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"Ever-growingRedBluff Bull Sale, Bigger than ever this year," by Donald M. Smith, county agent. Red Bluff Daily News — Here- ford Sale Section - 1946. In the summer of 1941 a group of Tehama county commercial cattle opera- tors determined that a sale of Hereford bulls might be held at the fairgrounds at Red bluff where ample shed and sale facilities were available. It was the opinion of the group that Red Bluff was advantageously located for such a sale, being virtually the hub of one of the great- est beef cattle producing ar- eas in the United States. The fact that all roads from Nevada, Oregon and the coast counties lead to Red Bluff indicated to the group that Tehama County Fair- ground was the place for an event of this kind. In addition, the commit- tee felt that Red Bluff had received many thousands of dollars of advertising from round-up promotion and was therefore, well known to cattlemen throughout the sale area which extends for more than 200 miles in every direction. Sam Ayer, President of the Tehama County Cat- tlemen's Association, ap- pointed Roy Owens and Sidney Watson, local com- mercial operators, to work with him on a sale to be held in February, 1942. Breeders in northern Cal- ifornia and southern Or- egon were notified of the committee's intent and ul- timately 10 listed 64 head of bulls and 20 head of fe- males for the event. These consignors were Floyd Bidwell, Herbert Chandler, L. J. Horton, A. B. Hoy, J. L. Jacob & Sons, Martin Bros; Albert Mehl- horn, James E. Stead, L. E. Wheelock and Lewis J. Whitmore. Stan Brown, Lassen County Agent, offici- ated as judge. Of this group, all but James E. Stead, L. E. Whee- lock, and Lewis J. Whit- more, who have gone out of business, have consigned to each of the five sales held by the Association. An average price of $263 a head was realized at this sale. In February 1943, the second sale was held with 21 consignors who listed 173 bulls and 26 females. These animals brought an average of $425 a head. In 1944 the number of consignors jumped to 29. Two hundred fifty three bulls being sold at an aver- age price of $263 with 59 fe- males averaging $306. In February 1945, 10 ad- ditional consignors, mak- ing 39 in all, consigned 259 bulls and 81 females. These sold for an average price of $395 each. Sam Ayer resigned as chairman of the local Cat- tlemen's Association in 1945. C. F. Stover, one of the largest operators in north- ern California was elected association chairman, thus became head of the sale committee. He appointed T. J. McKerras and Charles Luther, two local commer- cial operators, as additional members who together with Watson, Stover and Owens make up the present com- mittee responsible for the 1946 sale. A grading program was instituted at the 1944 event with Prof. Harold Guilbert and Alex McDonald of the University farm at Davis applying to every consign- ment the grading system used by them in measur- ing record of performance of beef bulls in herds which were cooperating with the University in herd improve- ment programs. Seventy —eight per cent of all consignments to the 1945 sale graded 2- to 1 plus (equivalent to choice and fancy grades in commercial cattle) as compared to only 45 per cent in these grades in 1944. Buyers of the 1945 sale appreciated quality, as indi- cated by the following sum- mary showing the average prices paid for bulls of dif- ferent grades: Grade 1, 2, 2, 2-, 3, 3 No. Bulls 1, 33, 48, 93, 67, 27 Av. Price $1,575, $656, $438, $378, $302, $253 In many ways the com- mittee feels that the sale has been relatively success- ful. A large number of small registered herds throughout northern California are now headed by bulls purchased at Red Bluff. In addition, approximately 70 percent of the females and range bulls offered at the sales which have already been held have been purchased by buyers living within 200 miles of Red Bluff. According to Chairman Stover, the committee is in- tent on getting an annual improvement in quality of consignments. They have indicated that any bulls grading under 3 plus, which corresponds to the better grade of "good" cattle can- not be sold through the ring. The bottom grade on females is 2-. Should a sale be held in 1947, the committee feels that no bulls grading under 2- should be accepted and are of the opinion that if the offerings can be maintained at a high quality level, the public will continue to pay good prices even though there should be a decline in beef cattle prices during post war years. Furthermore, the com- mittee feels that inasmuch as their aim is to assist in improving the industry in the sale area, they would not be fulfilling their obli- gation if they did not insist on a high quality in all con- signments. Evidence that there is widespread interest in the Red Bluff Sale is indicated by the fact that 89 cattle- men, mostly commercial operators, purchased cattle in the 1945 sale. These buyers originated in 23 California counties and number of counties in the state of Washington, Nevada and Oregon. The bulk of the sales, however, were made in Tehama, Las- sen, Modoc, Siskiyou, Sac- ramento, Butte, Shasta and Amador Counties. Forty-two consignors have listed cattle for the February 1946 sale. Nine- teen of these are Califor- nia breeders: 13 are from Oregon; 5 from Montana; 3 from Utah; and one each from Arizona and Wyo- ming. California consign- ors are sending 181 head or almost half of the total; Or- egon consignors, most of whom operate in the Red Bluff Sale area, are next with 122 head; Montana is third with 55, Utah next, 36; with Wyoming and Ar- izona consigning 16 and 12 head respectively. Interest in the 1946 Sale is such that the commit- tee was compelled to re- turn consignments total- ing almost 70 head, because of lack of adequate barn fa- cilities. A contemplation of the future progress of the Red Bluff sale would indicate that approximately 300 bulls should be offered at each sale with the bulk of them being unusually high range quality range bulls of breed- ing age. A limited number of first class herd bulls might continue to sell well with a few choice females being made available annually to supply the requirements of northern California. Quality must be main- tained if the sale is to fulfill its obligation. The commit- tee should make a contin- ued effort to offer the cat- tlemen of the area big rug- ged bulls of sufficient age to satisfy their requirements. Breeders must cooperate by bringing that kind. Bulls should be well fitted and not pampered. Breeders should stand be- hind their consignments and make good in every in- stance where a bull fails to breed or fails for any other reason. If quality and ser- vice are maintained, there is no reason why the Red Bluff Bull sale cannot continue to hold its position as the sec- ond largest annual event of its kind in the United States and continue to exert a tre- mendous influence for good as far as beef cattle are con- cerned throughout all north- ern California and southern Oregon. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEANBARTON The early days of the Hereford Sale The1946HerefordSaleSectionoftheDailyNewsispictured. Bureau of Reclamation Outlines Water Year 2017 Central Valley Project Water Supply Conditions In preparation for the ini- tial 2017 water supply alloca- tion announcement, the Bu- reauofReclamationprovides the following update on wa- ter supply conditions for the federalCentralValleyProject. The water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30; the con- tract year for most CVP con- tractors runs from March 1 to Feb. 28. TheCVP'sreservoircarry- over storage from WY 2016 into WY 2017, which began Oct. 1, 2016, was 4.9 million acre-feet, which was 41 per- cent of capacity and 82 per- centofthe15-yearaveragefor that date in six key CVP res- ervoirs — Shasta, New Melo- nes, Trinity, Folsom, Miller- ton and the federal portion of San Luis. "Since October 2016, pre- cipitation throughout the Central Valley has been sig- nificantly above average in every month with the excep- tion of November," said Mid- PacificRegionalDirectorDa- vid Murillo. "In particular, a series of strong storms have brought significant amounts ofrainandsnowduringJan- uary. We hope conditions re- main wet. Regardless, we must be prudent as we de- velop our initial CVP water allocation since we know that weather patterns can change." As of Jan. 18, in millions of acre-feet, Shasta was at 3.631, which is 134 percent of the 15-year average. Trin- itywasat1.395,or95percent of the 15-year average. As of Jan. 18, DWR re- ported that the Northern Si- erra 8-Station Precipitation Index Water Year total was 46.2 inches, which is about 201 percent of the seasonal average to date and 92 per- centofanaveragewateryear, whichis50.0inches.TheSan Joaquin 5-Station Precipita- tion Index Water Year total was35.5inches,whichis204 percent of the seasonal aver- age to date and 87 percent of anaveragewateryear,which is 40.7 inches. As required by the ex- change and settlement con- tracts, an initial declaration of whether 2017 is a Shasta Critical year will be an- nounced on or before Feb. 15.Watersupplyupdateswill be made monthly or as ap- propriate and will be posted on http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ cvp-water. Reclamation balances the operation of the CVP and delivery of CVP water for agricultural, municipal and industrial, and environ- mental purposes based on factors that include hydrol- ogy,changingriverandDelta conditions, storage in CVP reservoirs, regulatory re- quirements, court decisions, biological opinions, environ- mental considerations, oper- ationallimitationsandinput from other agencies and or- ganizations. For further information, visit http://www.usbr.gov/ mp/cvp-water/, call the Pub- lic Affairs Office at 916-978- 5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or write to mppublicaffairs@ usbr.gov. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION Central Valley Project 2017 water supply conditions Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. 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