Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 1980)
The lleppner Gazette-Times. Heppner. Oregon. Thursday. June 26. 1980-FIFTEEN FmHA cuts interest rates Reflecting the reduced coat of obtaining funds for its programs, the Farmers Home Administration (FmllA) low ered the interest rates on most sof Its lojin programs this week. S Kenneth K. Keudell, Slate JXroclnrfor FmllA In Oregon, incidntcd IhlH week that Inter ,est rales for farm operation , loans have dropped from 12.5 to 10.5 percent; for economic emergency loans from 14 to It. 5 percent; for disaster emergency loans from 14 to 13.5 percent; for Ioiir term real estate loans from 12 to 1 1 percent; for homeownership loans from 13 to 11.5 percent; and from II to 10.75 percent for loans involving rural rental housing site develop ment , Wheat program comments asked Secretary of Agriculture Rob Bergland recently asked the public to comment by July 21 on provisions of the l!)HI i wheal progrom, The secretary said the department is seeding com- 1 ntcnlH on lis" nmount of the njitinnul program ncrenge. reduction from the previous year's harvested acreage re quired to gunrnntee establish ed target price protection on the total 1!)H planted acreage, whether there should be a net -aside and if so. the extent of such; if a set-aside is d equired. whether a limitation lould be placed on planted acreage, whether there should lie a land diversion program, and if so, the extent of such a diversion and level of pay ments. The public is also being asked to comment on the loan and purchase levels for 11)81 crop wheat and whether the 6 3 Even though Farmers Home interest rates have dropped to 13.5 percent for disaster emergency loans for farmers, Keudell said that actual loss disaster emerg ency loans will remain at five percent as prescribed by law. "In addition, the already low Interest rates under Farmers Home's loan pro gram for 'limited resource' farmers will remain at their current levels," Keudell said. Loans under this program made for farm production purposes continue at seven percent and for farm real estate purposes at five per cent. The rate of 11 percent will apply for farm ownership, soil and water, recreation facili special wheal acreage grazing and hay program should be implemented. Under new authorities granted under the Agricult ural Adjustment Act of ISMll). the secrelary may consider current cost of production estimates to determine 1981 target prices. In the past, changes in target prices were derived based upon a formula considering only prior year's em I. Because of these new authorities. Bergland said, the department is asking for comments on how the 1981 larget price should be adjust ed from 19K0 levels and whether producers should be required to comply with established farm normal crop acreage to be eligible for program benefits. If a set-aside program is Implemented, the secretary has discretionary authority to adjust the target price to I L i v 1 i I y , iidlvoirflis yoimir yoiri (S ties, grazing association loans, and Irrigation and drainage loans. The Interest' rate on loans for community facilities and water and waste disposal systems remains unchanged at five percent. In fiscal year 1979, the agency provided about $212 million in loans and grants in the State of Oregon In its four major program areas: farm ing, housing, community facilities, and business-industrial development. During the first half of fiscal year 1980, which ended March 31, the agency provided over $395 million in credit for farmer programs and $42 million for other programs for a total of $81.5 million in loans and grants for rural development. compensate producers for participating in such a pro gram. Comments are request ed on whether this authority should lie used and the extent of any adjustment. Written comments must be received by July 21. They may be sent to the director. Production Adjustment Divis ion'. ASCS. USDA. Room SfiM-S. P.O. Box 2415, Wash ington. D C. 20013. All com ments will be available for public inspection at the direc tor's office during regular business hours. Gasoline use in state above that of 1979 Gasoline consumption in Oregon for the first quarter of 1980 is about seven percent 32.400.0OO gallons-less than the same period last year. W 0 mg Hwfl (DUDfiDftiln) (Use this for your yard sale sign!) Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper t " "v " It': i; 7 Id (. i I ( . , v.-' v i ' Oerl Grleb of Iexington (fr right) exhibited the reserve champion bred-and-owned female, i Griebs Klossy Kim I94!), at the rerent Washington Junior Angus Field Day. With Grieb and her Angus in this photo are Cathy Wiser. Western States Angus Queen; Jean Murkowski. Washington State Angus Quern; and judge of the show Dr. E.G. Foote. Farms The 1978 market value of agricultural products sold by the 335 farms in Morrow County amounted to $70.4 million or an average of $210,082 each, up from $42.3 million in 1974 with an accompanying increase in production costs, according to a preliminary report of the 1978 Census of Agruculture released recently by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. A breakdown of the county's total agricultural sales for 1978 followed by that for 1974. is as follows: Crops, $60.1 million compared with $36.8 milllion; livestock and live stock products. $10.2 million to $5 6 million. While the value of gross p to sub lan!pln)y. The Heppner yield $ sales rose, the farmers' costs also climbed since 1974. Ex penditures for fertilizer for 1978 were $5.5 million compar ed to $33 million; costs of gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products were $2.5 million compared to $1.6 million. Farm energy costs of all types totaled $5.5 million for 1978. The estimated mar ket value of machinery and equipment per farm increased from $53,742 to $160,641. Of the total farms in the county. 96 had gross sales of $100,000 or more and 91 had sales of under $10,000. Farms operated by individuals or families represented 75 per cent of the total: farms operated by corporations ac counted for nine percent. sgiI omi 'I 70 A million Some 83 percent of the operators owned all or part of the land they operated. In 1978, the average age of farm operator was 49.8 years. Since 1974. the proportion of operators listing farming as their principal occupation changed from 74 percent to 72 percent. Other results of the census show that the number of farms increased from 328 to 335. while the average size chang ed from 3.376 to 3.478 acres. All land in farms totaled 1.164.998 acres in 1978 com pared to 1.107.480 acres in 1974. Land from which crops were harvested increased from 226.909 to 260.168 acres. Irrigated land increased from 59.238 acres to 100.017 acres. o o tin Eftt-7Dinfi)$ 'MKT Attorney, Ranchers And Grating Righto The Oregon State Bar's division of Continuing Legal Education will be holding a program on "Grazing on the Public Rangelands" on June 27 at the Indian Hills Red Lion Inn. in Pendleton. "Grazing on the Public Rangelands" will cover the various federal statutes, regulations and programs which affect ranchers and livestock operators who depend upon BLM public rangeland grazing allotments. This seminar is designed to be of value to lawyers who represent livestock operators, elected officials and government employees who are involved in the BLM rangeland programs, livestock operators and related , agricultural businesses, financial institutions who lend to livestock operators, and people interested in the environmental and recreational values of the public lands. Those interested in attending should contact the Oregon State Bar Continuing Legal Education Department at 1-503-224-4280 for further information. Lumber industry improves The Western lumber indus try showed signs of only slight improvement for the week The number of cattle and cal ves increased from 38.258 to 40.653: while those with 100 or more on hand accounted for 89 percent. Fed cattle accounted for 5 percent of the total 22.014 cattle and calves sold in 1978; the number of hogs and pigs changed from 526 to 748. Sheep and lambs increased from 13.539 to 27.466. Acreages of crops harvested for 1978 and 1974 were as follows: Irish potatoes 27,173 acres vs. 10,138 acres: wheat 190.017 acres vs. 181.829 acres: hay. 29.655 acres vs. 16,192 acres: alfalfa. 28,365 acres; barley. 7,782 acres in 1978. Production of wheat for 1978 was 6.8 million bushels com pared to 4.7 million bushels in 1974. ended June 14. with some 26.500 employees still affected by mills closed or curtailed in the 12 Western slates. A previous survey, for the week ended June 7. had indicated about 28.500 lumber . mill workers either laid off or working adjusted shifts. Some 86 Western mills were closed during the week ending June 14, compared to 83 the previous week. Of the West's 820 lumber mills. 129 curtailed operations, compared to 146 in the previous report. School bids (Continued from Page 13) $24.98 per barrel. The other bidder was Albina Fuel Co. of Portland with an offer of $26.71 per barrel. Chervron Oil Co. was awarded a gasoline bid at 94.5 cents to 94.6 cents per gallon delivered. Motor fuel used by the school district is not subject to the federal tax. No action was taken on bids to supply metal buildings because of the complexity of the bids. Doherty said. '9 I e i y i D I I I 4
