SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 16,2011
FSA livestock disaster
program deadlines
O re g o n U SD A
Farm S erv ice A gency
(FSA) State Executive Di
rector Lynn Voigt reminds
eligible ranchers and live
stock producers who had
livestock losses or grazing
losses during the 2011 crop
year that the deadline for
applying for benefits under
the Livestock Forage Disas
ter Program (LFP) and the
Emergency Assistance for
Livestock, Honeybees and
Farm-Raised Fish Program
(ELAP) is Jan. 30, 2012.
“It is im perative
that producers meet the
deadline for disaster as
sistance since there are no
late file provisions for LFP
and ELAP,” said Voigt. “To
insure a smooth application
process, producers should
have all required supporting
documentation with them
at the time they apply for
benefits,” he said.
LFP provides pay
ments to eligible livestock
producers who have suf
fered livestock grazing loss
es due to qualifying drought
or fire that occurred before
Oct. 1, 2011. The National
Drought Monitor index of
drought level severity qual
ifies a county for producer
eligibility. Fire losses apply
only to federally-managed
rangeland. Eligible live
stock under LFP include
beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo,
beefalo, dairy cattle, deer,
elk, emus, equine, goats,
llamas, poultry, reindeer,
sheep and swine.
ELA P p ro v id es
emergency assistance to
eligible producers of live
stock, honeybees and farm-
raised fish who have losses
due to disease, adverse
w eather or other condi
tions, including losses due
to blizzards and wildfires
that occurred before Oct.
1,2011. ELAP assistance is
for losses not covered under
other disaster assistance
programs established by the
2008 Farm Bill.
Producers who ex
perienced livestock death
losses must file a notice
o f loss 30 days after the
loss is apparent, but no
later than Dec. 29, 2011.
Producers who suffered
livestock grazing and feed
losses must have filed a
notice of loss no later than
Oct. 31,2011 and have until
Jan. 30, 2012, to submit an
application for payment for
livestock death losses and
McCabe team member
awarded Bronze Star
Reprinted from America s
North Shore Journal. Story
by Sgt. Marcy Sanchez.
A M arin e w ith
I M arine Expeditionary
Force, Cpl. Zachary D.
Byron, received a Bronze
Star with combat distin
guishing device during an
awards ceremony on May
20. Byron served as a mem
ber of Heppner man Sgt.
Michael McCabe’s team in
Afghanistan.
B yron, a Pashto
linguist currently assigned
to 1* Radio Battalion, was
presented the Bronze Star
and Purple Heart for actions
while serving with 2nd Bat
talion, 1“ Marine Regiment
in November 2010.
B y r o n ’s sq u a d
was caught in an enemy
ambush in the vicinity of
Durzay, A fghanistan lo
cated in southern Helmand
province.
“ You can never
simulate that kind of envi
ronment ever again,” said
Byron, from Marion, N.Y.
“It was a wakeup call for all
of us. When the guy in front
of me got hit I couldn’t see
him, but I heard him yell
ing. I immediately got up
and moved toward him.”
B y ro n , 23, was
shot in the wrist and thigh
as he tried to render aid on
the injured Marine in front
of him.
“When I got shot in
operate within official regu
my leg everything kind of
lations designed to carry out
stopped,” Byron said. “I got
federal laws.
a feeling of straight fear—
To be eligible vot
fear that things were going
ers, farmers and ranchers
must participate or coop
erate in an FSA program.
Eligible voters who do not
-Continuedfrom PAGE ONE
receive ballots in the com
-approved a wres
ing week can obtain ballots
tling
cooperative
sponsor
from their local USDA
ship
between
lone
High
service center. December 5
is the last day for voters to School and Heppner High
submit ballots in person to School.
-approved resolu
local USDA service centers.
Ballots returned by mail tions to accept $2,075 in
must be postmarked no later unappropriated funds do
than December 5. Commit nated by the Alliance for
tee members will take office Community Traffic Safety
in Oregon and adjust the
January 1, 2012.
budget.
-received the fol
lowing attendance report as
of Nov. 1: A.C. Houghton
Elementary School-271;
H e p p n e r E le m e n ta ry
School-188; Heppner High
School-187; Irrigon El
ementary School-216; Ir
rigon High School-342;
Riverside High School-416;
Sam Boardman Elemen-
tary-315; Windy River El-
livestock grazing and feed
losses.
In order to qualify
for LFP and ELAP, the
applicant must have pur
chased insurance coverage
through FSA’s Noninsured
Crop Disaster Assistance
Program (NAP) or the Pas
ture, Rangeland and Forage
Insurance-Rainfall Index
for Grazing (PRF-RI) pro
gram offered through the
Risk Management Agency
(RMA). Producers who
meet the requirements of
a socially disadvantaged,
limited resource, or begin
ning farmer or rancher do
not have to meet the Risk
Management Purchase Re
quirement (RMPR).
Program applicants
should note that certain
paym ent lim itation and
adjusted gross income eli
gibility requirements must
be met in order to qualify
for LFP and ELAP.
For more informa
tion on FSA’s livestock di
saster assistance programs,
contact the nearest county
USDA Service Center. In
formation can also be ob
tained online at http://www.
fsa.usda.gov.
Farmers and ranchers urged
to vote in committee elections
The 2011 FSA
county com m ittee elec
tions will begin November
4 with the USDA mailing
ballots to eligible voters.
The deadline to return the
ballots to local FSA offices
is December 5.
“The role and input
of our county committee
members is more vital than
ever at a time when our
country faces important
choices regarding the fund
ing and operation of our
government,” said FSA ad
ministrator Bruce Nelson.
“New county committee
members provide input and
make important decisions
on the local administration
of disaster and conservation
programs.”
County committee
members provide a link
between the agricultural
com m unity and USDA.
Farmers and ranchers elect
ed to county committees
help deliver FSA programs
at the local level, applying
their knowledge and judg
ment to make decisions on
commodity price support
program s; conservation
programs; incentive indem
nity and disaster programs
for some com m odities;
emergency programs and
eligibility. FSA committees
Cpl. Zachary Byron (L) and Sgt. Michael McCabe (R). By
ron requested that McCabe pin his bronze star on him at the
ceremony in front of the entire battalion. Afghanistan was
McCabe’s third deployment; he had served two tours of duty
in Iraq. -Contributedphoto
to get a lot worse.”
As he fell in and
out of consciousness from
blood loss, he continued to
translate enemy communi
cations, allowing the squad
to avert another assault.
“I had a sense o f
loyalty to my job and my
troops to make sure 1 didn’t
fail them,” Byron said.
Sgt. Maj. A lbert
Diaz, the sergeant major
of 1st Radio Bn., compli
mented Byron’s humbling
personality and wasn't sur
prised to hear of his heroic
actions.
“He is always go
ing out of his way to help
somebody,” Diaz said. “He
is always sought out for
advice.”
Sgt. Michael J. Mc
Cabe said the Bronze Star
is well deserved and is wit-
ness to Byron’s outstanding
performance.
_ “ H e’s very self
less when it comes to his
job and accomplishing his
tasks,” said McCabe, a team
trainer with Headquarters
and Support Com pany,
1st Radio Bn., who servdd
as Byron’s team leader in
Afghanistan. “I don’t think
there’s enough you can say
about his performance. He’s
by far the best Marine I’ve
ever worked with.”
“It’s a great honor,
not just for me, but for 1st
Radio Bn.,” Byron said.
“There were a lot of Ma
rines in the squad whose
actions encouraged me to
push on.”
The Bronze Star
is the fourth highest award
received for combat actions
in the U.S. Armed Forces.
TECHNOLOGY GRANT
Design Our
Parade Float!
The Winner Will Get
Their Name On The Float
And $100!
Float Design Contest is open to anyone.
The float will be featured in the December 15th
holiday parade in downtown Heppner.
To enter, draw a picture of your float idea and a paragraph
describing it, keeping in mind that there are just four
people putting it together and that the cost of supplies
should not exceed $200.
Turn your entry into the Heppner Branch
of Community Bank
by November 30th before 5:30 PM.
Winner will be selected by a judge outside of the bank.
Come join us for cookies and punch and the chance to win
some door prizes at our Open House
on December 1st from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM,
Parade Float Contest Winner will be announced at 5:30 PM
em entary-205; M orrow
Education Center (MCSD
s tu d e n ts ) - 4 1 ; M orrow
Education Center (Uma
tilla School District stu
dents)-16; total-2,197.
-received the fol
lowing employment report:
retirements-Karen Clough,
Heppner Elementary School
teacher, to finish the aca
demic year; John Sebastian,
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School principal, to finish
the 2011-12 and 2012-13
school years; Rose Se
bastian, Sam Boardman
Elementary School Title I
teacher, to finish the school
year. Extra duty resigna-
tions-Blaine Ganvoa, Ir
rigon Junior High School
assistant boys’ basketball
coach; Jason Palmer, Hep
pner High School assistant
track coach. Employment-
Cristela Olson, Irrigon El
ementary School ed assis
tant; John Thompson, Ir
rigon Elementary/Morrow
Education Center assistant
custodian; Susan Reagan,
Windy River Elementary
assistant cook. Extra duty
contracts-Jeremy LaFram-
boise and Tyler Barrie,
both RHS assistant boys’
basketball coaches.
-h e a rd th e f o l
low ing announcem ents:
Thanksgiving holiday-No-
vember 24-25; next board
meeting-December 12, Irri
gon Elementary, 7 p.m.; last
day of school for students
and staff-D ecem ber 16;
Christmas break-December
19-January 2.
South Morrow represents at
state championships
By Zech Hintz
Last weekend Mor
row County was rep re
sented well at the State
Volleyball 1A/2A Finals,
hosted at Pacific University
in Forest Grove, by both the
Heppner Mustangs and the
lone Cardinals.
The Mustangs
started the weekend with a
win over North Douglas in
five sets, 3-2. The Cardinals
followed that up with a win
in the afternoon against
Adrian in four. These suc
cesses gave both teams
the advancement into the
semi-finals.
H eppner was up
first with a tough match
against the num ber-one
ranked team in the state,
Days Creek. Losing 3-0
was a tough blow for the
M ustangs and put them
in a finals match against
Reedsport the next day to
determine 3rd/5tf' place. lone
faced off with the Hosanna
Christian Lions in the semi
finals taking the win 3-0 and
advancing them into the
championship finals.
The M u s t a n g s
seemed to come onto the
court with a new-found
energy after their loss the
day before. In a tough fight
against Reedsport, they
came up short 3-1 taking
5th place. That night the
lone Cardinals played what
some could say was the
toughest game of the year,
going head-to-head with
Powder Valley. The Lady
Cardinals did not disap
point, and came out on top
to win the championship in
5 sets taking 1* place.
Congratulations to
both the Mustangs and the
Cardinals. You did it.
M o r r o w C o u n ty T r a n s f e r S t a t io n s . S o uth
e n d 57185 H w y 74, L e x in g to n a n d N o r th E n d
6 9 9 0 0 F r o n ta g e L n ,
B o a r d m a n . W il l be c lo s e d for t h e
F O L L O W IN G H O L ID A Y S
immunity
BANK
Local Money Working For Local People
www communitybanknet com
Member FDIC
Heppner
127 N Main St
541-676-5745
S at . and S un . D ecember 24 and 25,
2011
S unday J a n u a r y
1,2012
T h a n k y o u f o r y o u r c o o p e r a t io n it a l l o w s o u r a t t e n d a n t s t o b e w it h
THEIR FAMILIES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.
M o r r o w C o u n t y P u b l ic w o r k s 5 4 1 - 9 8 9 - 9 5 0 0 .