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IhaveflownintoDen- ver International Airport many times and noticed the Tornado Shelter sign on the entrance to the re- strooms, but never had a tornado warning un- til Monday, July 28. The seat belt sign was on from Sacramento to Denver be- cause the pilot expected it to be rough, since it was cloudy the entire trip. We collected our lug- gage, since I had flown Southwest and 2 suitcases were free instead of $25 each. Suzanne Bohleen of Montana and I purchased our Super Shuttle tick- ets to the hotel where con- ference headquarters was downtown. Got aboard the full shuttle, waiting for driver to get in and air- port personnel said, "Take shelter, Tornado Warning." Some collected their luggage and got off, while Suzanne and I just took our purses. By that time all the rest- rooms were full of people, men, women and children, so we got away from the windows and waited 45 minutes under the escala- tors with others until the all clear was given. The tornado was in Au- rora, not at the airport. The people from Illinois on the shuttle were serious about taking shelter, but we from the west had a different attitude since we were used to earthquakes. It was 5 p.m. by then and the freeways were clogged, with both in- bound and out-bound. Our driver took side streets but it still took an hour from airport to hotel. Some of the pavement was damp, but we didn't have rain at that time. Television was showing the flash floods near Den- ver when there was two inches or more of rain in less than 24 hours. Dur- ing the five days we were at the meetings, it rained in downtown Denver each day. Sometimes it was sprinkles, and other times it poured down. Suzanne Bohleen, from Wilsall, Montana is the sister of Chris Byrd, Byrd's Cattle Co. in Red Bluff, and was recognized by American National Cat- tleWomen for her out- standing volunteer efforts reaching a variety of au- diences with creative and timely messages about beef. Susie Magnuson, ANCW past president said, "Su- zanne is a fabulous pre- senter and educator and it's always a pleasure working with her." Wanda Pinnow, Mon- tana CattleWoman Pres- ident said, "Suzanne has worked many hours on beef education through- out the state of Montana. She has created a presen- tation called 'Cut a little save a lot' that discusses the different cuts of meat, how to prepare it, and how to store it afterwards. It also goes into how you can get three meals from one chuck roast. This pro- gram's success is reflective of the dedication Suzanne put into the program." I presented the Out- standing Promoter award to Melissa Miller from Brandon, Florida. She has a degree in Animal Sci- ence and Ag Communi- cation from University of Florida. She has a Master of Science — Meat Science from the University of Georgia. Currently Miller is pursuing her doctor- ate in veterinary medicine at the University of Geor- gia. While focusing on her studies, she has still man- aged to prioritize beef pro- motion. Marcia Callaway, past ANCW Region Direc- tor expressed why Me- lissa deserved this presti- gious honor: "I can't tell you what all Melissa does. She never sleeps. She is constantly working to pro- mote ANCW, both Georgia and Florida Cattlewomen and Cattlemen. Melissa is a social media butterfly and can do a presentation that will knock your socks off. She is truly a mover and a shaker." Tammi Didlot, ANCW Past President had the fol- lowing comments when asked about Melissa Miller. She is truly a bright and talented leader. She has been involved in many committees at the national level and has always been willing to step up and stand out. Watching her grow over the years has been a joy and I can def- initely see her becoming the President of this orga- nization and many others in the future. She is def- initely doing whatever it takes to keep the positive beef message out front and heard. Miller worked on cam- pus and social media pro- motions that have reached 1,000s of consumers. She's currently serving as one of our working group man- agers and is responsible for helping create college campus beef promotions. Every year she spends countless hours planning and implementing various promotions and she's mak- ing a difference." When asked what ad- vice she'd share with oth- ers who are interested in promoting beef Miller said, "We all live busy lives and pursue making a pos- itive impact in the world; however; we often damage ourselves with stress and negativity. We must stay positive and learn to be productive and make an impact on the beef com- munity in fun and efficient ways." Fellow CattleWomen nominate candidates for the Outstanding Educa- tor and Promoter and the ANCW Awards Committee chooses the winners. This award is given annually at the Cattle Industry Sum- mer Conference. Beef n Brew tickets on sale soon The tickets for the 5th annual Beef n Brew, hosted by Tehama County CattleWomen and Down- town Red Bluff Business Association, will be on sale Friday, Aug. 15 for $20 at The Loft, Plum Crazy and Red Bluff Gold Exchange. Or click on the Pay Pal link to purchase your tick- ets online. Print receipt and bring the day of the event to get your wrist- band. The day of the event, Sept. 20, tickets will be $25. Information about the event can be found at www.redbluffbeefnbrew. com. The website has in- formation about the spon- sors, the 70 craft beers that will be served, and the beef appetizers. We have $150 for each beef appetizer vendor that will be served by the businesses, the restau- rants, and the individu- als thanks to the gener- ous beef sponsors. Thanks to Ten Point Ranch, Red Bluff Chysler-Dodge-Jeep, McGlynn & Clark — At- torneys at Law; Corning Ford, Animal Health In- ternational; Growney Mo- tors; Golden State Farm Credit, Certified Hereford Beef; Turri Family Farm; Jim Bass Roping Arena; Shasta Livestock Auction Yard; Rolling Hills Casino; Peacher Construction, and Urban Farmacy. The public is invited to be part of the eve- ning serving their favor- ite beef appetizer. To sign up, please contact Cathy Tobin , 530-833-9961 or okherefs@gmail.com. There are 35 businesses that will be serving craft beers 5-8 p.m. on Walnut, Washington, Pine, Oak and Main streets. The breweries will be 21st Amendment, Anchor Brewing, Anderson Val- ley Brewing, Caldera, Cali- craft, Drake's, Eel River, Etna, Fall River, Langunitas, Lassen Ale Works, Lost Coast, Mad River, Mt. Shasta, North Coast, Sierra Nevada, Six Rivers, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, and Wildcard Brewing Co. There will be dancing, a tri-tip wrap, and a cup of Pale Ale, Old Chico, Hex IPA, Kilty, Liars Dice or 530 Ale from Sierra Ne- vada, Fall River or Wild Card Breweries at Cone Kimball Plaza until 10 p.m. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEANBARTON Welcome to Denver, now take shelter COURTESYPHOTO Pictured are Past American National CattleWomen Outstanding CattleWomen of Year Susie Magnuson and Jean Barton with ANCW Outstanding Educator of Year Suzanne Bohleen, MT and Melissa Miller, Ga. Outstanding Beef Promoter of the Year at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver, Colo. Thankyou! PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Can shorter peach and nectarine trees reduce la- bor costs without sacrific- ing fruit quality and yield? The answer may be de- veloping soon at a 4-acre test orchard south of Fresno, where University of California researchers are planting semi-dwarf- ing rootstocks as part of a large, integrated experi- ment on virtually every as- pect of peach and nectar- ine production. "We're designing 'lad- derless' orchards, which have the potential to cut la- bor costs by 50 percent or more and improve worker safety," said UC Coopera- tive Extension specialist Ted DeJong, a plant phys- iology professor at UC Da- vis. DeJong and Kevin Day, a Cooperative Exten- sion farm advisor in Tulare County, are leading the un- precedented experiment. Conventional peach and nectarine trees grow about 13 feet tall. Setting up, climbing and mov- ing ladders to prune the trees and harvest fruit consumes about half the workday. Ladders are dangerous, too, which is why peach and nectar- ine growers pay about 40 percent more for work- ers' compensation insur- ance than growers who work with more low-ly- ing commodities, like grapes. Developed by breeders at UC Davis, the new root- stocks will produce trees that grow about 7 or 8 feet tall and can be pruned and harvested from the ground. With the right orchard management — which Day and DeJong will test at their plots at the UC Kearney Agricul- tural Research and Exten- sion Center, near Fresno — the shorter trees could produce just as much high-quality fruit as their lofty kin. "Ladderless orchards would be huge for our in- dustry," said Bill Chan- dler, who grows several varieties of peaches and nectarines on his 250- acre Chandler Farms in Selma. "There are so many costs associated with ladders that many growers are switching over to almonds just to stay in business. It costs me $1,400 an acre to thin our trees." Rod Milton, a fourth- generation stone-fruit grower, said he would wel- come a ladderless system for the peaches and nec- tarines he grows in Reed- ley. "Even with conven- tional rootstocks, I prune my trees so workers can take two fewer steps on the ladder come harvest time," he said. "And the savings are huge, even with that. It's important to keep farm work safe. And it's im- portant to keep farming vi- able, or else we'll be getting all our produce from over- seas." Shorter trees are just one of the elements of De- Jong's and Day's experi- ment, which explores best practices for keeping peach and nectarine production economically and envi- ronmentally sustainable. Funded by the UC division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, their model or- chard will integrate virtu- ally every UC pomology ad- vancement in the past 30 years. The team will plant conventional, tall trees in one plot and cultivate them using standard ir- rigation, fertilization and pruning practices. On three other plots, they will grow shorter trees with new, "best-management" practices such as mini- mal pruning, using pres- sure chambers to mea- sure a tree's water needs, and applying compost and nitrogen sprays to min- imize nutrient leaching and groundwater contam- ination. They will compare fruit size and yields, can- opy light interception, wa- ter and nitrate leaching, and more. Graduate stu- dents will have opportuni- ties to get hands-on expe- rience as the next genera- tion of stone-fruit experts. "We're excited to take our experiments to the next level, to provide grow- ers what they need to make good management deci- sions," Day said. Growers are excited, too. "If it wasn't for people like Ted DeJong and Kevin Day, I'm not sure there'd be any of us peach and nectar- ine growers left," Chandler said. "They work so hard to make farming efficient." The team will begin planting in spring 2015 and should have prelimi- nary data by 2016. UC DAVIS La dd er le ss p ea ch a nd n ec ta ri ne orchards explored south of Fresno "It's important to keep farm work safe. And it's important to keep farming viable, or else we'll be getting all our produce from overseas." — Rod Milton, a fourth- generation stone-fruit grower STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K Members Welcome RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! 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