Locals tear up the arena at
county rodeo
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
Guerra wins amateur calf roping saddle
azette
imes
VOL. 135
NO. 34 8 Pages
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
County Court agrees to
support new dairy
Hears from dairy operator and construction
manager
By David Sykes
The Morrow County
Court agreed Aug. 10 to
write letters of support
in efforts to locate a new
30,000-cow dairy on land
in North Morrow County.
The court’s decision
follows an earlier July 27
letter it wrote to the Oregon
Department of Agriculture
stating several concerns,
mostly about groundwater,
at the new facility. The
letter was sent following
a public hearing held con-
cerning construction of the
new dairy.
In the letter the court
had expressed concerns
about the dairy’s compli-
ance, or noncompliance,
with local land use require-
ments, locating of a large
dairy in the Lower Umatilla
Basin Groundwater Man-
agement Area, develop-
ment of a large dairy in
the Buttercreek Critical
Groundwater Area, impact
of the dairy on adjacent
canal operations, impact
of construction on the sur-
rounding area, and animal
mistreatment. The ground-
water is of major concern
because of already high
levels of nitrates.
The current Willow
Creek Diary, located on
leased land from nearby
Threemile Canyon Farms,
is looking to relocate and
expand operation onto
7,288 acres purchased
last year from the former
Boardman Tree Farm.
If permitted, the dairy
will be renamed Lost Valley
Ranch, and would be the
second-largest in the state.
But before that can happen,
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture and Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality must sign off on an
application to approve the
farm as a confined animal
feeding operation.
In response to the let-
ter of concern, both the
dairy operator Travis Love
and the dairy construction
manager Wayne Downey
attended the Aug. 10 court
meeting to explain the dairy
operations and attempt to
alleviate concerns.
“We want to address
your concerns and tell you
we are protecting the laws
of the state,” Love told the
court. “We want to put your
mind at ease about our op-
erations.”
Love went on to say
there would be zero dis-
charge of waste water into
the water table, and that
the facility will be built in
a manner required by state
law. He said extensive re-
search and planning went
into the grading and com-
pacting of the site, and the
holding pond linings would
use impermeable material
to protect the ground water.
He said his facility would
actually be much less of a
threat to the water supply
than conventional farming
fertilization practices.
Love also pointed out
that the dairy will take in
more than 200,000 pounds
of waste feed annually from
various food processors in
the area, waste that would
otherwise end up the land-
fill.
“Most people don’t re-
alize what great recyclers of
feed waste dairies are,” he
told the court.
In responding to a ques-
tions from Commissioner
Don Russell about the use
of effluent water and meth-
ane digesters, Love said
effluent is currently used
on their own farm land
to build up the soil, and
Willow Creek Dairy will
export waste water to other
farms and to nurseries in the
Portland area. He also said
methane digesters will be
used at the new dairy.
On the subject of air
quality construction man-
ager Downey said there
is a misconception that
cows are great producers
of noxious chemical gases.
He said the forage crops
grown on the planned 5,000
to 10,000 acres at the dairy
will offset these gases pro-
duced by the cows.
On the economic im-
pact to the county and area,
Downey said the annual
operating budget for the
new dairy will to $25 to
$30 million, and that this
would multiply by five to
seven times.
Fabien Guerra took first place in the Morrow County Rodeo amateur calf roping with a time
of 42.11 on two, taking home the 2016 championship saddle donated by Morrow County Grain
Growers. -Photo by Sandy Matthews
Fabien Guerra rode
away with the coveted
Morrow County Amateur
Calf Roping saddle from
the 2016 Morrow County
Rodeo Aug. 21. Guerra
secured the win with a time
of 42.11 on two. Taking sec-
ond in calf roping was Jacee
Currin with 39.40.
It was the team of Tate
Gentry and Garrett Rob-
inson who tied down first
place in ribbon roping with
a time of 15.21. They were
followed by Jett Stewart
and Trevor Reikkola with
23.14 and Kolby Currin and
Kevin Murray with 27.07.
Open tie-down calf
roping went to Dick Hoff-
man with his time of 15.77.
Second place went to Steve
Hofman at 17.18, with Kol-
by Currin placing third at an
even 20.
For team roping, it was
the duo of Ben Kershner
and Trevor Reikkola who
placed first with a time of
7.98, followed by Jack Mc-
Guire and Lane Bailey with
8.16 and Devin Robinson
and Fabien Guerra with 8.6.
Breakaway roping
went to Alexis Doutre with
her time of 2.30. Blane
Mahoney took second with
3.40 and Shayla Currin was
third at 5.58.
It was Willy Gentry
who stuck on the cow the
longest during cow riding,
earning an 82. Nate Hoff-
man took second with a 78.
In calf riding, it was
Brock Hisler all the way
with 74 points.
Reese Weygandt earned
the mutton bustin’ buckle
by hanging on the longest,
followed by Denver Eng,
Kamryn Dickenson and
Jace Wilson.
For barrels, it was
Shayla Currin who rode
away with first place in
senior barrels with a time
of 17.94. Mary Hayes was
second at 17.96, followed
by Taylor Eng and Maryann
Munkers tied for third at
18.19.
The winner of junior
barrels was Sydney Bracher
with 18.03. Second was
Taylor Hoffman at 18.37,
with Sierra Greenup round-
ing out the top three with
18.84.
Intermediate barrels
went to Tripp Stewart with
his time of 26.00. Quaid
Jenson took second with
30.22, with Reese Wey-
gandt third at 35.14.
Savannah Greenup was
the winner of pee wee bar-
rels with a time of 31.95+.
Always a favorite at
the rodeo are the stick
horse races. Taking the
first-place trophy for the
three-and-under group was
Morgan Milligan, followed
by Jayden Macias in second
and Pearl Miller in third.
Ketch Fernnen was the
winner in the four-to-five
age group, followed by
Jayde Espinilla and Kord
Dickenson. Placing first in
the six-and-seven-year-old
group was Avery Lathrop,
followed by Soren Miles
and Coltan Akers.
-See WILD STEERS & STICK HORSES for photos of more winners/PAGE EIGHT
“We’ve touched almost
every business with some-
thing to sell,” he said.
Lost Valley Ranch
would be located about
a mile and a half east of
where Homestead Lane
meets Poleline Road. About
6,000 acres would be used
to grow feed for the cows,
such as silage, alfalfa and
triticale.
The current Willow
Creek Dairy now produces
about 70,000 gallons of
Heppner celebrates opening of car
charging station
milk per day for Tillamook
Cheese, which operates a
whey plant at the Port of
Morrow.
After hearing from the
operator and construction
manager of the new facil-
ity, the court agreed to
write a letter of support for
approval of the permit, to
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture and the gover-
nor’s office.
Wym Matthews, pro-
gram manager with Oregon
Department of Agriculture,
said he did not have a firm
date when the dairy permit
would be decided upon. He
said following the public
hearing more than 2,600
comments were received,
and his department and the
Department of Environ-
mental Quality were in the
process of answering those
comments prior to making
a decision.
G-T closed for
Labor Day
The Heppner Gazette-Times will be closed for the
Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 5. The deadline
for all news and advertising for the Sept. 7 issue will
be Friday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will
resume Tuesday, Sept. 6.
The G-T wishes everyone a happy and safe Labor
Day weekend.
On the Inside....
Obituaries................................................ PAGE TWO
Op/Ed: Boardman to Hemingway........ PAGE THREE
Justice Court........................................ PAGE THREE
Sports..................................................... PAGE FOUR
Classifieds.............................. PAGES SIX & SEVEN
Yard of the Month................................ PAGE SEVEN
Rodeo Winners...................................... PAGE EIGHT
Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative finished installing a new electric vehicle charging sta-
tion in Heppner recently. The station was the last of four installed in the co-op’s service area,
with others located in Ione, Condon and Fossil. Celebrating the car charging station opening
with a ribbon cutting Monday were (L-R) Morrow County Administrator Jerry Sorte, Hep-
pner Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheryll Bates, CBEC Assistant Manager of
Operations Josh Coiner, Heppner Mayor Skip Matthews, CBEC Board Member Gerry Arn-
son, CBEC Staff Accountant Debbie Lankford, CBEC General Manager Tommy Wolff, and
Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman. -Photo Andrea Di Salvo
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net