Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/49823
2B Daily News – Saturday, December 10, 2011 Agriculture & farm The nearly two inches of rain in November was wonderful. But the cold north wind dried the moisture, and now the freezing temperatures have stopped the grass growth on the range. The clouds come in, and not a drop of moisture does the weatherman promise. The Tehama County Cattlemen and Cattle- Women have started meeting to make plans for the 60th Annual Winter Dinner and 9th Ag-Scholarship Fundraiser for Jan. 7starting at 6 p.m. at the Tehama District Fair- ground auditorium. The public is invited to a Vic Woolery Prime Rib dinner for $20 advance purchase, or $25 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in Red Bluff at Hawes Ranch & Farm Supply, The Loft, Walco, Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale, Northern California Farm Credit, Crossroads Feed & Ranch Supply, Rabobank and Premier- West Bank. T ick ets available at Shasta Farm & Equipment in Cottonwood, while in Corn- ing they are available at McCo ys, Rabobank and PremierWest Bank. Rhyanne Truax is con- tacting winer- ies inviting them to partic- ipate in wine tasting to ben- efit the scholarship fund. The committee, Cathy Tobin chairwoman, Chris Marenco, Steve Zane, Andy Cox, Steve McCarthy, Josh Davy, Chad Amen, Tony Turri, Nathan Owens, Jeff and Brandy White, Rick and Terri Buchner, Jerry and Joan Hemsted, Jean Bar- ton, Danielle Zane, Rene Ewing, Paula Holden and Rhyanne Truax, are asking for donations to the live and silent auc- tions to benefit the scholarship fund. Matt Norene and Justin Niesen from Shasta Auction Yard and Western Video Market will be the auctioneer and assistant. Patty Kelly, Flournoy cattle- woman member has again donated her famous, delicious peanut brittle. Yuba Outdoor Courtesy photo Preparing to vaccinate the cows were Cole Robinson, Walt Brown, Dave Bennetts, Don Brown and Logan Robinson at Walt Brown's branding. Jean Barton Adventues, Tom and Linda McCay, have donated a weekend trip for four on the Yuba River in June. There will be tent camping, with weekend meals in the historic Yuba Gold fields. You get to keep the gold you find, after instruction in gold panning by an instructor. The trip is a $1,200 value. West Wind Angus Ranch, Dave & Paula Holden, have donated a wine gift basket of red wines. Linda Borror will make a lemon meringue pie for the silent auction. Rolling Hills Casino and Sevillano Links has donated a Stay & Play Golf package for four, plus dinner in Timbers Steak House. The 17th annual J P Ranch Rodeo, aka Jim Owens Memorial Ranch Rodeo, has donated a package of 10 full passes for the Jan. 20-21, 2012 event in the Pauline Davis Pavilion at the fairgrounds. It is a fun event with ranchhand bronc riding, ranch horse class, calf branding, dally calf roping, ranch doctoring, ranch sorting and herd counting. Josh Davy has designed the colorful poster that is in local business windows advertising the event. *** My father's Lazy W brand was used by the Salad Bowl Planting Class Saturday, December 10th @ 10:00 am Bulb Planting Class Saturday, December 17th @ 10:00 am to reserve your seat! Red Bluff Garden Center 527-0886 766 Antelope Blvd. (Next to the Fairground) Please call COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES Smog Check starting at $ (most cars and pick-ups) 2595 + cert. Pass or FREE retest 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. third generation last month when daughter Kendra and Mike brand- ed their calves using the old Teco calf table. Dad's Teco Calf Squeeze, serial number 600, had been pur- chased in 1942. Mike put on a new rope, oiled the hinges, and moved it to where their cows are this winter. In the late 1800s my great-grandfather and his sons had cattle on the open range east of Red Bluff up on the Hogsback. But the calves on the Willard cows had the neighbor‚s brand instead of the HW. Sheep were the major livestock in Tehama County 100 years ago, and Willard's gave up trying to raise cattle for at least 60 years. What was interesting to learn, after quietly saying they used the calf table instead of roping, was before the 1960s everyone in Tehama County used a calf table. At this branding, Quentin Tatro caught the calf head and pulled over the chute so that it became a table. Willie Escalante caught the hind legs with the rope. Kevin was branding the lazy w on the right hip. Bryce was earmarking, Mike and Kendra were giving the shots to keep the calves healthy, while Linda and Sam kept the calves coming. Bill was supervising. I was taking pictures, and something happened when I downloaded them on the computer without making a CD, or backing them up. The pictures of the branding and Thanksgiving had disappeared. Didn't realize what happened until I downloaded the Walt Brown branding and it, too, disappeared. At least this time I had- n't cleaned the chip by formatting it, and Linda finally figured how to save the pictures. When Walt Brown had his branding. It was family and friends that helped, since it was rop- ing with Jim Edwards doing the branding and Greg Weber castrating. Roping were Jody and Don Brown, Dave Bennetts, Blaine Davies, Cody Robbins, Cole and Logan Robinson and Walt, Tracy and Wyatt Brown. Helping with the vac- cinations and ground crew were the ropers, plus Trish Weber, Amanda and Cody Slat- ter while Bill and I watched. The cows received their pre-breeding vacci- nations at both brand- ings, before the calves were branded. Tracy served a deli- cious lasagne she had heated on a portable bar- becue, with toss green salad, rolls and pies after the fellows had moved the cows and calves, plus bulls to their new pasture. *** We have been watch- ing the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, this past week on GAC. Many Tehama County folks were able to view it in person this year. Really appreciated having it broadcast at 7 p.m., instead of way past my bed-time. So many young, new faces and names this year. I have been cheer- ing for Luke Branquinho and Cody Ohl, since Billy Etabauer didn't qualify this year in sad- dle bronc. Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton@theskybeam.c om. Community Clip? e-mail: clerk@red- bluffdailynews.com or Fax: 527-9251 ranch 60th Annual Winter Dinner Farm Bureau honored for community activities Outstanding work to benefit family farmers and ranchers earned recognition for county Farm Bureaus across California during a ceremony at the California Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting in Sparks, Nev. Monday. Tehama County Farm Bureau, and 10 others, were honored with County Activities of Excellence Awards, according to a release issued Tuesday by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The Tulare County Farm Bureau earned top honors as winner of the Golden State Hall of Honor Award. The Shasta County Farm Bureau earned the Innovator Award for a unique activity. The Napa, Siskiyou and Yolo county Farm Bureaus earned County of the Year awards in their respective membership categories, and 15 other county Farm Bureaus were recognized for excellence in program activities. The Shasta County Farm Bureau earned the Innova- tor Award for organizing a rodeo that brought together community members from across the county to raise money and compete in ranching traditions including ranch cow milking and herd counting. The weekend's events also featured a ranch horse competition, herding dog trial, tri-tip barbecue and silent auction. The event raised more than $13,000 for the county Farm Bureau. The Siskiyou County Farm Bureau earned County of the Year honors among county Farm Bureaus with fewer than 650 members. It has worked during 2011 providing tours and meeting with legislators and others involved in issues within the county, challenging state Department of Fish and Game regulations that would broaden DFG authority to regulate water rights, and cooperating with the California Cattlewomen to intro- duce fourth graders to various aspects of Siskiyou County agriculture. Others honored with County Activities of Excel- lence Awards include Butte, Imperial, Kings, Sacra- mento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, Shasta, Solano and Stanislaus. The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 74,000 members statewide and as part of a nation- wide network of nearly 6.3 million Farm Bureau mem- bers. CFBF president urges outreach, political action For agriculture to enjoy continued success, farmers and ranchers must carry their message to the general public and the elected offi- cials who represent urban areas. California Farm Bureau Federation Presi- dent Paul Wenger conveyed that message to a packed room of CFBF delegates and guests at the federa- tion's annual meeting Mon- day, Dec. 5, in Sparks, Nev. "When you think about California and how little is rural, it is the folks who don't have much agriculture in their districts, who don't understand what their votes do to our industry, who we have to reach to make sure they understand," he said. Reflecting back on 2011, Wenger said many in agri- The North State's premier supplier of stoves STOVE JUNCTION The Over 25 years of experience NOW OPEN! Sales • Service • Installation *Wood Stoves * Pellet Stoves * Gas Stoves Tues-Sat 9am-5pm Closed Sunday & Monday 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff www.thestovejunction.com 530-528-2221 Fax 530-528-2229 culture assumed that policy issues would become more difficult with the change in governors. But, he said, that hasn't turned out to be the case. "Gov. Brown has really reached out to agriculture," Wenger said, citing two examples. The first concerned the state budget, where the gov- ernor reached out to agricul- tural organizations and asked for recommendations from them as to where to make cuts within the Cali- fornia Department of Food and Agriculture. The other example was "card check"—a form of union- organizing legislation that had been vetoed previously by former Gov. Schwarzenegger. "The UFW assumed they would have card check signed but the governor vetoed card check, then went back to the drawing board and created his own plan to keep the secret-bal- lot election," Wenger said. "What we got was pretty darn good. We don't think agricultural producers are doing any of the egregious things that some people think we're doing."