Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/478810
Hopefullyyoureceived more rain than I did in the "big storm" on Wednesday. If you squint your eyes, you might see a tenth of an inch in the rain gauge. The foxtail and wild oats has headed out, and in the shallow soil the grass and weeds are turn- ing brown. Everyone is commenting about the or- chards and flowers being a month ahead of sched- ule. The prunes are in full bloom. Friends on Facebook in the mountain areas are commenting on their fruit trees being in bloom, a month early. When we noticed the oak trees in bud and leaf- ing out, Jerry Hemsted re- minded me of the oak bud poisoning the ranchers ex- perienced when the trees were early like this year, back in March 1985. My Christmas let- ter read: "On the 26th of March, Bill's diary said: "Rain all day, almost snow, cool 45', strong south wind, 1.10" rain." We were lucky, because the west side of Sacramento Val- ley had cold snow down to the valley floor. The oak trees were in bud, and young leaves had high concentrations of tannic acid. That was all the cat- tle had to eat for 3 days, and kidney failure re- sulted. Many dead cattle were found in streams and ponds where they seek wa- ter to cool down. The car- casses deteriorated down to skin and bone within a few days because of in- tense internal tempera- tures from the poisoning. Many cattle were never found because they just disappeared. More than 2,000 head died on the west side, on about 100 ranches from Redding to Elk Creek. Some people lost several hundred head this time. Just what they didn't need, with low cat- tle prices, and high inter- est rates. Nothing could be done to save the cattle, except if you fed them hay on March 26-27-28th. Un- til 1st of May, news media had one horror story after another about the cattle losses. No aid or bail-out money available for ranch- ers. This happened on the east side, in our area, about 20 years ago." HighSchoolRodeo Instead of going to the Jr. Cow Palace for a rodeo at Easter time for District 1 High School Rodeo kids, they will go to Plymouth for the Challenge of Cham- pions next week end. Cara Hencratt, Red Bluff will be in Girls Cut- ting with Bailey Bean, Gerber and Jessica Alosi, Palo Cedro. Bailey Bean is also in Goat Tying. The top three in each event qualify for this rodeo. In 1985, our Christmas letter mentioned the fol- lowing: "Our Dist. # 1 High School rodeo team placed 4th. Hardy Vestal, Fall River Mills was 1st in Boys Cutting. Kyle Wemple, Mil- ford 2nd in Saddle Bronc. Ed Ellis, Redding 2nd Bareback Riding. Mike Hill was 3rd Saddle Bronc. Kim Urricelqui, McAr- thur was 3rd Girls Cut- ting and 4th in Pole Bend- ing. Tracy Yates, Weed, was 4th in Goat Tying, and Trina Waltman, Standish was 4th Girls Cutting. We had 24 kids qualify for Jr. CP. I was proud of my kids, when they were Event Directors. Bulls — Jim Trimm, Corning; Bareback- Ed Ellis; Steer Wrestling — Matt Wilson, Montague; Calf Roping — Hardy Vestal; Team Rop- ing - T.C.Hammons, Oro- ville; Goat Tying — Tracy Yates; Pole Bending — Kim Urricelqui. " Field Day Next weekend is the Te- hama County Cattlemen's Field Day at Rolling Hills Casino, and sign-up closes tomorrow, the 15th. If you are still debating about shooting clay's or golf- ing on Saturday the 21st, you can still sign up at te- hamacountycattlemen.org. We hope you will join us both days. The traditional ranch horse activities and dog trials will use cattle, and we have to rent them. In- stead of registering the day of event, registration closes on the 15th. In 1983 TCCA presi- dent Jerry Stephens had the field day at Dye Creek Ranch, and Borror's Te- hama Angus Ranch. Jerry Hemsted was president in 1985 with Tom Hill's Vina Ranch and Jim Edwards Cone Ranch hosting. My 1986 Christ- mas letter noted "1,100 were fed at the Cattlemen's Field Day on the 29th. Jim Edwards, our neigh- bor at the Cone Ranch, of- ficially known as Antelope Creek Cattle Co; was host. You should have seen all the political signs along Hogsback Road, plus seen all those running for of- fice shaking hands. It was a pretty day with all the wild flowers in bloom." Bob Kerstiens was pres- ident when Cottonwood Creek Ranch and Tran- quility Brangus Ranch hosted. Bill Jackson was president when we went to Al Marenco Ranch and Cottonwood Creek Ranch. Dick O'Sullivan was president when John Growney Rodeo Co. and Bengard's Gallatin Ranch hosted. Curtis Knox was president and we went to Sun Country Fairgrounds in 1994 and 1995. Al Marenco was pres- ident when Arlo Stroing Ranch hosted, and we were at Marenco's ranch in1997. The Atwood-Wells Ranch (Owens Estate) and Bengard's Cotton- wood Ranch were hosts when Bill Barton was president. Hank Pritchard was president when Dye Creek Preserve and John Growney Rodeo Co. were hosts. President Fred Hamilton chose John Growney's ranch both years, and it poured rain in 2003. Wally Roney was pres- ident when Tehama Dis- trict Fairgrounds and Arlo Stroing Ranch hosted. We returned to Atwood's Ow- ens Estate and Marenco Ranch when Matt Pritchard was president. Bengard's Gallatin Ranch and Turri Ranch were hosts when Tony Turri was president. Earl Foor Ranch and Ron/ Neita Reid's Long Ranch were location for Chris Marenco. There was a cloud-burst just before the 2012 Field Day, and it was cancelled. Dave Ferguson Ranch was beautiful location for 2013 when Steve Zane was pres- ident. The 2014 Field Day was cancelled when calves and yearlings were worth more than $2 a pound, and no one wanted to donate cat- tle for the field day. They could be injured or lose weight. Steve McCarthy is presi- dent for the 2015 Field Day with new location, new agenda with sporting clays and golf as well as tradi- tional horse events. Instead of Tony Alveras , or Angelo Mendonca or Vic Woolery and crews cooking lunch at noon time, we will have an eve- ning dinner at the casino. Reservations requested. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEANBARTON Little rain, but spring on its way COURTESY The Stock Horse is a traditional Tehama County Cattlemen's Field Day event. Farm Service Agency will be providing a finan- cial management course that can help you to be more successful in com- pleting and understand- ing your operation's finan- cial statements. Topics will include the preparation of balance sheets, actual and pro- jected income and ex- pense statements and monthly cash flow bud- gets. This training course is open to all farmers and ranchers and is offered at no cost. The course is sched- uled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, March 23 at the Shasta County FSA Office, 3644 Avtch Parkway, Ste. D in Redding. Seating is limited so re- serve your opportunity to attend by calling 842-6123 Ext. 2 or 226-2566. A lunch break will be provided from noon to 1 p.m. with attendees wel- come to lunch at local establishments or bring a sack lunch to eat on site. FARM SERVICE AGENCY Fi na nc ia l ma na ge me nt training course offered Scientists and breeders working with poultry and livestock species will get a new set of tools from an in- ternational project that in- cludes the University of Cal- ifornia, Davis. The UC Davis team is led by functional genomicist Huaijun Zhou, an associ- ate professor and Chancel- lor's Fellow in the Depart- ment of Animal Science. The researchers will fo- cus on the genomes of the chicken, cow and pig, which make up the largest meat- producing industries in the United States. The UC Davis project is part of a comprehen- sive international effort, known as the Functional Annotation of Animal Ge- nomes (FAANG) Initiative. The international initia- tive includes research sci- entists in France, the Neth- erlands, Australia, Canada and China. It mirrors ear- lier efforts, called ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA El- ements), which assembled the functional elements in the human, mouse and model-organism genomes "Initial sequences of the chicken, bovine and swine genomes were pub- lished during the last de- cade, identifying the genes that actually translate ge- netic material into pro- teins," Zhou said. "Those sequences represent the beginning of an exciting path to understanding the underlying digital code for the biology of these impor- tant agricultural species," he said. "But it has become increasingly apparent that we also need to determine the function of surround- ing regions of the genes in the genome, sometimes re- ferred to as 'functional ele- ments.' " These functional ele- ments — once thought to be "junk DNA" because they don't encode proteins — are now known to play a critical role in regulating how genes are expressed and how the genetic ma- terial is manifested in an animal's traits. "The func- tional elements and the molecular processes they influence, are key to con- trolling development and complex traits such as pro- duction, immune response, reproduction and behav- ior," Zhou said. Informa- tion gleaned by the new ef- fort will aid breeders in de- veloping healthier and more productive and sustainable farm animals. Data produced by the UC Davis team and their collab- orators on the FAANG Ini- tiative will be freely dis- tributed through the UCSC Genome Browser, a biolog- ical database hosted by UC Santa Cruz, and through Ensembl, a genome browser of the European Bioinfor- matics Institute (EBI). Collaborators at UC Da- vis include Pablo J. Ross, an animal scientist; Ian Korf, a molecular biologist in the Genome Center; Mary Delany, an avian geneti- cist; Juan Medrano, an an- imal geneticist; and Alison Van Eenennaam, a Cooper- ative Extension animal ge- nomics and biotechnology specialist. Other collabo- rators are Hans Cheng, a research geneticist at the USDA-ARS Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory at Michigan State Univer- sity; Chris Tuggle, an ani- mal scientist at Iowa State University; Cathy Ernst, an animal scientist at Michi- gan State University; Vicki Leesburg an agricultural statistician with the USDA- ARS; Bing Ren, a molecu- lar geneticist at the Insti- tute of Genomics Institute, UC San Diego; Jim Kent, a bioinformatist at the UCSC Genome Browser; and Paul Flicek, a research scientist at EMBL-EBI. UC DAVIS New effort in functional annotation of animal genomes RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 No Money Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA. LIC#829089 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 WeDo Alignments, Brakes, Shocks, Struts, Oil Changes, Suspension, Trailer Repairs, Batteries & Wipers 1375MontgomeryRd. Red Bluff, CA 530 529-0797 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 MembersWelcome CANNED FOOD DRIVE *Validonly at H & R Block 1315 Solano St, Corning Call 530-824-7999 for a appointment Bring in 4 cans of food when you come in to get your taxes done, and get $15.00 off your tax preparation fees.* Allcannedfoodswillbedonatedto CorningChristianAssistanceFoodBank. Servicingyourdisposalneedsin Tehama County, and the City of Red Bluff including Residential, Commercial, and Temporary bin services. GREENWASTEOFTEHAMA A WASTE CONNECTIONS COMPANY 530-528-8500 1805 AIRPORT BLVD. RED BLUFF, CA GreenWaste is a proud supporter of local events. FARM » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, March 14, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A7