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The five-year federal farm bill signed into law Friday by President Obama will enhance food production and natural resources in California, according to the Califor- nia Farm Bureau Federa- tion. Farm Bureau Presi- dent Paul Wenger said the law includes a number of conservation programs to share costs of stewardship work performed on farms and ranches. For example, the Air Quality Initiative in the farm bill allows farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to participate in a cost-share program to help them upgrade equip- ment, decrease emissions and address federal air quality regulations. Securing continued fund- ing for the program was a key priority for CFBF during farm bill negotia- tions this year, and Wenger said House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, played a crucial role in assuring the Air Quality Initiative remained in the final version of the bill. "This was a true team effort involving several members of the California congressional delegation, and Kevin McCarthy proved instrumental in the final discussions," Wenger said. "As a result, the Air Quality Initiative will continue to benefit air quality both in California and elsewhere in the nation." Wenger thanked the leaders of the House and Senate agriculture com- mittees, California mem- bers of the House com- mittee and Sen. Dianne Feinstein for their efforts to bring the lengthy farm bill discussions to conclu- sion. He noted that the new farm law reautho- rizes and strengthens live- stock disaster assistance programs at a time with California ranchers face severe losses due to drought, and renews other emergency programs. Nutrition assistance remains the single largest component of the bill. The new law also autho- rizes investments in research on "specialty crops" such as fruits, veg- etables and nuts, and on programs to encourage people to eat more of those foods. 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LIC#829089 Agriculture farm&ranch The Christmas letter of 1977 I have been in Nashville, Tenn. for the Cattle Industry Convention since Sunday till yesterday, and didn't get the Red Bluff Bull & Geld- ing Sale results written before I left. The Christmas letter of 1977. Highlights of the year has been the drought, Linda received the $ 1,000 Wells Fargo 4-H scholar- ship and now a freshman at Cal Poly. Kendra is a total- ly different person since we discovered chiropractors. Bill was irrigating the per- manent pasture on Dec. 23rd. January 1st and we had .8 tenths of rain! On the 2nd it rained all day, 2 inches. When Bill went to check the calving heifers in the evening, he saw that Salt Creek had come up where Big and Little creeks came together, trapping the cattle. Evidentially the cloud-burst was in our area only, because the reservoirs west of RB didn't get filled. Someone up-stairs was watching over us that night, when Linda crossed Salt Creek when it was hip high to save a calf caught against the south fence. We yelled don't come back, go to the house with the calf. In the dim light we could see a couple of baby calves trying to swim as they floated by. Bill jumped in Little Salt Cr and pushed them to the bank, and somehow we got them to higher ground. Most were claimed by their mothers, but Kendra rubbed one dry with sacks and we took it to the barn for the night. A half mile hike over soft, soggy, plowed ground to meet Linda and her calf. She had lost her boots, but was carrying and dragging this calf toward safety. We brought it home and dried it with her hair dryer by the fireplace. We dreaded the next morning, but all the calves were safe, and our rescued calves were glad to see mother. We bought two Beau Donald Herefords from Dick Martin at Red Bluff Bull Sale.. February 1977 started with the Nugget Bull Sale, and since Linda was a Senior, we took her along. Jacqueline and Patty intro- duced her to their favorite shops in Reno; her first din- ner show with Tennessee Ernie Ford, and cabaret shows with Judy Lynn. Linda still mentions the Baked Alaska that Wesley ordered for her (and the rest of us), and the Scorpion we all shared at the table with long straws at Trader Dicks. Another thing she remem- bers is Jerry's bib, the buck- et of clams, the lobster at Harrah's Sea Food. Yes, Linda found the Nugget Sale much different from the Red Bluff Bull Sale. On 14th, it was 85' here, high- est on record. On the 20th, my grandparents celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary, 8 of the 12 children were at my parents home for lunch and visiting. Linda was busy sewing a Vogue pattern white lace formal for the Winter For- mal, at the Red Lion in Red- ding. Kevin Borror had a rust colored tux, and they made a striking pair. Our RB Arabian Horse Club had a fund raising din- ner…A Wild Game Feast with rattlesnake soup, wild boar, moose, buffalo, elk, etc. and good music for dance. March 7th Bill was irri- gating the permanent pas- ture again. Linda did the branding and Kendra did the vaccinating. Noticed we had more heifer than bull calves this year. Linda was runnerup in the Jr. Cow Palace Queen contest. (Trina Kimbler Richards was Queen.) Linda had reserve champion 4-H Angus steer at 1035 lbs; and sold for 60 cents a lb. Kendra's was 1st in Silver group at 1080 lb and sold for 50 cents a lb. Both girls made Expert Showman- ship. Only 8 were chosen by judge Don Cardey from the entire 4-H beef show. Got home from SF and it was 86' on Wed; while on Fri. it rained 3/4 inch. Bill Glines and Bill spent a couple days fixing the fence and gate between us at Tuscan Springs. April – During rodeo week someone took a chain saw and sawed off the old boards on the Alfords old weathered barn on their upper ranch west of RB. Then this fall someone dis- mantled LaLaguna's wind- mill and removed it. In honor of Linda's 18th birth- day Kendra decided to make her a Baked Alaska. Everything went fine and it looked great till it came time to set it aflame. Kendra was pouring the brandy over the meringue and I lite the match. It's hard to explain, but for a few moments we had flames everywhere. Everyone agreed it tasted good. We were riding gathering dry cows for Shasta Auction, and found one of the new bulls with a skinned-up leg. With rest, he recovered; but the other bull we found that day had a broken penis. Bill took him to Dr. Joe and Dr. Merhoff and they gave him a new water-works as they called it. He recovered enough to sell him in May. On another afternoon Bill helped some of the other members of Arab club put in water lines for the Arabi- an horse show. Over 500 portable stalls were place on the track infield and north of the track, and all needed water. We found an alert calf on the range but it couldn't walk. Took it to Dr. Joe and he diagnosed calcium deficiency. He gave it BoCe, calcium shots & pills, and 24 hours later it was walking. Took him back to the range and found his mother. A first calf heifer with little udder even after 48 hrs away, from her calf. On the 26th Kendra was prac- ticing bareback with Donny. He went one way and she went the other at the lope. Her ribs hurt; perhaps from a hoof. Recovered enough for the 4- H Fair Horse Show with Hank Stone of Marysville as judge. Linda and D Bar were 1st in show- manship, but when she put a saddle on him, he went beserk. Nostrils flaring and charging at a gallop, not the slow horse show lope; they passed everyone. Kendra and Donny were 2nd in showmanship, 1st pleasure and 3rd in stockhorse. May 1st we put up the water gaps at Susanville. The creek was awfully low, but more water than we had in the valley. At Eagle Lake the grass was just starting, and it too, looked better than RB. Kendra had a headache that aspirin wouldn't ease. Finally Jacqueline suggested trying a chiropractor. I was ready for voodoo magic or any- thing, to get Kendra feeling better. Well, after the xrays, they wanted to know when she was in an accident because of the whip-lashed neck. One hip was higher than the other; no wonder Kendra and her grandmoth- er couldn't get the skirts to hang even. After a couple treatments she felt better. Abner McKenzie and I got the cattle in the chute, Bill and Leland Davis vaccinat- ed, while Ray Hobbs dust- ed, and we were ready to ship to the mts. Abner helped us load the trucks on the 6th, and we unloaded in snow flurries at the landing strip at Eagle Lake. USFS men, George Marsters and Tom Marr helped us hold the cattle till all were off the trucks, and then drive them to the lakeshore. Bill and I spent the night at Papoose Meadow on a snowy cold night so we could check to see the cattle were paired the next day. On the 10th we shipped the Willard Creek cattle and missed all the excitement at the Arabi- an horse show when it rained over 1-1 /2 inch in less than 24 hrs. All the creeks were running. Even Salt Cr. ran under 99E for the 1st time since Jan. 2nd. I guess trucks got stuck, some horse stalls had 6 -12 inches of water in them, truck loads of gravel and shav- ing brought in, all the sump pumps in RB rented, and the show went on. Actually it was 4 different shows in 10 days. By the time of the exhibitors din- ner-dance everyone was joking about their experi- ences. On the 10th we moved in for another year, turned on the water, set up the wood stove, etc. The cows wouldn't stay at Pats Meadows, but kept coming down Willard Cr. We rode up and investigated. There was a big teepee on the western edge of the mead- ow with a big dog to greet us. It was a beautiful loca- tion, and you couldn't see it from the logging road. Had the Forest Service ask occu- pants to move. Cows stayed where they belonged. June and Bill was hay- ing. It was 108'F the day of Linda's baccalaureate. Held in the high school gym and the loudspeaker wasn't working. The final week of school av. 102' for finals, until graduation night and it was 79', cool, cloudy. We about froze. 337 in her class. July- Willard Creek stopped running, and in August even the pools were dried up in the lower pas- ture. Had stock water in the buck pasture for the horses, though. Bill and I went to the Tri-County Field Day planning meeting at Bac- cala's Soldier Meadows. It is south of St. Bernard Lodge. What a beautiful site with lots of green grass, split rail fences, and very old ranch buildings. In the old days it was a dairy, and we saw the old equipment used to make cheese. Ended the day with a steak barbe- cue at Bob and Waynette deBraga's. There was still a little water at Roney Corral and Bear Trap Springs, but lots of the cattle had moved down to the lake shore. Thanks to the spring and summer showers there was enough grass in the high county, but we were running out of stock water. Now we find the 1st calf heifers did too well, during the summer. All of the ranchers, includ- ing us, are having to pull calves. They are too big, to calve easily. (Remember this was before EPD's and Calving Ease bulls.) August – One afternoon the girls spotted a plume of smoke to the east. It was the start of the Eagle Lake fire, which started from a light- ning strike near Lake Forest Estates. In the first 24 hours it increased to 4,000 acres and kept increasing. Our cattle were never in danger. Lassen Fair time. It was a warm fair, beer drinking weather. Lassen Co. Cattle- men had the beer stand, and this year it was a gold mine. Each director was in charge of a 12 hr. day. Eddie Wood asked Bill to help on Fri. night, and 5 fellows and Marlene poured 24 kegs. I got fresh cups from the back room, and one fellow kept busy tapping new kegs. Just glad they didn't work Sat. when 44 kegs were poured. "Bud" was the favorite. October – Norm Elston contracted the steers for 41 cents and they went to Gene Davis. Heaviest average we ever had, 579 lbs. Wesley took the heifers we didn't save for replacements at 36 cents. Next day Bill and Kendra rerode the Eagle Lake area looking for tracks. I dropped them off at Roney Corral and they rode the draws down to the lakeshore. Another time he and Arlo Stroing rode our combined ranges. Since they stopped cloud seeing, we haven't had a rain. Just north wind. Surely if Bill cut the alfalfa one more time, it would rain. But it didn't. November – Just before Thanksgiving we had a cou- ple nights of 22' to 18'. It was hard to get used to after having 76' to 80' earlier in the week. On the 21st we woke and it had snowed 4 inches during the night. Broken tree branches every- where. It gently rained all day for a total of 2- 1/2 inches in that storm. Salt Creek was running under 99E. Courtesy photo Linda Barton and Kevin Borror dressed for the Winter Formal in Feb. 1977. Jean Barton New farm law will benefit California