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Agricultureranch farm USDA survey shows fewer says fewer honeybee colonies are being lost, suggesting bees' health may be improving. A survey made public Thursday shows that about 22 per- cent of U.S. honeybee colonies were lost this winter. That's a lower mortality than in the previous five years when colonies were decimated at a rate of about 30 percent a year. Bees are essential pollinators of about a third of the Unit- ed States' food supply. Some of the devastation is attributed to colony collapse honeybee colony losses FRESNO (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony dis- appear or die. Prior to 2006, when the disorder was recog- nized, losses were about 15 percent a year from a variety of pests and diseases. Researchers say an unusually warm winter could have impacted colony survival this year. 5,543 beekeepers completed the survey. Assembly approves farm approved legislation that would expose agricultural employ- ers to civil lawsuits for failing to abide by heat safety requirements. AB2346 would let farm workers sue if employers fail to worker protection bill SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state Assembly has supply water within 10 feet or shade within 200 feet of workers. Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, a Democrat from Mari- na del Ray, said she wrote the bill because worker protec- tion agencies are not doing enough to protect field workers from heat-related illness and death. Several Republican lawmakers spoke against the bill. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen of Gerber said the requirement that workers have water close at hand was too onerous, and the potential fines on employers were too high. The bill passed 41-27 Thursday after failing three times. Outbreak tied to chicks ATLANTA (AP) — A new salmonella outbreak that sickened nearly 100 people has been traced to mail- order chicks from Ohio, health officials said Thursday. Since March, 93 cases of salmonella have been reported in 23 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Eighteen people were hospi- talized and one death is being investigated to see if it was caused by the infection. Investigators interviewed dozens of the patients and most said they had touched chicks or ducklings before they got sick. Health officials advise washing your hands after handling live poultry. Ranching in the tropics & prise. Kona is mesquite and lava, not tropical rain forest, like I expected. They are in the 8th year of drought and we haven't heard about that before arriv- ing. Hawaii was a sur- normal. On the south end of Hawaii, Kahuku Ranch was 13% of nor- mal." Had planned to drink all the fancy drinks available, but became a teetotaler when the first pina colada was $12, plus taxes and tip. Had planned to see lots of cattle on the three ranches we visit- ed, and all we saw were pictures. Had planned to see the hula danced, and the only hula dancers were the statue at the Kona airport. But, I am glad I went. Nice to see cattlewomen friends from the West- ern States once again. We had 90 American National CattleWomen present for a good meet- ing, from Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico westward, plus spouses for many of the women. dinner, with pork and beans and thin steak, since the ranch catered to tourism. Even the Parker Ranch is not family owned. Hawaii is strict- ly tourism and I wonder if that is what Tehama County really wants with its branding pro- ject. The luau was a ranch The birds were traced to a mail-order hatchery in Mount Healthy, Ohio, north of Cincinnati. The busi- ness, Mount Healthy Hatcheries, was tied to a salmo- nella outbreak last year as well. State regulators visited the business repeatedly and say it has done what the state asked. ''The place is very clean,'' said Erica Pitchford, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. It's possible salmonella may have come from other businesses that supply chickens to the hatchery, she said. A representative of the hatchery could not be reached after business hours Thursday. The Mauna Lani Resort on the Kohala Coast was ele- gant. Just like promised. You drove up to the hotel, after dri- ving along palm trees, and strips of lawn, flo wering shrubs and trees, past the golf course. Until we left Highway 19, we had been in lava mesquite because they and Courtesy photo The hula dancers were dancing while Linda was checking on ranch business by cell phone at the Kona airport. Jean had cleared the acreage of lava down to soil for the resort and there were piles of lava on both sides of road. We drove up to the hotel in the rental car and several valets were present. One opened passenger door, while another opened driver side. They did the com- plimentary parking, (unless we didn't trust them). There was iced water with strawberries and lemon floating among the ice available by the podium to refresh you. Then registering was another experience. We walked in, toward the counter and a young woman placed a lei around our neck, while another invited us to sit at a desk to register. Ice cold hand towels were given to freshen up, and a glass of cold pineap- ple/guava juice to drink. Our room was on ground floor with a pri- vate lanai, while the ocean was just outside Barton to our left across the lawn, past the palm trees. Each morning the newspaper was inside a woven fiber holder hanging on the door knob. We enjoyed the early morning drinking coffee on the lanai, if we weren't walking along the shore, or Linda was swimming laps for 50 minutes at the spa pool. There were free bicy- cles to ride, so another time she went bike riding explor- ing the resort. The lobby featured a series of ponds with brightly colored koi, w aterf alls, Grasses are Aus- tralian or African in ori- gin, plus white clover that is grazed hi density, rotational grazing. Water is from rain vation or higher. they have a 60-70% conception rate due to the poor nutrition of the cows, while they used to have 90-95% pregnant. There is no supplement feeding of the cattle because of freight costs. They do feed mineral supplements, such as copper and selenium. In the past it was Hereford cattle, and now it is Angus or Angus cross cowherds with Charolais as a ter- minal cross. They use AI to introduce new blood-lines, because it takes a year for an imported animal to get adjusted to the feed, cli- mate, and range condi- tions of Hawaii. They still ride horses using a Mexican type saddle, and ATVs are popular. Many of the large ranches have 4th and 5th generation working on the ranch. Richards mentioned they teach the children how to work as young children on the ranches. Due to the drought A 21-30 day weaning prior to shipping works for them. No fence line weaning for his ranch after trying it with 1,000 calves and the fence broke. runoff from the rainfor- est where they typically get 115 inches per year, and it goes down as you head to the ocean with 80-30-10 inches per year. water lilies, plus stingray, large turtles, while we dined out- doors. that is what they have gotten in the last 8 years.) West Hawaii Today, May 22, 2012, Carolyn Lucas-Zenk wrote: "Most of the island's leeward sites had less than 50% of normal rainfall during the wet season, which typically runs October through April. "Lower than normal (I don't believe Our guest speaker at the welcome dinner was Tim Richards, III, DVM, of Kahua Ranch, North Kohala. His subject was cattle ranching in Hawaii, which started in 1793 or 8 and horses came in 1803 or 4. (I heard both dates while in Hawaii.) The Mexican vaqueros came in 1832 to teach the Hawaiians how to work the wild cattle. The rock fences we noticed on our tour were more than 200 years old because the Hawaiians built them to protect their gardens, I was told. There are 800 ranch- ers raising cattle, with 85,000 head of cattle raising 60,000 head of calves with the majority shipped to the continen- tal U.S. The ranches were in strips originally, from sea level to 9,000 ft ele- COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR recommened 30K, 60K, 90K SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES All makes and models. We perform dealer Smog Check starting at$ Pass or FREE retest 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. (most cars and pick-ups) 2595 + cert. Sheet Metal Roofing Residential Commercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane RUNNINGS ROOFING "No Job Too Steep" " No Job Too Flat" Serving Tehama County 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 Owner is on site on every job CA. LIC#829089 No Money Down! ESTIMATES FREE rainfall in April kept the drought firmly in place on the island, where extreme drought contin- ued to cover South Kohala areas and Pohakuloa region. "Severe drought maintained its presence over the lower eleva- tions of North Kona and South Kona, as well as the western portion of Ka'‚u. "Pastures and general vegetation were very poor in South Kohala, where reports indicated little or no edible forage for livestock. "Affected ranches given at branding, when calves are 3 to 5 months of age. They have a 60- day breeding season, to calve February to April, and they have a fall calving starting in Octo- ber. That way they use the bulls two times a year. Saturday, June 2, 2012 – Daily News 5A The first shots are Shipping to me means loading cattle on a truck to go from win- ter feed to summer graz- ing, or sending the calves on a truck to the stocker buyer. In Hawaii shipping is sending the 400-450 lb calves to the mainland by either ship or plane. 50,000 calves per year are sent to the West Coast. The larger ranch- es retain ownership of the calves. have already destocked cattle and water hauling operations have been ongoing for many months. Farmers were also actively irrigating crops. "The percentage of normal rainfall from October to April at selected sites in West Hawaii showed Kahua Ranch at 44% of nor- mal, and Parker Ranch at Waimea at 49% of Over 25 years of experience The North State's premier supplier of stoves STOVE JUNCTION Wood Burning Stoves Did you know? We've Got Exempt From No Burn Days! Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Tues-Sat 9am-5pm • Closed Sun & Mon 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com lb calves are in a 40 ft double deck container with three ton of hay, and water, 30,000 lbs. Temple Grandin has reviewed how they ship the calves, and endorsed it. Stock tenders take care of the calves on ship, and the water comes from the ship‚s water supply. The calves are shipped from Kona to Honolulu where they are loaded on a ship, taking a week while the 747 planes load at Kona air- port, and 5 to 7 hours later they are at destina- tion. 70 to 75 head of 400 It is a $160 to $170 per head transportation cost, or 40 cents a lb. Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton2013@gmail.co m. The