them."
Each year they do a
pregnancy check on the cows
and if one is not pregnant, they
sell her.
"Open (non-pregnant) cows
are sold and bred ones are
kept." Robert Peterson said:
The calves are weaned and
given shots of vitamins and
injections for disease control
Nov. 1. They are also cleaned
with a substance that controls
lice and grub. The Petersons
give the thorough vaccina
tions themselves.
"We may go overboard a
little bit but it keeps control of
our death loss for yearlings at
almost zero." Robert Peter
son said.
They sell their steers twice a
year - in July and September
- when they reach 850 pounds.
In the winter, the calve are
fed a liquid supplement of
Lu-Mix. With two pounds of
liquid a day. the calves can
gain one pound a day which is
a "healthy gain." they said.
At vaccination time, they
shoot the steers with a growth
stimulant and it is reimplan
ted in the spring.
The Petersons try to do
calving in January. February
and March prior to going to
Long Creek.
So the year for the Peter
sons starting from January to
March is the calving period.
April is the spring round up
and the cattle are taken to the
More Grass Ranch in May. In
June, they move to the federal
reserve land and in October it
is back to the Long Creek
range. In November, the
calves are weaned and the
cows are given pregnancy
checks.
In the yearlings operation,
the young cattle are wintered
until April 1 when the implan
ted hulls are put out with the
stimulated young heifers and
cows. In July, steers weighing
8)0 pounds or more are sold
and the others are sold Sept. 1.
Bred heifers are sold Sept. 1
and any part of the cow herd
that needs to be replaced is
done so by the Peterson's own
heifer crop.
"This has worked for us but
it is not necessarily the way to
go for everyone." Herbert
Petersonsaid. "It is the con
sumers we all have to please
in the end so we are striving
for the best carcass and we
are doing that."
Robert Peterson's father-in-law.
Victor Lovgren. has
helped in the Peterson pro
gram and they are also proud
of the work done by their two
full-time employees, Howard
Angling and Mark Parm.
Robert Peterson and his
wife. Donna, have two chil
dren. Rick. 23. was graduated
from Blue Mountain Commu
nity College and is preparing
to depart for Libya to work on
a private food development
plan on an irrigated farm
under contract to the Libyan
government. Dawn. 21. also
graduated from BMCC and is
employed in Pendleton.
Herbert and his wife, Bar
bara, have three children.
Todd. 21 . is a senior at Eastern
Oregon State College; Jan. 19,
is a sophomore at Oregon
Slate University: and Treve,
17. is a junior at lone High
School .