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Thisyearwetoured the beautiful Intermoun- tain area of Hat Creek and Fall River Mills on the California Beef Cat- tle Improvement Associa- tion tour leaving from the California State Univer- sity Farm — Chico after enjoying doughnuts and coffee hosted by the Chico Young Cattlemen. Enroute we heard UC- Davis Dr. Jim Oltjen and Dr. Anita Vargas discuss the recent Beef Improve- ment Federation confer- ence where more research is needed on BRD (Bovine Respiratory Disease) since we lose $100 per head when an animal gets sick. The vaccine for Foot- hill Disease is in the final phase for safety before be- ing released to the ranch- ers. UC Ranch to Rail, will be this fall when 10 to 15 head of calves will be used for teach- ing and then in the feed- lot. Anaplazmosis was an- other subject the ranchers were interested in. We had about 12 or 15 graduate students on the tour, including four who are working on their Mas- ter's or PHDs under Dr. Frank Mitloehner on ag air quality, animal envi- ronmental interactions. Most were from South America or Europe. Our first stop was one I had never visited before, and it is in our back yard. Don and Janelle Kish's Bucking Bulls here in Red Bluff. Don was a District 1 High School Rodeo competitor and when he was a high school senior he took a bull to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo). 35 years later he is still taking bulls, with between 9 and 11 bulls to the NFR each year as Growney Brothers Rodeo. Crystal Deal won the 2013 Wrangler NFR Top Stock Award in the bull riding category. ProRodeo Sports News 12/27/2013 Justin Shaw wrote: "Don Kish says as good — or bad for bull riders — as Crystal Deal has been, the 5 year old bull is just scratching the surface of his domi- nant potential. "This bull throws people off so eas- ily most of the time that he hasn't learned to buck for the full eight seconds yet," Kish said. "He tends to get a little lost after about four or five seconds because nobody usually gets that far. The differ- ence between a good bull and a great bull is a good bull will get discouraged once he starts getting rid- den for longer, but a great bull will learn and adapt and become better." When asked how the bull got the name Crystal Deal, the sire was Crys- tal Ball and the dam was Real Deal. Bucking bulls are now a recognized breed. Don prefers to not haul further than 12 hours from home, since it takes too long to recover. They put 30 bulls on a truck, and at home they are pre-sorted and kept in age groups, ready to load, just like cattle with 3 here, 7 in that compart- ment, 5 in this space. The Kishes have 350 bulls, and the bucking bulls are rotated each week. They will start bucking the bulls at three years, but prefer they are four years of age. The 2009 crop of bull calves had a lot of good bulls. At 2 years they are tried, and if they turn back on 2nd jump they have possibilities. Bull riders hate bulls that rear and roll. We used to have teenagers that wanted to ride bulls and would come to Growney Ranch and get on the young bulls, but now they use a box that is placed behind the withers, and when a bull bucks, the flank strap is released as a reward. "To have good bull rid- ers, the teenagers need to get on quality stock," said Kish. We used to have 45 bull riders at State Fi- nals, and this year there were 22. The ground in an arena is important, and the bulls try to do so much, that they can slip on sand and break their backs. Kish prefers the ground have ridges un- derneath the smooth sur- face, so there is footing for the bulls. Great bulls that were mentioned were: Red Rock, who was still buck- ing at 12 years of age. Red Rock started the Profes- sional Bull Riders, (PBR) because when he was in the performance it sold out. It proved that the au- dience loved bull riding. Wolfman was a great herd sire, born in 1986, and the only 100 point ride was scored on him. He sired bucking bulls. Red Wolf was still in short gos at 12 years old. Cash was the first buck- ing bull to win as 3 years old, and he was a short round (finals) bull for 9 years. Ugly was a muley (no horns), and the second best herdsire. He won the PBR finals two times. Kish said that at the Livermore Rodeo the an- imal activists were pro- testing, so John Growney brought them onto the grounds, and showed them the cinch was not laced with barbed wire to make them buck. They just buck naturally. "When a bull is worth $100,000, we don't use anything to hurt them." Lunch was under the tall cedar and pine trees on the lawn at Ranche- ria RV Park on Highway 89 as "Busy" Elmhirst Ry- man was our hostess. A french dip beef sand- wich, three salads, toss green, macaroni and po- tato with cupcakes for dessert. There are trout in the lake, plus a store and restaurant, 65 camp- ing spaces. Our luncheon speaker was BJ Macfar- lane, farm manager at Shasta College, and raises bred heifers that will calve at 30 months of age for the buyer. The cattle were across the road from the Rancheria RV Park. Did you know that trout are called sea food by the food service in- dustry? I didn't, until we visited Bidwell Ranches at Cassel. They are a di- versified ranch because not only are there cattle, but Wilderness Unlim- ited (WU) has fishing and hunting, and there is hy- droelectricity for PG&E , plus Mt. Lassen Trout Farm raises 600,000 pounds of rainbow trout each year. With less water due to the drought, it will only be 400,000 pounds this year. Our host were Mark and Debbie Bidwell, who had just returned the pre- vious night from Casper, WY where they had watched their daughter Bailey compete in goat tying for Feather River College at the College Na- tional Finals Rodeo. Mark's great-grand- mother had filed on the water rights on this ranch in 1892 and 1910 on Lost Creek, and it rises from springs. There were two large ponds for WU fly fishing and we enjoyed a demonstration by John Hicks, of WU on Pond 1. Many of the group hiked up to see the hydroelectric plant, which has 2 miles of pipeline to the generators. Mark said we were looking at a fish feed- lot, and the foam from the water gives the trout the oxygen they need in the 46 degree water. The trout gain their weight be- tween May 15 and Oct. 15, and during the win- ter they seem to hiber- nate like a bear. The trout are sold or contracted two years in advance. They are shipped live to San Francisco, and slaughtered in a plant on Pier 49. The self- feed- ers had 100 pounds of fish food that had come from Salt Lake City. The ponds had netting above and on the sides, but that doesn't stop the bears if they want an easy meal. We were told that an electric fence doesn't stop them. There is snow here from November to March and the cattle are shipped to ranches in Red Bluff, Cottonwood and Chico for winterfeed. The 900 An- gus cows are divided into spring and fall calvers. I didn't realize what a beautiful golf course in FRM at Hi Mont. Over the hill from the highway was rolling greens with sand trap, a water fall on an is- land, trees. A wonderful patio above the greens, for our dinner and cock- tail hour. Travis Crumbs catered the dinner with delicious appetizers, pulled barbe- cued beef brisket, salads of toss green, pasta and wild rice, and a rich choc- olate cake or brownie. We enjoyed Kunde wines with dinner, thanks to Jim and Marcia Mickel- son. Neglected to write down which ones they were, but very nice. As you know there aren't many places to stay in that area, but our 80 tour members stayed at Hi Mont Motel and Fall River Hotel. Day 2 will be next week. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbar- ton2013@gmail.com. JEANBARTON Beef Cattle Improvement tour COURTESYPHOTO California Beef Cattle Improvement Association Tour co-ordinator Abbie Nelson, of 5Star Land & Livestock; CBCIA president Cheryl La Franchi, Oak Ridge Angus, with Janelle and Don Kish of Kish Bucking Bulls, Red Bluff. Tehama County 4-H is proud to announce Donald Conner, Trinity Kingwell and Corben Canada as the 2014-2015 Tehama County 4-H BLAST — Becoming Leaders, All Star Train- ees — team. This team will work closely with the All Star team in providing leadership to the County 4-H Program. Donald Conner is the son of Kathy and Ronald Conner of Red Bluff. He is in the eighth grade at Vista Preparatory Academy. Donald is completing his ninth year as a 4-H mem- ber of the Plum Valley 4-H Club. His major projects are Outdoor Adventures, Foods-Nutrition, Clothing & Textiles, and Woodwork- ing. Donald has served as President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer of Plum Valley 4-H club as well as being a member on the 2013-2014 BLAST team. Donald participates in Red Bluff FFA, has been a part of the Plum Valley School Choir and Band as well as on several sports teams. As a member of the BLAST team, Donald hopes to in- spire more members to be involved in 4-H events and to share 4-H with the com- munity. Upon finishing high school, Donald plans to be in law enforcement. Trinity Kingwell is the daughter of Linda and Vaughan Smith of Corn- ing. She is in the seventh grade at Kirkwood Ele- mentary School. Trinity is completing her ninth year as a 4-H member of the Olive 4-H Club. Her major projects are Swine, Sewing, Cooking, Crafts, Camping & Outdoors, Ar- chery and Photography, many of which she has taken on leadership roles within. Trinity's career in 4-H has granted her many achievements already such as County Record Book awards for three years. Trinity is looking forward to her year ahead, hoping that being a part of the BLAST team will help her be a better leader and to teach kids to be more ac- tive in 4-H. After complet- ing high school, Trinity plans to be a dentist or ar- cheologist. Corben Canada is the son of Lisa and Matthew Canada of Red Bluff. He is in the seventh grade at Bend Elementary School. Corben is completing his fourth year as a 4-H mem- ber of the Bend Jelly 4-H Club. His major projects are Goats and Cooking. He has served as Bend Jelly 4-H Club's Reporter/Histo- rian and is a Junior Leader. Corben participates in all of the sports offered at Bend Elementary School and he is currently collect- ing aluminum can tabs for dialysis. Corben is excited to be a helper at this year's Vacation Bible School in Oregon. He is looking for- ward to his year ahead, hoping that being a part of the BLAST team will help him succeed in his per- sonal goal of being a bet- ter role model for his fel- low 4-H members and oth- ers. After completing high school, Corben would like to be a Physicist. For more information about the 4-H Youth Devel- opment Program, call the 4-H Office at 530-527-3101 or visit http://cetehama. ucanr.edu. 4-H Tehama County BLAST team named DAVIS U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden this week an- nounced the implemen- tation of new Farm Bill measures and other policy changes to improve the fi- nancial security of new and beginning farmers and ranchers. Harden also unveiled www.usda.gov/newfarm- ers, a new website that will provide a centralized, one- stop resource where begin- ning farmers and ranchers can explore the variety of USDA initiatives designed to help them succeed. USDA's New Farmers website has in depth in- formation for new farmers and ranchers, including: how to increase access to land and capital; build new market opportunities; par- ticipate in conservation op- portunities; select and use the right risk management tools; and access USDA ed- ucation, and technical sup- port programs. These issues have been identified as top priorities by new farmers. The website will also fea- ture instructive case stud- ies about beginning farm- ers who have successfully utilized USDA resources to start or expand their busi- ness operations. Policy announcements in support of beginning farm- ers and ranchers include: Waiving service fees for new and beginning farmers or ranchers to enroll in the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for the 2014 crop year. NAP provides risk management tools to farmers who grow crops for which there is no crop insurance prod- uct. Under this waiver, an- nounced via an official no- tice to Farm Service Agency offices, farmers and ranch- ers whom already enrolled in NAP for the 2014 crop year are eligible for a ser- vice fee refund. Eliminating payment re- ductions under the Conser- vation Reserve Program (CRP) for new and begin- ning farmers which will al- low routine, prescribed, and emergency grazing outside the primary nesting season on enrolled land consistent with approved conservation plans. A fact sheet outlining significant USDA efforts to support beginning farmers and ranchers, and other Department-wide accom- plishments, are available on www.usda.gov/results. USDA Support for beginning farmers, ranchers Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. 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