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6A – Daily News – Saturday, April 23, 2011 Agriculture & farm If you want to see fat, contented cattle grazing on rolling green hills, with green oak trees for shade, you need to drive the back roads from Elk Creek through Chrome and Newville to Paskenta this week. It was beauti- ful. At one set of corrals the cattle were in the cor- ral, and the cowboys were loading their horses into trailers. Not sure if they had concluded branding, or had gathered for ship- ping to the summer feed. We saw spring calves, and other pastures had large fall calves with their mothers. It seemed like 96 percent of the cattle were black hided, with a white Charolais or red Hereford occasionally spotted. We enjoyed the U.C. Cooperative Extension, Shasta College, US Meat Export Federation, Glenn-Colusa and Tehama Co. Cattlemen’s Spring Range Tour at the Hester Ranch, in the Elk Creek area of Glenn Co. on Thursday. Shad Albertson, man- ager of the Hester Ranch welcomed us and told us his- tory and leg- ends about the ranch. In the 1900s the ranch was known as the old Griffith Ranch. At one time a young man by the name of Jim Drew was working the ranch, and with a mule and Fresno he was able to build a dam creating a 5 acre reservoir. ranch Spring Range Tour at Hester Ranch Weekly Soil Moisture Loss The Northern Region of the California Department of Water Resources and the University of California Coopera- tive Extension in Red Bluff have teamed up to provide "Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Reports" to agricultural water users. Information in each Weekly Soil Moisture Loss Report Estimates labeled "West of the Sacramento River" are based on weather measurements taken near Gerber. Esti- mates are for healthy crops, where soil moisture is not lim- iting crop growth. Estimates are for bearing orchards (typi- cally fifth leaf or older). Estimates suggest a maximum amount of irrigation water needed and should be confirmed with field monitoring. Courtesy photo U.C. Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor for Livestock, Range and Natural Resources Josh Davy was demonstrating how tall the variety of Harding Grass grew since January when it was grazed to ground level at the Hester Ranch on the Spring Range Tour. ple. Nora raised turkeys, and Jim had a meat route from the ranch to Fruto, Willows, Orland and back driving a team of horses. Their daughter Margery married Clair Spurlock, and they had two sons, Jerry and Jim. Legend has it Jean Barton By the 1920s the Mirande Family bought the ranch and planted grapes in Hog Valley and the nearby hills. They built an under ground cel- lar to store the wine, and we could still see the wine cellar. It was not a suc- cessful venture, no doubt due to Prohibition. In 1931 the dam that Jim Drew built was added on to with concrete and you can still see the year and we assume the men’s names who built the dam. In the 1950s Jim Drew was able to realize his dreams and bought the ranch, and his grandsons Jerry and Jim Spurlock owned the ranch until 2006. Evelyn Vernon told me that Jim and Nora Drew were hard working peo- that every time the two Spurlock boys got into trouble their father would send them out to hand dig a trans- fer ditch. This ditch takes water from a stream and goes over a half mile cross- ing the steep and rocky hills, delivering water to the reservoir that their grand- father made. “If you ever get to see this ditch, you would realize those boys got in troublea lot.” In 2006 Joe and Mary Hester and family bought half of the original ranch from Jim Spurlock. The ranch is primarily a cow/calf ranch. The cattle are in Stonyford from June through December on irrigated pasture, and are here on the Elk Creek ranch from January to June. Erin Borror, an econo- mist with USMEF gave a trade update and overview, since their mis- sion is to increase prof- itability throughout the supply chain by expand- ing exports and maximiz- ing the value of the car- cass. The U.S. was the largest beef exporter in January-February with an increase of 24 percent, Children’s Easter Basket Planting Sat., April 23 @ 10am Please call to reserve a seat. Red Bluff Garden Center 766 Antelope Blvd. (next to the fairgrounds) 527-0886 and 179,460 metric tons. Australia had an increase of 12 percent and 139,889 metric tons. Brazil, New Zealand and Canada were down in vol- ume. It was interesting the diversification of prod- ucts, since Mexico imports rounds, outside skirts and variety meats. Russia imports rounds and livers. Korea imports short ribs, chuck rolls, variety meats. Japan uses short plates, short ribs, and tongues. The Euro- pean Union takes “high quality beef.” The value of these exports is about $180 per head in 2011. The hides and tallow have given a record high to the beef by-product value this year. We saw the second year of a successful range seeding of a variety of Harding grass, Peralgras on the Hester Ranch. The field had been grazed down to about 2-4 inches in January, and the grass came back at least 24 inches and higher now. It has a deep root system of six feet, and the wild hogs didn’t root and destroy the planted field. You could see the hogs had dug on the hillside. The field will still be green in June because it is sub irrigated from the reservoir. They will start grazing in mid December on the stockpile of winter feed, since it grows tall. The grasses are planted for win- ter production from December to March, and pull the cattle off in April so the plants can go to seed. Farm Advisor Josh Davy reported that differ- ent soil types require dif- Today’s Burning Issue Doesn’t The Lint Trap Keep The Dryer Vent Clean? (No!) A partially plugged gas dryer vent may back carbon monoxide into your home. Symptoms may include headache, achiness, nausea, brain damage and death. Lint is flammable. Longer drying cycles are a waste of energy. Free dryer vent check (with other service) Limited Time! 527-3331 “My dryer vent was com- pletely plugged up. Now it dries the clothes in one cycle.” Mrs. M Greenberg, Redding www.flueseason.com Chimney Sweeps 527 3331 THE Chimney Professionals Flue Season ferent plants. Last year on the Turri ranch, the annu- al rye grass was a winner, but it didn’t reseed, while the soft chess came back, and there was no econom- ic return on the brassica, plantain or chicory. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of ground beef on bun, with chili beans host- ed by the Hester Family. This was followed by a demonstration of what to look for in bulls and replacement heifers by B J Macfarlane of Shasta College. Bill appreciated Jim Hester giving him rides in the four wheeler to the corral and pasture. At the Sunday rodeo we appreci- ated the ride to the park- ing lot by Round-Up pres- ident Dave Ramelli when we got rained upon during team roping. Many thanks to the Red Bluff Round Up committee for including the day sheets in the $5 program when we drove into the parking lot. I was delighted to see so many of our District I High School Rodeo kids com- peting as members of the PRCA. I admire Nellie Williams of Cottonwood, because she has decided to get her college degree, instead of trying to be in the top 15 this year in bar- rel racing. She is a student at California State Uni- versity, Chico and works the California rodeos. Each performance I jumped “at the rockets red glare” as the fireworks went flying in the air and the Round-Up celebrated 90 years. Then the chill down your spine when the three or four F-18 Hornets from Miramar flew over- head as Chad Bushnell or Jessica Rabalais sang “and the home of the brave.” Thanks to Foothill Dis- tributing for bringing the Budweiser Clydesdales again this year. I am sorry they don’t feature them in their television ads, as in previous years. I stop to watch when I hear the dis- tinctive music of the Bud- weiser Clydesdales on television or in the arena. Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton@theskybeam.co m. Use in the Spring Season to Help Decide When to Begin the Irrigation Season Referring to the first table, select the crop in question and compare the "Accumulated Seasonal Water Use" since leaf- out* to the "Accumulated Rainfall" since March 27 (day after last significant rainfall). As the seasonal water use exceeds accumulated rainfall, compare this difference to the water holding capacity of the soil in the crop root zone. An Example: Accumulated seasonal water use for almonds from March 27 through April 19 was 3.02 inches while accumulated rainfall from the Gerber station on the Westside of the river since March 27 was 0.25 inches. In the case of almonds, which are the earliest orchard crop to leafout and begin developing a full canopy, a 2.77 inch soil moisture deficit has developed through April 19 and will continue to accrue. Use throughout the season Crops go through phases of growth and the weather can be highly variable during the season. These weekly reports can be used to help adjust for changing crop and weather conditions. In order to apply this information, the water application rate from the irrigation system must be known. For orchards, this can be estimated with a count of micro sprin- klers or drip emitters per acre along with a reliable estimate of the water emission rate per micro sprinkler or dripper. Another option is to contact the Tehama County Mobile Irrigation Lab and arrange an irrigation system evaluation and the water application rate will be determined for you. Have questions or looking for assistance? Contact: Allan Fulton, UC Farm Advisor, 527-3101 or aefulton@ucdavis.edu Contact: Mark Rivera, California Department of Water Resources, Northern Region, 529-7301 or mrivera@water.ca.gov Contact: Kevin Greer, Tehama County Resource Con- servation District Mobile Irrigation Lab, 527-3013 x 102 or kevin@tehamacountyrcd.org 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.