sprci. I f a r m
Budworm causes severe defoliation in Co.
B> I h r l l l l H . d S
S T A T F F U R F S T R Y I I M 'T
The Fossil Unit administers Ore
({on State Forestry Department l»ro
Crams in Morrow Gilliam , and
Wheeler Counties These programs
include Protection From Fire lY o
lection From Insect and Disease.
State laind Management Service
Forestry. Cooperative Programs.
and Forest Practices
last fire season got off to a slow
start with a wet spring Seasonal
firefighting crews were not hired
until July 2nd due to the wet
conditions Once conditions started
to dry. fire danger increased quick
|y We experienced twelve days of
extreme fire danger
Action was taken on 3ft fires last
season, 26 fires on State Protected
l.and and 12 fires where assistance
was provided to the L S Forest
Service A total of about 4H acres
burned on private land Action was
taken on a 1780 acre fire outside the
Protection District near Service
I reek to stop that fire from reaching
protected forest land Private land
owners and the HI.M assisted in that
effort In addition to these fires,
crews were dispatched to about 33
other reported fires that were either
not found, or were determined to he
outside the Protection District All
but six of the fires were caused by
lightning 1464 was a fairly busy fire
season Our average fire load is
about 33 fires per year
The areas sprayed for Western
Spruce Budworm Control during
1463 showed very little damage
during 1464 Those portions of Mor
row County not sprayed in I4K3
continue to show severe defoliation
from the insection Because of anti
nputed increased costs, and lower
projected values for timber usisf by
the t S K.iri'M Scr\ice the I S
Forest Service decided that a con
trol project for Western Spruce
Budworm would not be cost effec
live in 1464 Therefore, no control
action was taken for the pest
A great deal of work is being
accomplished through the Service
Forestry l*rogram Site IV timber
land in Kaslern Oregon became
eligible for cost sharing under the
Forestry Incentive Program F IP i
for precommercial thinning Up to
110.000 00 can be rescued by a
landowner annually to accomplish
thinning on qualifying timberland
under F IP This translates to a
maxim um of about 130 acres of
thinning possible per year In ad
dition. cast sharing is still available
under the Agricultural Conservation
Program (ACT' to accomplish thin
ning and tree planting Over 1200
acres of precommercial thinning
and 20 acres of tree planting were
accomplished during 1464
The Forest Practices Act is ad
ministered on private land in Mor
row. Gilliam , and Wheeler Counties
by the Fossil Unit Com m ercial
logging operations are inspected to
ensure that they are conducted in a
responsible manner consistant with
the law Inspections are also made
to make sure fire prevention re
quiremenls are being met during
fire season
We look lorward to the continued
cooperation of the people of Morrow
County and the Morrow S W C D
Section
Wednesday. M arch i
I4S.V
I III
Virus disease of wheat
studied in Morrow County
Hv H lI H l IIS T A
Oregon Slate University Kxtrn
sion agents and researchers are
studying a serious wheat disease in
Morrow County
Winter wheat planted in early
"September provides greater protec
tion from wind and w a trr erosion
and has a higher yield potential than
later fall seeding. But watch out.
early seeded wheat can also get
riddled with barley yellow dwarf
virus B A D V l, a serious disease
that can substantially cut virld
B Y D V is a virus disease that
infects most cereal crops and a long
list of other grasses The virus ran
only enter crop plants when disease
carrying ajdiids ( ism I on them
Wheat or turley planted in the early
fall or late spring are most vulner
able to the disease because that's
when aphids are most abundant and
active Irrigation development in
the region has increaseil ajihid
numbers by providing green host
plants virtually every month of the
year
B Y D V was responsible for serious
yield looses in manv M orrow County
wheat fields in the 1464 crop Inset ti
rides offer a possible solution to the
B Y D V problem by controlling the
disease carrying aphids The OKI'
(extension Service has established
two research trials in Oregon to
study B Y D V One trial is at (he
llyslop Field l-aboratory in Curvai
lis and the second trial is in a wheat
field at the K n c Anderson farm in
lone
(extension agents in M orrow
County are cooperating with Kuvs
K a ro w . extension C ere al C ro p
Specialist and Glenn Fisher Kxten
sion Kntrornologisl in studying the
effect of various insecticide treat
menlx on B Y D V at the field Ina l on
the Anderson farm
Four different mscciticides and
four different application methods
are bring evaluated fa B Y D V con
trol Application treatments include
insecticides placet! near the seed al
planting broadcast on the soil sur
face at planting and sprayed on
month old plant A new group of
foliar applied, synthetic pyrethroid
insecticides are included in the
project because they have shown
promising results in research work
in Washington
T'he Uillom line will ta- whether or
not insecticide treatments can re
duce B Y D V and inciraae yields
enough to cover application costs
and return some profit to growers
Fffectlve and profitable control oi
BADA with early si-edlmgs will also
help save valuable topsoil
Ranchers fight back against knapweed
By ST t \ I t W I»*»U I I
For the first lime in several years,
a coordinated program of knapweed
control was initiated in Morrow
County Bob Van SChoiack a live
stock producer in southwestern Mor
row County, approached the ex ten
sum office in January seeking assist
ance in organizing •» group of land
owners to begin knapweed control
efforts in southwestern Morrow
Count> As a result of this initial
meeting the agent contacted the
Agricultural Kconomu s specialist ,«i
Oregon .State University to obtain
information for forming a working
group This information was then
transmitted to all of the mvolv«*d
landowners and an organisational
meeting was held
Kighteen landowners and (our
public agencies agreed to cooperate
in appi) mg herbicides on I *oo acres
of knapweed infestisi land \ five
member working committee was
elected b\ the cooperators ami met
several times with the extension
agent to ftnall/e the application
process The extension agent obtain
**d anv necessary information from
Oregon Slate University and provo!
ed if io the members of the commit
tee
Maps were prepared and each
grower outlined the extent of his
infestation and returned the charts
to the extension office A helicopter
was hired to appi) the herbicide
Kach landow ner flagged the areas to
he treated and arrangisi to tie
M orrow C ouniy
A B s iR A C i
&
Tint Co I nc
For Complete title & Escrow Service
M ORROW C O U N TY ABSTRACT & TITLE CO., INC.
HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE REGARDING LAND AND LAND
OWNERSHIP. SINCE GETTING A CLEAR TITLE TO PROPERTY
CAN BE COMPLICATED, GO TO THEIR OFFICES AT
269 North Main in Heppner or in Boardman at
Landmark Square, Mondays & Wednesdays, by
appointment. You’ll be glad you did.
Happnar 6 7 6 - 9 9 7 2 Boardman 4 0 7 - 9 2 6 7
available to direct the applicator
The extension agent coordinated the
timing of application made the
h e r b i c i d e r e c o m m e n d .it io n s
scheduled the applicator and sir
ranged deliver) of the chemicals
Once a date was set and ever)
thing was organized the only con
cern was the weather Onthedav the
application was to begin it w.is
clear and wind) Th e wind died
down at noon and the ptogram was
underway Two d.ivs and I Mb ai res
later the application part ot he
project was completed
The extension agent evaluated the
effectiveness of the program three
weeks following application and
again a month later In general
there was *m percent to loo percent
kill of the existing knapweed plants
with good residual kill for three to
six weeks Bain in bite May and
earl) June started a new crop of
seedlings most of which did not
reach m a tu ri!) and produce seeds
Overall, the treated areas had a
substantial reduction in the number
of mature pbints and an increase in
grass priMluetion when compart'd to
areas not treated
This type of program is a good
tiegmning to a longer term program
that will ho|M‘full) lead to an effec
live control effort for diffuse knap
weed in many parts of Morrow
County This effort would have tieen
impossible without the cooperation
of many individuals and agencies
working together as a team Hie
extension service is proud It» I*'
associated with the many people
that maile this program a success
Ax an education arm of Oregon Stale
University, the extension service
provides the information to help
solve local problems
However
much of the real work is done hy
those who benefit the most from the
informafnm. in this case the land
owners in southwestern Morrow
County and adjacent areas of till
ham Countv