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6A Daily News – Saturday, June 22, 2013 Agriculture farm & ranch Livestock tour continues through Washington Sierra Oro Farm Trail We left the Harder Ranch after lunch on the Western Livestock Journal tour, and were headed for Moses Lake and Whitby Ag Enterprises. Driving through miles and miles of hard red winter wheat fields where the farming is done by gps. The computer controls the amount of fertilizer, seed applied and the rate of seed application can be changed if it is alkali spots. Was told they get 35 to 45 bushels per acre, and in a good year it could be 60 an acre. The sage brush was as tall as a man, so you knew it was good soil that we were driving past. This was part of the Columbia Basin Project, Courtesy photo with 12 pumps pumping water from the Columbia No till corn planting being demonstrated for Western Livestock River. The canal was 35 Journal tour. A John Deere tractor pulled a Valmar S76 machine at 25 feet deep. They start acres per hour. It is 40 ft. wide, and does 16 rows, using gps on farming in February, with tractor and planter. Next year they will move over 15 inches when seed crops, potatoes, onions, hay watered by farming for no till. This had been a field of triticale, that was chopped pivot irrigation. Six cutinto bags for cow feed. The soil was sandy loam. tings of alfalfa with 8 to 10 tons per acre, and the Moses Pointe. Chef Eric days. It can get cold here rows. peas are 3 ton per acre. They said they gain Myrick and Charee and sometimes below Whitby Ag Enterprises Yoder, general manager freezing for 30 days in two days using the douand Farms was surprising. had prepared a dinner to winter. ble conditioner They compress 1800 lb remember. The family partnership (swather), with 200 bales of hay into smaller Rod Wesselman, started in the early 1980s horsepower. The John bales, so 60 will fit in a American Angus field- as a diversified farm by Deere self propelled shipping container. The man for the northwest Mike and Brian Cobb. sprayer was 90 foot machine came from welcomed us and told us In the early '50s the across, and can go 12 Canada and has two about government mph. (Cost $ 250,000). the Missoula Federal blades that makes 3 slabs, Floods and how the broke land in 160 acre We saw some of the that are cut in sections, canyons were formed. square blocks of land, cow/calf pairs on irrigatbound with tape, and A welcome from Bill and there was water from ed pastures where they weighed at end of table. Siever, 1st vp of Washing- the canals with water will graze till fall when When the bands are cut, ton Cattlemen's Associa- from Columbia River. they are on the corn the hay is in flakes. We tion. He told us he didn't Water rights go with the stalks during winter. This could not insert a finger have the Columbia River land tied to the project. area is selenium defiinto the sections, they water we were seeing, Few wheel lines are cient, and everytime they were so tight. since he was 3rd genera- used now in this area, go through the chute they Every lot of hay is test- tion cow/calf rancher with because they use 125- get a shot of Muse. The ed, and it never above 10 10,000 acres rangeland, 130 acre pivot circles cattle also get minerals. to 13% moisture. They and 5,000 acres of dry- with a water cost of $30They calve in the corn had 21 barns, 40 by 250 land wheat. $35 per acre. It takes 12 stalks, bull calves are feet, holding 800 to 950 We had prime rib that hours for the pivot to banded at birth and all ton of hay in was like I complete a circle. Few are eartagged. Bryan each. 33 remember from wells because it is $110 assisted one heifer out of employees. 110 head, and one out of years ago. So acre for power. They offer 10 inches of rain in 500 cows. They use tender you alfalfa, Timothy, could cut it with this area. They put cattle EPD's when selecting blue grass and your dinner pastures in the rocky bulls. oat hay plus pelTo communicate knife, and so areas, since there is only lets to their cusflavorful. Chef 18 inchs of top soil, then among the family they tomers in Eric said he had black sand. While the use the computer on the Japan, Korea, trimmed the fat farming land has 120 foot smart phones to write England, Dubai, off the ribs and of top soil. This area is down eartag number, sex China, etc. They marinated them known as Lake Missoula of calf, the dams (mothgrow their own ers) eartag number, date four to five Channel Scabland. hay but also purThe Cobb family has a of birth. hours in Major Jean chase from Jeannie Cobb and the Peters Bloody job and responsibility for Columbia Basin Mary mix, gar- each son/nephew, I noted wives were introduced, farmers, Oregon lic, thyme, rose- the following. Ty has the and we enjoyed lunch in and Idaho. mary and Mon- shop, Nick is the techni- the beautiful yard. Pulled In 2006 cian for the equipment, beef sandwiches, beans, treal salt. China imported 6,000 The beef was local, Jeff has the field work potato salad, watermelon, metric tons of alfalfa and Double R Ranch which with fertilizer, etc. Tim cantaloupe, grapes, vegin 2012 it was 440,000 we would visit another manages the risk, and etable platter, chips and metric tons. They are day, the feedlot at Moses works in Spokane. Bryan dip while dessert was ice importing alfalfa for their Lake, and the packing calves the heifers. They cream sundaes. dairies. Freight rates are plant in Toppenish . Paula Cobb had made all help when needed. very expensive, Seattle to They started their own a beautiful quilt, and With the prime rib was Japan, $900 to $1,100 per grilled asparagus, mashed trucking company 25 Midge Swickard of ton, while Long Beach is potatoes and brown gravy years ago, and have 12 Susanville was the lucky $250 a ton. or hash browns, king crab trucks. Three trucks are name drawn. We checked into our legs, toss green salad, kept for C & C use at all Grand Coulee Dam motel on the shores of fresh fruit salad with times. They are used for was an interesting stop Moses Lake, and we melons and berries, hay and hauling grains. after driving past the ice could see fish jumping cheese cake and coffee. C & C will sell age dry water falls and from our room. Then we Delicious. 500,000 bushels of corn a hearing so much about it. boarded busses for dinner Our 4th day was a visit year. They use "no-till" The dam was completed at The Steakhouse at to C & C Farms, Ephrata farming on the corn, in 1942. The structure is where we saw the 5,000 where they used to go 550 feet high and a mile acre irrigated farming for over the land 4 or 5 times. in width. It contains 12 We got to see the farm million cubic yards of hay, grain and corn, and the equipment used in the equipment up close. The concrete and is the largest farming operation. They Heston 2190 and 2170 concrete project in the also have 600 mother balers that make 4x4x8 world. It irrigates over cows and feed 2,000 to foot bales. They said 670,000 acres of land and 2,500 head in their feed Nick does the swathing, provides electricity for lot each year, with 700 at Ty is on the baler, and all 2.5 million homes. jump in when raking. a time. Jean Barton can be We were at 2,200 ft They go in circles followat elevation, and the grow- ing the water path, reached ing season is 130 to 140 instead of across the fur- jbarton2013@gmail.com. Celebrate America CHICO – For the third consecutive month, participating farms on the Sierra Oro Farm Trail will be open from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 7, as part of a new "Ag Tourism 1st Sundays" program. "Celebrate America's Independence: Support Locally Grown" is the tour theme in July, perfect for the extended holiday weekend. All farm tour guests can explore participating farms and wineries on their own or opt to reserve an exclusive charter van tour. Lunch and a historical tour are included with the charter van tours, which are perfect for individuals, couples or groups of friends, families or colleagues. Launched in May, this new "Ag Tourism 1st Sundays" program will continue on the first Sunday of every month through 2013. With three pick-up points in July -- one in Chico, Oroville and Paradise -- the charter van tour routes will alternate North County or South County farms, and the pre-planned routes are listed at www.sierraoro.org. Specific farm destinations will rotate as will the theme, so there will always be a new tour to take, allowing guests to meet the farmers, learn more about the region, and relax and experience the rich agriculture and boutique wineries of Butte County. The planned "Celebrate America"" charter tour stops for the July 7 "Ag Tourism 1st Sunday" include Calolea Olive Oil, Hickman Family Vineyards, Grey Fox Winery (lunch served, included in the charter van ticket price), Quilici Vineyards and Winery and Long Creek Winery. Charter tour ticket prices are $50 for one person or $80 per couple and the price includes lunch and free tastings at each farm and winery. Ticket prices do not include purchases made at any of the stops. Participants who are interested in reserving their own charter van can also customize their route, as long as they have a group of least 10 people. Special pricing is available for groups and interested guests are encouraged to call 530-891-5556 for details. In addition to the chartered van tours, all 16 participating farms will be open free for visitors to explore on their own. These self-guided tours do not include lunch, free tastings or purchases made at any of the stops. The "plan your route" feature at www.sierraoro.org allows all visitors to customize their own tour by mapping their desired destinations together. The Sierra Oro Farm Trail is sponsored by the Butte County Farm Bureau, Chico Chamber of Commerce, Quadco Printing and Tri Counties Bank. For more information, visit www.sierraoro.org or call 530-8915556. 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