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The9thannualFarm- City Bus Tour started with breakfast and greet- ing from Michael Vasey, Tehama County Farm Bu- reau president. Timbertour We boarded a Mt. Las- sen Transit bus en route to Sierra Pacific Mill- work and a "small log mill." Mark Lathrop, told us there are 11 mills in California, plus more in Washington. They are second largest lumber manufacturers in USA; have 4,400 employees, and own more than 1.7 million acres of timber land. A tour of the "green side" of the mill was led by Jennifer Little, commu- nications; Paula Broad- way, safety; and Julie Kelly, senior wildlife bi- ologist after we put on a hard hat, safety glasses and ear plugs. The logs are picked up by a portal crane from the log deck that is constantly sprayed with water to pre- vent the bugs from chew- ing the logs. The water drains into a pond, that is re- cycled storm water. Were told that the wa- ter is not allowed to leave the site. First stop is the saw that automatically cuts if log is too long, next logs go into the debarker. The bark is sold as garden bark, or compost or goes to the co-genera- tion plant to make elec- tricity. A metal detector scans each log for any bits of metal before it goes into the mill where computer sensors and scanners cut each log into lumberof different sizes. The green lumber is then stacked by size and length and goes into the computer controlled kilns that dry the lumber. The waste steam from the co-generation plant is used in kilning the lum- ber, since steam is hot. Learned that white fir has lots of moisture and takes longer to dry. The kids are alright For biosecurity, ev- eryone put plastic boo- ties over their shoes when we visited North Valley Farms Chevre, Inc. west of Cottonwood. Several on our bus didn't realize that farmers and ranchers are aware of biosecurity, to prevent disease infecting their animals. In 2006 Mark and De- neane Ashcraft built a 3,500-square-foot Grade A milking barn for their goat dairy with a closed pipeline system. Dene- ane milks 48 does, 12 at a time. Each doe pro- duces a gallon of milk each day. Until this summer the goats were milked two times a day until they are rested after a 250-day lac- tation. In July, the milk production is not as heavy so they tried milking once a day. The production wasn't noticeably less, and they saved feed, labor, wa- ter for washing and the power bill was less. A doe has a five-month gestation, and the kids are born in March in a 30-day window. Peak lactation is from 2 to 6 years of age. They av- erage more than two kids per doe, and at one month of age the kids are sold to a person who will grow them out and sell them for meat, since Ashcrafts use Boer bucks for sires. The Boer's are a meat breed. They milk La Man- cha — a goat with no ears but mild flavored milk, Toggenburg and Saa- nens. The milk is used for cheese, and in April, May and June Deneane is mak- ing cheese every other day. The cheese is sold at farmers markets in Sac- ramento, Chico and Red- ding plus high-end niche markets. Flavors are feta, hard age that is aged 6 months, and soft, fresh chevre. They also sell bot- tle milk, and it is bot- tled once a week. State in- spects monthly. The does have an identification number, and six or seven times a year each goat is tested, to learn how much milk she produces, and the state lab tests the sto- matic cell count. Each night the goats are brought in, and there is an electric fence around the perimeter. Intensive grazing is used on the 62 acres of ir- rigated pasture. A vine time Burnsini Vineyard was a beautiful surprise. 7.5 acres of five varieties of grapes that make Mer- lot, Cabernet, Zinfan- del, Petite Sirah, Sangio- vese, Friends and Tehama Red high above Bowman Road, west of Cotton- wood. Tom Burnham and Jim Tomasini started the vine- yard in 2000 as a hobby. We noticed the vineyard was taller than we usu- ally see, and Burnham said that since he was tall it was easier to prune and pick the grapes. He didn't have to bend over. The different varieties ripen at different times. They had just finished bottling the zinfandel, us- ing real cork. We were told they spend $12,000 a year for the bottles. They make between 1,200 and 2,000 cases of wine per year. The la- bels have to be approved by the federal govern- ment. Kent's Meats had Burn- sini Vineyard make a wine for them, called Bumbling Burglar red wine. You remember the video on the news last year, when someone tried to break into Kent's and they were bumbling at the door and in the park- ing lot. Going nuts We saw new country when we crossed the Sac- ramento River on the Balls Ferry bridge and drove south on the Jellys Ferry Road. History books mention Bloody Island in sections 10, 14 and 15. The Sam Mudd walnut orchard was our destina- tion, north of Saron Fruit Colony. They had a tall deer fence, 7,000 feet of fencing, surrounding the newly planted Chandler walnuts. A 37-year-old Vina wal- nut orchard had been re- moved 30 months ago. The roots pulled out, and the site had been pre- pared with underground irrigation with trees planted in north-south rows for better air move- ment. The trees were close to- gether and will be hedged mechanically. The newer orchards are grafted onto Paradox rootstock for resistance to crown rot. The older orchards have a dark base because they were grafted to black walnut rootstock. Twenty years ago two wells were drilled for the 200 sprinkler pipes that irrigated the orchard. Before that, the or- chard was irrigated by big pumps pulling the wa- ter from the Sacramento River. Now the 484 solar pan- els produce all the elec- tricity for the two wells. Our luncheon speaker was Mike Mitzel of Sierra Pacific Industries telling and showing us how SPI is restoring the timber lands after the Ponder- osa Fire. "The only way to re- claim value is to harvest timber quickly," he said. They were logging 350 loads a day, using 12 log- ging companies, and af- ter almost exactly one year they had cut 98 mil- lion board feet. A lightning strike started the Ponderosa Fire in steep, rugged ter- rain of South Fork Battle Creek Canyon. There were high winds, and it burned 1,167 acres per hour, or 19.4 acres per minute. 9,000 acres burned in one day. It was a total of 27,676 acres burned, of which 17,000 acres was Sierra Pacific land including 3,600 acres of planta- tion, and 52 homes and 90 outbuildings were lost. In the pre-harvest lay- out they had to flag reten- tion areas, have stream buffer zones, protect the archaeological sites and the wildlife habitat. There was contour till- ing, for water infiltration. Dead brush and trees are chipped and burned, if not logged. The seeds they use for replanting need to be from the elevation and area. Trees are climbed to remove the cones, seeds extracted and cold stored. Extensive records of the seed collection are kept showing zone, area col- lected, elevation, germina- tion rate. Then sowing orders to nursery are placed at least one year before planting, and will get the trees in late December and Janu- ary for planting. About 10 years af- ter planting they will do a pre-commercial thin- ning of the trees that are 200 to 300 per acre since spacing is too tight for optimal width, height growth. Using manual and me- chanical methods, the stands are thinned to ap- proximately 135 trees per acre to allow for better growth. In 25 to 30 years they will have a commercial harvest. Sierra Pacific Indus- tries salvaged 90 percent of the burn on the Ponder- osa Fire. Another interesting tour, learning about Te- hama County agriculture. 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 AnotherinterestingFarm-CityBusTour The Tehama County De- partment of Agriculture will be conducting con- tinuing education train- ing for certified applica- tors on 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Tuscan Room, Tehama County Administration Building, 727 Oak St., in Red Bluff. A duplicate class will be offered on Dec. 12 at a loca- tion to be determined. Certified private appli- cators are required to ob- tain two hours per year continuing education in or- der to renew their certifica- tion or they are required to retake the private applica- tor examination. A private applicator cer- tificate is required for per- sons that use restricted pesticides or if they train employees in pesticide use safety. Two hours of laws and regulations credit for state qualified applicators has been approved. There is no charge to attend the class, how- ever space is limited, so pre-registration is re- quired. To register for the class or for additional informa- tion, call 527-4504. TRAINING Certifiedpesticideapplicatorclassoffered COURTESYPHOTO LaMancha does at North Valley Farms Chevre, Inc., a Grade A dairy and farmstead goat cheese making facility on the Tehama County Farm Bureau Farm-City Bus Tour. LaManchas are naturally without ears. The annual Farm Day for fourth-graders at the Te- hama District Fairground had an increased partici- pation, with 525 students from 24 county schools in attendance. "It's all about the kids," said Shelley Macdonald, event chairwoman. "We'd like to thank the commu- nity members and the teach- ers and Tehama County De- partment of Education who have supported us in mak- ing this another great year." Students were able to learn about top commodi- ties in Tehama County, such as tree crops, livestock and timber. They also were able to see working stock dogs and take their turn roping. Helping with the day were the Red Bluff and Los Molinos FFA chapters, who led the groups of students to their stations. Among the presenters were 4-H members and the Tehama County Beef Ambassadors. The annual event is or- ganized and sponsored by the Tehama County Farm Bureau, Golden State Farm Credit and the Red Bluff Ki- wanis. Additional sponsors for 2014 were Crain Ranch, Crain Walnut, Hawes Ranch and Farm Supply, Matson & Isom, Andy Houghton In- surance Agency and Placer Title. Tehama County Farm Bureau manager Kari Dodd said she is already looking forward to the 2015 Farm Day. "Seeing the youth in Te- hama County learn where their food and fiber comes from and making the con- nection with our Tehama County farmers and ranch- ers is something many only learn by attending Farm Day," Dodd said. Students learn where food, fiber come from COURTESY PHOTO Students were able to try their hand at roping during the recent Farm Day at the Tehama District Fairground. FARM DAY By Candice Choi The Associated Press NEW YORK Rising beef prices might not mean the cost of a Whopper is going to skyrocket, but it could mean you'll be encouraged to order a chicken sandwich instead. Beef prices have climbed in part because of ris- ing demand overseas and droughts in recent years that have caused livestock producers to shrink their cattle herds. The average, year-to-date price for 81 percent lean ground beef is $2.18 per pound, said Kevin Good, an analyst at CattleFax, a Colorado-based tracker of the beef industry. That's up 24 percent from a year ago. The soaring prices have hurt fast-food restaurants that feature beef as the centerpiece of their menus: Burger King, Wendy's and McDonald's — the nation's three biggest burger chains — all say they're dealing with higher beef costs. But fast-food chains, which sometimes pass along additional costs for ingredients to customers, realize there's only so much people are willing to pay for a burger. So, they're taking other measures to help ease the pressure, such as slash- ing expenses elsewhere or trying to get people to or- der other things on their menus. Arby's, a chain best known for its roast beef sandwiches, next week is rolling out a new line of steak sandwiches. But with- out providing details, CEO Paul Brown said the com- pany is also looking for "more opportunities" to promote chicken, which on average accounts for about 10 percent of sales for the chain. "There are certain things you can do, which is promote different items," Brown said in an interview this week when asked how the company is dealing with rising beef costs. Alex Macedo, president of Burger King's North Amer- ican region, also said ear- lier this year the company is pushing chicken more aggressively to offset rising beef costs. This summer, the chain said it brought back its "Chicken Fries," which are deep-fried pieces of chicken in the shape of french fries, after "ongo- ing guest outcries reached a point where they could no longer be ignored." The dish was introduced in 2005 and taken off the menu in 2012. Burger King's website is also currently promoting its Italian Original Chicken Sandwich, as well as a deal for 10 chicken nuggets for $1.49. Burger King is working with franchisees to reduce restaurant costs as well. Carrols Restaurant Group, Burger King's biggest U.S. franchisee, noted that its beef costs were up 32 per- cent in the latest quarter from a year ago. Wendy's on Thursday also announced a plan to cut costs by $30 million to offset challenges, which include rising beef costs. Spokesman Bob Bertini de- clined to specify how Wen- dy's is adjusting its market- ing strategy to deal with ris- ing beef costs. But he said "our varied core menu with many chicken and salad op- tions gives us options." To drive customer traf- fic in the U.S., McDonald's said it's working to keep prices down despite its ris- ing costs for ingredients. To counter pressures, which include weak sales, McDon- ald's Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said the com- pany is working with third- party experts to analyze its cost structure, including staffing levels. That doesn't mean fast- food customers will be shielded from rising beef costs entirely. Chipotle raised prices nationally by about an average of 6 per- cent this past year, with the company citing higher costs for ingredients, including beef. But Chipotle is enjoying strong sales growth and is more confident about its ability to raise prices with- out scaring off customers. MEAT Beef or chicken? Beef prices hit fast-food chains RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! 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