TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 4, 2020
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
FFA students speak to county
commissioners
Topics covered are environment and mental health
U.S.P.S. 240-420
By David Sykes
Two Ione Future Farm-
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE: ers of America (FFA) stu-
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
dents spoke to the Morrow
County Commissioners at
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
their meeting last week, and
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
the topics covered were:
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
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Protect the Environment?
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Ask a Farmer; and Mental
subscriptions.
David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher
Health in the Agricultural
Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor
Industry.”
Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising
Grace Ogden spoke
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
first
and pointed out how
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to
farmers and ranchers are
100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch.
leading the way to protect
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub-
the environment. She said
lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
that over the last seventy
specified if required).
years even though the use
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
of land, fertilizers, chem-
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
icals, and energy have re-
for the obituary.
mained mostly the same,
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
U.S. farmers have boosted
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not
agricultural output by 270
responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will
percent. “This means that
be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
farmers and ranchers are
New Baby in Your Family? Engagement? Wedding?
increasing their output to
We want to share your life events!
feed a projected nine billion
Stop in the Heppner Gazette office or email us with people, but they’re actually
shrinking their carbon foot-
details and photos.
All birth, engagement and wedding announcements are always free! print,” she points out.
Ogden also brought up
188 W Willow Street, Heppner, OR
editor@rapidserve.net
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VOTE
JOSEPH
ARMATO
MORROW COUNTY
COMMISSIONER
Two Ione Future Farmers of America students, Grace Ogden (left) and Madison Orem, spoke
at the Morrow County Commissioner’s meeting last week in Heppner. The commissioners
listening are left to right Jim Doherty, Melissa Lindsay and Don Russell.
that cows, which have been
getting a bad reputation
among global warming
activists recently, “actually
only represent less than
two percent of all green-
house gas emissions.” The
cows also increase the soil’s
capacity to store carbon
by stimulating bigger and
healthier grass stands that
take up more carbon diox-
ide from the atmosphere,
she points out.
She said the most re-
cent blow to the agriculture
industry was Starbucks’
announcement the coffee
chain was moving toward
a more “environmentally
friendly” menu by using
alternative milks. Ogden,
however, said that plant-
based milks come with their
own environmental con-
cerns, such as the soybean
crops replacing Brazil’s
forests at a rapid rate. Al-
mond farming methods are
also contributing to the loss
of bee populations. Plant
based alternatives such as
soybean, almond and ca-
shews are more commonly
grown in locations such as
Spain, Ukraine, Canada
and Nigeria, and when the
plant milk is shipped to the
United States the transpor-
tation is producing a “huge
amount of greenhouse gas
emissions.”
While she admitted
that plant-based milks are a
great alternative for people
who have health problems,
such as being lactose in-
tolerant, or if they simply
don’t enjoy the taste of
cows’ milk, she says, “The
reality is that cows’ milk
is one of the most locally
sourced ingredients found
almost anywhere you go.
Every state has a dairy
farm, so it doesn’t have to
be shipped from far away.”
Ogden quoted Krysta Hard-
en, a spokesman from Dairy
Management Inc., who
said, “From an environmen-
tal and nutrition standpoint,
it is not an either/or, both
plants and animals play a
critical role in the health of
the people and the planet.”
Ogden also brought
up how frugal and innova-
tive farming practices have
become. A good example
is right here in Morrow
County where a large meth-
ane digester is operating.
“Threemile Canyon Farms
outside Boardman is Ore-
gon’s largest dairy and built
a methane digester in 2012.
The digestor processes 80
percent of the manure from
their dairy, and (produces)
the same amount of energy
as three wind turbines,” she
points out.
The student related
how she spoke with both
the manager of livestock
operations at the farm and
the waste management su-
pervisor about the process
and was told that the farm
is actually building a sec-
ond digestor. Threemile is
the only dairy in Oregon
that has their own methane
digester on the site. “This is
an excellent way to reduce
their carbon footprint in a
variety of ways,” she says.
“Not only are they remov-
ing methane from the envi-
ronment, but by having it
actually on the farm means
they don’t have to use a
truck to transport it, which
would release more green-
house gas emissions.” She
said there are tours given
to community groups and
schools throughout the year
and the farm is interested in
teaching more people about
the environment-saving ac-
complishment at the dairy.
However, Ogden says,
environmental conserva-
tion, moderation and pres-
ervation aren’t always a
large-scale effort and can
be done through smaller
efforts. The use of no-till
drills, cover crops, infrared
technology and participa-
tion in conservation pro-
grams are standard proce-
dure in Morrow County and
on farms of every size, she
says. “I’ve ridden with my
dad on tractors and spray-
ers with GPS technology,
an advancement that has
completely changed today’s
farming practices,” adding
that before the addition of
GPS-enabled equipment,
farmers were dealing with
large skips throughout a
field, and swaths of fields
that could be sprayed over
several times.
“When my grandpa
was a young farmer, he
used toilet paper streamers
in the field as spray mark-
ers. You can imagine how
precise that was,” she said.
Ogden says technological
advances in farming save
time, money, and most
importantly, benefit the
environment. “We all need
to be conscious of how we
impact the environment.
Agriculturalists will con-
tinue to play an important
role in helping the world
adapt to and prevent climate
change by promoting soil
health, conserving water,
using nutrients more ef-
ficiently, and continuing
technological advances. It’s
a team effort, and one that
can only be successful if we
can all work together,” she
concluded.
Mental Health in the
Agricultural Industry
On a more personal
topic, Madison Orem gave
a talk about mental health
in the agricultural business
and how it is a “big issue
that is often ignored.”
Orem says many peo-
ple don’t see the stress and
fight that farmers are going
through. “Mental health
in agriculture is a big is-
sue that is often ignored.
Many people see producers
as resilient people, so the
thought of them having
mental health issues is hard
to see, but it’s happening,”
she emphasized. She said
according to the Center for
Disease Control suicide
rates in agriculture are high-
er than for any other occu-
-See FFA STUDENTS/PAGE
THREE