SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 19, 2008
HES announces October Students of the Month
Pictured are Heppner Elementary School's Students of the Month for October. Top (L-R): Rylee
Bray. Tristan Coles, Reiah Waite, Jacee Currin, Kami Holtz, Mason Lehman, Hunter Nichols, and
Jackson Lehman. Bottom (L-R): Cade Arbogast, Maddie Lindsay, Ryan Smith, Faith Jones, Sydney
Qualls, and Tim Jaca. -Photo by David Sykes
Communications minor provides
more options for students
C o m m u n ic a tio n
skills are important to the
viability o f any jo b and
Eastern Oregon University
is offering a new minor that
will help students hone these
skills.
Courses began this
fall under the direction of
April Curtis, professor of
theatre and speech, and Neil
Gustafson, associate profes
sor o f media arts/joumalism
at EOU.
“Communications is
arguably the most popular
major offered by American
universities,” Curtis said.
“EOU’s minor is a multidis
ciplinary program that offers
a great deal of choices. It’s
exciting because students
can decide what they want
to pair it with.”
C urtis researched
42 different colleges and
universities similar in size
and structure to EOU and
formed a Communications
Minor Task Force. The goal
was to develop a program
that would be o f the most
benefit to students at EOU.
Curtis and Gustafson
believe the task force ac
complished its goal.
“ A pril and I had
good help on the committee
established to form the mi
nor,” Gustafson said. “Cori
Brewster from English/writ-
ing, Greg Monahan from
history, and David Komito,
director of academic tech
nology, all pitched in. We
also had good cooperation
from professors o f other
disciplines, including Rich
ard C roft from com puter
science/multimediaand Bill
G rigsby from sociology,
who agreed to allow us to
include their courses in our
offerings.”
The minor includes
courses from speech, so
ciology, m ultim edia and
writing. In addition, there
are elective options from
the business and media arts
colleges. Two-thirds of the
courses are offered on cam-
pus while the remainder will
be delivered online.
“ For th e s tu d e n t
whose interest is in people,
this program is ripe with
skills for speakers and lead
ers,” Curtis said. "It can be
used in so many fields. If the
student is a business major
for example, this minor can
help prepare him or her
to work for a corporation
where group presentations
are common. Whether pre
paring a multim edia pro
duction, speaking from a
lectern or in front o f a small
group, or writing pieces for
publication or broadcast,
these courses provide the
knowledge and skills neces
sary for success.”
To find out m ore
about the communications
minor, call the Admissions
Office at (541) 962-3393,
or at (800) 452-8639, or e-
mail admissions@eou.edu.
April Curtis can be reached
at acurtis@eou.edu.
Wheat marketing ed workshops set
at OSU Extension offices
A statew ide wheat
m a rk e tin g e d u c a tio n
workshop via Polycom video
will be held this Thursday,
November 13, at the Morrow
County Extension Service
conference room , 54173
H ighw ay 74, in Heppner
beginning at 8 a.m.
C o n fe re n c e s are
also set at the U m atilla
County Extension Service
Conference Room 100 A, at
Umatilla Hall, Blue Mountain
Community College campus,
P e n d le to n ; the G illia m
County Extension Service
conference room, 333 South
Main Street, Condon; the
G illia m C o u n ty G ra in
Q u a lity Lab co n feren ce
ro o m , In d u s tria l P ark ,
A rlington; or the Wasco
County Extension Service,
400 E. Scenic Drive, The
D alles. O ther w orkshops
have been set up at various
sites throughout the state.
The
OWGL.
BMCC, and participating
O SU E x ten sio n o ffic e s
w ill once again produce
and host this workshop for
wheat producers throughout
O reg o n w ith th e la te st
information on marketing
Estate
By DAVID SYKES
REALTOR
CONVERTIBLE MORTGAGE
In addition to the w e ll
known adjustable and fixed
rate mortgages, buyers can also
choose from two new varia
tions o f them.
C onvertible A R M ’s are
adjustable rate mortgages that
can be converted into fixed rate
loans. Their rates are only a lit
tle higher than regular ARM's,
but you can convert them into a
fixed rate loan without paying
high refinancing costs.
Biweekly mortgages are
fixed rate mortgages, but in
stead o f one payment a month.
you pay half as much every
two weeks. So you actually
pay the same as 13 monthly
payments a year -thus paying
off a 30 year loan in 20 years 9
months, and saving a great deal
o f interest. These mortgages,
not yet available everywhere,
are increasing in popularity.
With all the varieties o f
mortgages, you should choose
the type that best meets your
needs. We work very closely
with your mortgage lenders
and can help advise you.
Property listings are available
at www.sykesrealestate.net
188 W. Willow • P.O. Box 337 • Heppner, OR 97836
(541) 676-9228 • Cell (541) 980-6674
Fax (541)676-9211
E-mail: david@sykesrealestate.net
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trends and techniques.
The special guest
this month is Richard Meeks
from P e n d le to n G ra in
Growers who will speak on
fertilizer prices, what they
have done, what they may
do depending on usage and
exports. A question/answer
period will follow
Those planning to
attend should call their local
site to RS VP attendance and
confirm their participation in
the call.
For more information
call theOSU/MorrowCounty
Extension Service, 5 4 1 -676-
9642; OSU/Umatilla County
Extension Service, 5 4 1 -278-
5403; OSU/Gilliam County
Extension S ervice, 541-
384-2271; Gilliam County
Grain Quality Lab, 541 -454-
0227; OSU/Wasco County
Extension Serv ice, 541-296-
5494; or Sally Christensen,
O regon W heat G ro w ers
League, 541-276-7330.
USDA announces amended Farm Bill
provisions and new sign-up deadline
Larry Frey, execu
tive d ire c to r o f U SD A ’s
Farm Service Agency in Or
egon announced that owners
and operators o f farms with
10 or fewer base acres now
have the opportunity to re
ceive payments for the 2008
Direct and Counter-cyclical
Payment Program (DCP).
“President Bush re
cently signed into law a bill
that made amendments to the
2008 Farm Bill,” said Frey.
"These amendments apply
to farms with crop acreage
bases o f 10 acres or less and
to the new Supplem ental
Revenue Assistance (SURE)
Program. These changes and
clarifications allow some
producers more flexibility in
farming practices and create
new sign-up opportunities
with new deadlines for some
farms.”
10-Base Acre Limit Chang
es
As o rig in ally e n
acted under the 2008 Farm
Bill, direct and countercycli
cal payments (DCP) could
not be made with respect
to farms with crop acreage
bases o f 10 acres or less.
The new law makes that
provision inapplicable for
the 2008 crop year. Related
to this, producers on a farm
with 10 acres or less o f base
may now, under the new
law, enroll their farms until
November 26, 2008, in the
2008 DCP program. This
extension o f the original
September 30 deadline only
applies to producers who
were previously excluded
because o f the minimum
acreage requirement. USDA
began issuing payments to
producers on farms with
10 base acres or less who
had already enrolled in the
DCP program soon after
the P resident signed the
new law.
USDA’s Farm Ser
vice Agency (FSA) will now
resume allowing reconstitu
tions for farms with 10 acres
o f base or less according to
normal reconstitution rules
and policy. Eligible produc
ers may sign up for DCP at
any FSA office or enroll on
the FSA website at: www.
fsa.usda.gov/dcp, click on
Access eDCP Services.
Supplemental Revenue As
sistance Program (SURE)
Changes
Under SURE in the
2008 Farm Bill, producers
seeking disaster benefits
must generally have obtained
crop insurance or coverage
under the Non-insured crop
disaster Assistance Program
(NAP) for all crops on all
farms. Under the new law
(P.L. 110-398), producers
with crops that had 2009
crop insurance sales clos
ing dates before August 14,
2008, may pay a fee through
January 12, 2009, to par
ticipate in SURE. Produc
ers may make their SURE
participation fee payments
to their local FSA office at
this time.
The SURE program
fee is equal to the fee for
catastrophic coverage. Pay
ment o f the SURE program
fee will not make the pro
ducer eligible for insurance
coverage.
Producers also have
a new minimum loss thresh
old under SURE. U nder
the new law, to qualify for
payments, there must be a
production loss o f at least 10
percent for at least one crop
o f economic significance on
the farm.
U n d er th e SU R E
program, the new law pro
vides that when a second
crop is planted after the first
crop was prevented from be
ing planted, or if such first
crop failed, the second plant
ing will not count toward the
SURE program guarantee or
total farm revenue. This is
true except in areas where
double-cropping is a normal
practice. Producers also are
not required to purchase
crop insurance or a NAP
policy for the second crop.
By provision o f the
new statute, the purchase o f
insurance or a NAP policy
for grazed acreage is no
longer a requirement for the
SURE program. However,
such insurance is required as
a condition for payment for
the livestock feed program,
tree assistance program and
the em ergency livestock,
honeybees and farm-related
fish programs.
In addition, the new
law amends SURE eligibil
ity so that crop insurance or
NAP coverage is no longer
required for crops that are
not o f economic significance
or those where the adminis
trative fee required to buy
NAP coverage exceeds 10
percent o f the value o f the
coverage.
Producers can con
tact th e ir local FSA o f
fice for more information
regarding SURE program
implementation.
NAP (Non-Insured
crop d isaster A ssistance
Program) Application Dead
line Changes
N A P a p p lic a tio n
closing dates for the 2009
crops have been extended
to December 1, 2008. This
extension for 2009 NAP ap
plies to those crops having
an application closing date
prior to December 1, 2008.
This extension was autho
rized due to the late enact
ment o f the 2008 Farm Bill
and to accommodate those
applicants wanting to par
ticipate in disaster assistance
program s under the 2008
Act’s Supplemental Agricul
tural Disaster Assistance for
their 2009 crops.
Farm Service county committee
election ballots to begin
Darcy Vial, county
executive director of USDA’s
Farm Service A gency in
Morrow County announced
that the 2008 FSA county
committee elections have
begun, as ballots are being
mailed to eligible voters.
Dec. 1 is the deadline for
elig ib le v oters to return
ballots to their local FSA
offices.
“ The FSA county
c o m m itte e s y s te m is
unique among government
agencies, because it allows
producers to make important
decisions concerning the
local a d m in is tra tio n o f
federal farm p ro g ram s,”
said Vial. “ I urge all eligible
fa rm e rs an d r a n c h e rs ,
especially m inorities and
women, to get involved and
make a real difference in
their communities by voting
in this year’s elections.”
Committee members
apply their knowledge and
judgment to make decisions
on disaster and conservation
paym ents, establishm ent
o f allotm ents and yields,
producer appeals, employing
FSA c o u n ty e x e c u tiv e
directors and other local
issues. FSA com m ittees
o p e ra te w ith in o ffic ia l
regulations designed to carry
out federal laws.
To be an eligible
voter, farmers and ranchers
must participate or cooperate
in FSA programs. A person
who is not of legal voting age,
but supervises and conducts
the farming operations o f
an entire farm , can also
vote. Agricultural producers
in each country submitted
candidate names during the
nomination period held last
summer.
Eligible voters who
do not receive ballots in the
com ing week can obtain
ballots at their local USDA
S erv ice C en ter. B allo ts
returned by mail must be
postm arked no later than
D ec. 1. N ew ly e lected
com m ittee m em bers and
alternates take office Jan.
1,2009.
N e a r l y 8 ,0 0 0
FSA c o u n ty c o m m itte e
m em bers m eet m o n th ly
at more than 2,300 FSA
offices nationwide. Each
c o m m itte e c o n s is ts o f
three to five members who
serv e th re e -y e a r term s.
Approximately one-third of
county committee seats are
up for election annually.
For
more
in fo rm a tio n ab o u t FSA
county committees and FSA
programs, visit: http://www.
fsa.usda.gov.
NAP December 1 deadline approaching
Darcy Vial, county
executive director of USDA's
Farm S e rv ic e A g e n c y
in Morrow County today
reminded producers that the
application deadline date
for the 2009 coverage on
fall seeded crops under the
Non-Insured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program (NAP) is
December 1,2008.
“ In o rd e r to be
eligible for disaster assistance
programs, like Supplemental
Revenue Assistance Program
or SURE, producers are
required to timely purchase,
at a minimum, catastrophic
coverage for all insurable
crons aniLor NAP coveraoe
for all non-insurable crops on
their entire farm,” said Vial.
According to Vial,
NAP was designed to reduce
financial losses that occur
w hen n a tu ra l d is a s te rs
cause a catastrophic loss
of production or prevented
planting of an eligible crop by
providing coverage equivalent
to c a ta s tro p h ic (C A T )
insurance. Statute limits
NAP to each commercial crop
or agricultural commodity,
except livestock, for which
CAT is not available.
Crops with a Decem
ber 1 deadline include beets,
cabbage, canola, camelina,
parrots Christmas trees, flow
ers, greens, herbs, onions,
radish, alfalfa, asparagus,
clover and legumes, grass,
hops, meadowfoam, mixed
forage, small grains, sugar-
beets, fruit and berry crops,
chestnuts, grapes, hazelnuts
and walnuts.
NAP provides finan
cial assistance to producers of
noninsurable crops when low
yields, loss of inventory or
prevented planting occur due
to natural disasters. NAP cov
erage for 2009 costs $250 per
crop, but not more than $750
per producer per county, or
not more than $2250 total per
producer for all counties
Producers who al
ready have coverage on 2008
NAP crops may choose to
continue coverage on the
same crop or crops for 2009,
if the applicable service fee is
submitted by the application
closing date. A new CCC-
471, application for coverage
is not required to be signed
when applying for continuous
coverage of the same crop or
crops.
For more information
on NAP and other USDA
programs, contact your local
USDA Service Center or FSA
County Office at 541-676-
9011 ext. 2.