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The Heppner
January 1 •J a n u a r > II
Gazette-Times
M orrow C o u n ty ’* H om e-O w n ed W eekly N ew ep o p er
VOI UM NO!
Heppner, Oregon 25'
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ja m a h v u
Twister wreaks havoc at airport
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Weather
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Thurs
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Sun
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High
Lew
Kata
51
66
41
44
Trace
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24
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2S
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Saew
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1"
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1" foggy
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26
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by the City of Heppner
Ag commodity sales down
A G R IC U L T U R A L C O M M O D IT Y SALKS
MORROW CO UN TY. 1985p
Agricultural commodity sales in
I9H.I in Morrow County were down
nearly 10 percent from 19K4 sales to
les- than V.*> million, says Morrow
County Extension Agent Kred
l.undin In 19*4 the total agricultu
ral sales for the county was $107
million, and in 19*3 was $106 million
The total of all crop« sales was
$72 4 million
Sales of potatoes
i $2* 9 million i led crops commodity
sales, followed by wheat ($21 <
m illio n
hay and forage d m
million i. and com la 2 million*
Cattle and calves sales were $21
million, and other animal products
$2 4 million
MI l
k ,' 4 \
Snow cover not a pretty sight for
area’s hay and cattle ranchers
Hangar at Lexington airport
Sometime late January 7 or in the we«- hours
Wednesday morning, a twister picked up the roof on
two thirds of the storage hangar at the la-xington
airport, carried it across a parking apron, and dropped
it in a parking area for ground spray equipment, tanks
and trucks, belonging to Gar Aviation
Mel Boyer estimates that about $2.iKX) damage was
done to his equipment One truck was damaged and a
tank trailer was mashed when a portion of the hangar
roof landed on it Another truck parked in the same area
was untouched "We consider ourselves lucky that the
damage was comparably m inor," he said
The county didn't get off so lucky, though The twister
lifted the custom steel truss and tin roof from 3'-.. bays of
the county-owned six bay hangar
Morrow County
Judge Don McKlligott said that damage has been
estimated at Slu.utki for which the county has no
comprehensive insurance coverage The county will
have to rebuild the hangar, he says, but since no funds
exist in the current budget lor repairs of this nature an
emergency meeting of the airport committee w ill have
to be called in the near future to determine the best way
to complete the repairs
Boyer, whose home is adjacent to the airport grounds,
said that he returned from a meeting late Tuesday, Jan
7 and was awakened by a noise sometime during the
night, but didn't think much about it because there didn’t
seem to lie any w ind at the house Me discovered the
damage at the airport Wednesday morning Judging
from the type of damage, he says, the wind was
apparently well over 100 miles per hour in a swath about
M ill ft wide
Wreckage hit the ground and deflected to
the left which is the normal tornado pattern in this
hemisphere It was defmately a freak. Boyer said The
roof was lifted off the hangar and one partition torn out.
but the walls remained standing and none of the
airplanes were touched
MS
■'iuta-* -es.-'
Wreckage from hangar roof at its new location
Winter came early this year in
Eastern Oregon and though most of
us may grumble at the inconven
i«net- cattle ranchers who are oper
.iting on an already slim margin are
finding that margin cut even more
because the snow has covered nor
mal grazing and ranchers already
have had to leed hay that was
purchased for use in January and
February Because more ranchers
are feeding more, less hay is avail
able and prices, when you can find
the hay. are much higher than
normal
^ ' k Wilkinson who ranches on
upper Willow ( reek says he has
raised most of the hay he needed in
past years
This year he had
allowed to buy Jim tons to carry him
through the expected January and
February feedings
He stopped
growing his own hay this year, he
said, because electricity for sprinkle
irrigation was costing him more to
raise the hay than to buy it Me has
recently made additional hay pur
chases from Hammond. Idaho, and
lame. Oregon, and Butter Creek Me
expects that the additional purchase
of hay alone will raise his cost of
keeping the animals through the
winter by $2n per head, double that
of a "normal" winter
Every ranch is different, empha
sizes Jim West, a Khea Creek area
rancher Many ranchers expect to
feed two months during a normal
winter IHit we don't expect to have to
leed at all during a normal winter
So far, this year. West has had to
feed some bunches of cattle for a
month
Mis cost of wintering an
animal is increased by about $1 per
day per animal Also adding to the
cost is the added labor to take rare
of the animals, iced over creeks
have to be chopped daily for the
cattle to hr able to drink and troughs
have had to be kept open
It may be more convenient to grow
your own hay, West says, but it is not
necessarily less expensive
I leer
add an additional expense to the
already expensive feeding because
the snow covers their feed also and
they come to the ranches and not
only eat the hay but climb on stacks
and ruin or scatter as much as they
eat
Handlers work on a slim profit
margin and can keep production
costs down when natural feeds are
not covrred with snow or ice
January and February are the nor
mal "winter" months, which can
mean even more cost to ranchers
Wo have to take what the market
offers, when we sell an animal.
West pointed out
We can l name
our price
It's nil part of the
ranching business, th-uigh. and we
expect a year like this occasional
iy "
Bob VanSchoiack from lame ){«ck
reports that he has had to buy hay
from southern Idaho and Christmas
Valley so lar cosling $145 HX) per ton
delivered
"That s five cents a
pound and each animal eats 2n to
pounds |H-r day Just the added cost
of the hay could increase the cost to
winter an animal by $26 30
Al
though he had to feed three weeks
during late November and early
December, he has been grazing
some since Decern tier 10. but supple
ments w ith protein blocks und range
cubes
Hon and Judy Currin report that
they have tieen feeding some since
November and expect to h-ed full
throttle" in February
Depending
on the spring, says Judy, they may
have to buy additional hay at an
expected price of $125 plus per Ion
and are not sure just how far they
may have to go to gel it
An
additional cost of as much as $25 jmt
animal may be added to their
expense
(Tint Krebs responding from u
Cecil area ranch expected the great
esl w inter -caused additional cost jx-r
animal at $70 Me raises some hay
for his own use and for sale, tiul says
that the hot dry weather last sum
mer brought the yield to slightly
below average Normally, he suys,
he feeds 90 days per winter, but the
severe weather began the feeding
period earlier with an additional 40
days of feeding thus far Me had u
110 day supply of hay and w ill lie
looking for additional hay Feeder
hay which he sold at $75 per ton
before the storm, he expects to have
to replace at prices beginning at $100
per ton
Cold weather also has increased
consumption from 20 to about .to
pounds of hay per animal per day,
says Krebs Warm weather couldn't
hurt, but it won t help us much until
March because grass rarely grows
in January and February
It's
discouraging because cattlem en
cannot p u s s on their added costs to
buyers With the demand (or beef
down and the storm caused addition
al wear and tear on equipment,
added fuel, and loss of animals from
drowning in ice covered creeks, the
storm, he says, "could tireuk the
t>acks of many good ra ttle people "
Ken Wright. Kuggs explains that
the early winter has not been the
only cause of increased huy prices
Normally there is some carryover of
the hay crop from one season to the
next, but the 19H4 hay crop was used
last winter, so hay prices were high
at the lieginning of the 19*5 crop
year First crop alfalfa sold mainly
to coast and valley dairy farmers
which helped to create a shortage
liH-ally
Wright bus a larger than average
inventory now. he suys. because u
9ixi ton government hay bid fell
through November It) when Con
gress was unable to appropriate
money for the project
luisl sum
mer s hay crop, he says, was down
slightly at Hoggs because of drought
and grasshoppers, but his Echo
ranch yielded normul or slightly
ubove
(hie hundred dollars per Ion for
hay which sold for $Ho 90 per ton
earlier in the season sounds like
gisMl news for hay farmers, but
that's not necessarily so. says
Wright
Snow normally provides
insulation from the cold for the
alfalfa crops tint we can I tell what's
under the snow for sure The cold,
thaw re freeze process may have
hurt some alfalfa stands In addition
to that, during November, huy grow
ers generally spray for hroudleaf
weeds and grasses and they have
still not lieen able to do that this
winter bi-cause everything is cover
ed
If the weeds are eradicated
while the alfalfa is dormant, the
crop is clean in the spring Nor have
crops tieen fertilize!
It's too early to tell, concludes
Wright, but after January and Feb
ruary we're hoping for a good
spring (if course, that could mean
the return of the grusshopprrs
The Morrow Soil and Water Con
servation and Weed Control Distri
eta are presenting a weed seminar.
The A-B-C’s of Good Weed Control,
January 23 al two locations
The first meeting will be held at
the Greenfield Grange Hall in
Boardman beginning at I 30 p m
•nd the second meeting w ill be held
• t the Willows Grange Hall in lone at
7 00 p m The programs w ill be
sim ilar in content
Organized by county weed super
visor Jim Van Winkle, the seminar
w ill address acknowledging, bat
tlin g . and conquering noxious
weeds He w ill open the seminar
with tips on weed identification and
a look at the revised list of the
county's " A " listed weeds
Extension weed specialist Don
Rydrych w ill give an in depth talk on
pointed goatgrass Dow chemical
representative Dave England w ill
show a video on the use of herbicide
on broadleaf weeds Soil Conser
vation Service range conservationist
Allen Bond w ill explain the relation
ship of weed control and manage
meat, and Oregon Dept of Agncul
v 1
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District presents weed control seminar
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'threat to the farming economy,
Kush Skeleton weed
A time for open discussion and
questions w ill he provided as well as
door prizes, and refreshments
F'or further information, contact
Van Winkle at the Weed Control
District Office, 67^6452
/
Bank manager
elected assistant
vice president
Jim Van Winkl«
ture Agronomist Dave Langland w ill
discuss tha states number one
Jackie Gentry has been elected an
assistant vice president of The Benj
Franklin Federal Savings and I/oan
Association, according to Dale
Weight, chairman of the board and
chief executive officer
Gentry, who is manager of the
Heppner branch office of The Benj
Franklin's Western Division, began
with Western Heritage in 19*2.
w here she served as a teller and loan
secretary
A graduate of Blue Mountain
Com m unity College, G entry is
active in the Heppner Morrow
County Chamber of Commerce.
D«lb«rt "Slim" Emert feeds from dwindling hay supply at ha lone canto rendv
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