Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/252097
2B Daily News – Friday, January 31, 2014 ~~~ Orders to go ~~~ 731 Main St., 529.4012 open 7 days 5:30am- 9pm Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner ~ Daily Specials ~ Fri. & Sat. Nights, Prime Rib 10 oz $ 15 99 FUNK HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING & SHEET METAL 13111 BAKER ROAD 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE Air Conditioning—Heating—Sheet Metal—Heat Pumps Cal. Lic. #233456 527-5828 645 Antelope Blvd (across from the Tehama District Fairgrounds) at Frontier Village Frontier Village Farmers Market www.frontiervillagefarmersmarket.com Welcome new vendors to Frontier Village Farmers Market, open every Saturday 9:00-1:00. Come meet Dave, of Salt and Savour best fresh sauerkraut ever! Taking applications for Certified Farmers just in time for early spring vegetables. Call Sandy at 526-2843. Friday, January 31 8:00AM GELDINGS & MULES - Team Roping, Cutting, Snaffle Bit/Hackamore & Stock Horse Contests. SELECTION OF THE CRAIG OWENS IDEAL RANCH HORSE, Pauline Davis Pavilion. 9:00AM Trade Show and Art Show Open. Art Show closes at 7:00PM, Trade Show closes at 9:00PM. 11:00AM Zoetis Seminar. Don Smith Pavilion. 12:00PM WORKING OF STOCK DOGS - Final Round - Work outside. 2:30PM SALE OF STOCK DOGS, presented by Nutrena/Loyall Pet Food. Don Smith Pavilion. 3:30PM DOORS OPEN FOR GELDING & MULE SALE, Pauline Davis Pavilion. 4:00-7:00PM Ag Social Sponsored by Chico State College of Agriculture, Fairgrounds Cafeteria. Information: Sarah DeForest (530) 898-3737 / Shelley Macdonald (530) 527- 1941. 4:00PM Vic Woolery's Famous Tri-Tip BBQ before & during the Gelding Sale. $10/person. Pauline Davis Pavilion. 5:30PM SALE OF QUARTER HORSE, PAINT GELDINGS & SADDLE MULES, PRESENTED BY ROLLING HILLS CASINO. Pauline Davis Pavilion. Animals sold in computer drawn order. Admission is $10/person. Tickets available at door, or call office. Saturday, February 1 9:00AM Trade Show and Art Show open. Art can be removed at 2:00PM, Trade Show closes at 7:00PM. 9:30AM SALE OF ALL BULLS, PRESENTED BY ZOETIS, Don Smith Pavilion. 7:00PM CINCH JEANS PRESENTS RED BLUFF'S BUCKIN' BEST BULL RIDING featuring top cowboys going head-to-head with the rankest bucking bulls & broncs in rodeo. Party and dance immediately following. Pre-Sale Gen- eral admission: $20/person, $25 at door; Arena Floor Seat- ing Pre-Sale $30/person, $35 at door:; V.I.P. Premier Seating, Parking, Reception, Appetizers: Pre-Sale $75, $80 at door. SCHEDULE Dairy farmers welcome farm bill's subsidy overhaul MILWAUKEE (AP) — Farmers expressed relief this week that a long fight over fed- eral dairy subsidies had ended with an overhaul that most thought would be fair and effec- tive in keeping farms from going under during hard times. Along with funding for food stamps, the overhaul was a key stumbling block that prevented passage last year of a new, five- year farm bill. The House approved compromise legisla- tion Wednesday, and a Senate vote is expected soon. The dairy fight largely cen- tered on a provision that sought to limit milk production when there was excess. Some dairy farmers said they needed a way to balance supply and demand so they could get a reasonable price for milk and stay in busi- ness. But opponents — including U.S. House Speaker John Boehner — said it worked against a free market. Wiscon- sin cheesemakers, the Greek yogurt industry in New York and other dairy processors said the provision would hamper their ability to get the milk they need to grow their businesses. The issue was unlikely to affect consumer prices, but some farm groups accused processors of wanting to keep milk prices low for their own gain. Instead of limiting milk pro- duction, the compromise legis- lation restricts farmers' ability to buy subsidized insurance to cover their losses if they pro- duce too much milk and cause prices to plummet. Farmers, who had been divided over the production limits known as supply man- agement, said the new legisla- tion wasn't perfect, but it was reasonable. They also said its passage would help bring sta- bility to an industry rocked by volatile prices, drought and uncertainty after the previous farm bill expired in 2012. Law- makers unable to agree on a bill passed a short extension last year. ''Once you know the rules of engagement, once you have something . . . it allows you to do business,'' said Dean Strauss, a 42-year-old farmer who milks 1,900 cows in She- boygan Falls, Wis. Strauss and some other Wis- consin farmers had opposed supply management, worrying that limits triggered by a nation- al milk glut would hurt their efforts to expand production to meet demand from Wisconsin cheesemakers. Dairy processors here already buy some milk from other states because they can't get enough locally, and the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association lobbied heavily against production limits. ''We wanted a free market, which is what a lot of farmers want,'' Strauss said. ''Let us do our thing, and we'll do it. We're good at it.'' Even farmers opposed to supply management agreed reform was needed after 2009, when low milk prices and high feed costs squeezed many out of business. Existing programs did little to help, while fostering what many farmers said was a misperception that they were receiving taxpayer money they didn't need. The current dairy subsidy program pays farmers when milk prices sink beyond a cer- tain point. But it does not con- sider farmers' costs, and corn feed prices have risen in recent years because of drought and demand from ethanol manufac- turers. Farmers getting a good price for milk still found them- selves losing money. The new farm bill would scrap that program in favor of subsidized insurance that would pay farmers when the difference between milk and feed prices grew too small. Farmers would pay premiums based on the dif- ference, or margin, they wanted to insure. Options range from $4 to $8 per hundred pounds of milk. Clark Hinsdale, 58, of Char- lotte, Vt., said his 300 milking cows typically produce about 6 million pounds of milk per year. With a $10 margin, he has $600,000 for staff, fuel and other expenses. A $6 margin would give him $360,000 to cover the same costs. ''At a $6 margin, am I prof- itable? No, I'm not profitable,'' Hinsdale said. ''But at a $4 margin, I'm out of business.'' Hinsdale said he expects most lenders will require farm- ers to buy margin insurance to avoid defaults. ''You'd be foolhardy not to sign up for it,'' added Ken Nobis, a 69-year-old dairy farmer in St. John's, Mich. Nobis had supported the sup- ply management provision but said he was ''fairly well satis- fied'' with the new bill, which attempts to avoid a market glut by capping how much insurance farmers can buy. ''It was worth the fight,'' Nobis said. ''Just because we didn't get everything I thought we should have, I still think it's an extremely significant change in dairy policy. I think it improves the safety net.'' Western United Dairymen, which represents California farmers, pushed for margin insurance in the 2008 farm bill but didn't get it. CEO Michael Marsh said he was pleased by this year's bill, although disap- pointed that big farms would pay higher premiums than smaller ones. California dairies tend to be larger than those in the Midwest and else- where. Still, Marsh said his organi- zation was encouraging mem- bers to take advantage of the new insurance program because ''calamity can occur.'' Farmers in the nation's top- milk producing state are strug- gling in their third year of drought, with many having to import hay when they would normally be grazing. Farm leader discusses release of immigration principles Release of immigration-reform principles by House Republican leaders marks a step toward tackling a criti- cal issue for farmers and all Americans, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation. CFBF President Paul Wenger noted that the principles released today make specific reference to the needs of agriculture. "Farmers and ranchers have been straightforward: We depend on an immigrant workforce," Wenger said, "and we're glad to see the Republican leaders acknowl- edge the necessity to create a workable system that meets the needs of both agricultural employers and employees." Wenger said reforms to existing agricultural immi- gration programs must be included in House legislation. "This issue has remained unresolved for far too long," he said. "Farmers and ranchers have good, prac- tical ideas about how to make the system work better, and we look forward to working with House leaders as their proposals move through the House." Farm Bureau agrees with the need for border enforcement and electronic verification of employment eligibility, Wenger said. "But a reformed agricultural-worker program must be in place before the government imposes E-Verify requirements on farmers and ranchers," he said. "Only that way can we meet the twin goals of verifying employment and maintaining a sufficient and legal agri- cultural workforce." The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 78,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 6.2 million Farm Bureau mem- bers. Brown tells Californians to conserve amid drought LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown provided some very practical guidance for Californians amid a deepening drought: Take shorter showers, turn off the water while brushing teeth, and ''don't flush more than you have to.'' ''Make no mistake, this drought is a big wakeup call,'' Brown said Thursday in down- town Los Angeles before meeting with local water district offi- cials. ''Hopefully it's going to rain. If it does- n't, we're going to have to act in a very strenuous way in every part of the state to get through.'' The governor's prag- matic plea came as wet weather finally moved through northern por- tions of the state, which has been in an extraordi- nary dry period during what is normally the time for rain and snow. But the stingy storm system was squeezing out only dribs and drabs of moisture in most areas. The National Weather Service office in San Francisco report- ed rainfall amounts since Wednesday night generally were a few hundredths to a tenth of an inch. ''Needless to say the rain is a welcome sight but does little for drought relief,'' the weather service wrote. Snow — heavy in places — was falling in the Sierra Nevada just in time for the latest mea- surement of snow depth. The peaks of the tower- ing range normally store a huge amount of the state's water supply in the form of snowpack, but surveyors said Thursday the snow water equivalent was just 12 percent of nor- mal. The brown peaks were visible in satellite photos from space. Brown, who declared a drought emergency Jan. 17, met behind closed doors with water agency officials serving the vast population of Southern California, where banked supplies are keeping crisis at bay for the time being, but the future is being eyed with caution. The situation, howev- er, is not uniform throughout California, where 38 million resi- dents share the water supply with a vast farm- ing industry and a host of sensitive environ- ments such as rivers where low flows can threaten fisheries. State officials have said 17 rural communi- ties are in danger of a severe water shortage within four months. Brown said water conservation may be voluntary now, but ''every day this drought goes on, we're going to have to tighten the screws on what people are doing.'' Brown acknowledged there is a geographic divide when it comes to water politics. ''I'm going to do my best to unite this state. Water is something that we share, and we have a common interest in maximizing the eco- nomic well-being of the state. And one does that by using water wisely,'' he said. The Metropolitan Water District of South- ern California said it's looking for ways to help water agencies to the north. During the state's worst drought, in 1977, the district had a surplus in its reservoir in North- ern California that it was able to transfer to Marin County. But that's not the case this time around. The district said decades of aggressive water conservation and other measures have prevented a water crisis in Southern California. It's urging residents to voluntarily cut water use and will ask that its board approve rebates for water conservation. The district's general manager, Jeffrey Kightlinger, said he doesn't expect to impose mandatory water cutbacks this year. ''We're pretty pre- pared for this drought. We have ample storage. We are in pretty sound shape.'' But he acknowledged there are parts of the state where the situation is different. ''Since this is a one- state issue, we're going to look for how best we can help the rest of the state while retaining our reliability here,'' he said.