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Agricultureranch farm The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) will host a live Facebook group chat with technical editors of UC's new Organic Strawberry Production Manual, Steve Koike and Mark Bolda. The new manual is designed to help growers, pest con- trol advisers, consultants, marketers, industry professionals and home gardeners better understand the organic growing and strawberry production processes. Both strawberry experts will be available in the UC ANR group chat room from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, July 10, to answer questions related to the new manual, straw- berry growth, pests and diseases. Steve Koike, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Mon- & Chat withstrawberry experts Ponohole Ranch in North Kohata Our next stop on the American National Cat- tleWomen ranch tour was at Ponoholo Ranch in North Kohala, with our host Pono and. Angie von Holt and daughter Sabrina White. terey and Santa Cruz counties, studies vegetable, fruit and ornamental crop diseases, particularly strawberry diseases. Koike earned his M.S. in plant protection and pest manage- ment from UC Davis in 1980. In 2011, he received the Dis- tinguished Service Award for outstanding research conduct- ed by a UC Cooperative Extension academic. Mark Bolda, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Monterey and San Benito counties for strawberries and caneberries. Bolda received his M.S. in plant protection and pest management from UC Davis in 1996, after serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Paraguay as an agricultural extensionist. This informal lunch-time session allows home garden- ers, commercial growers and others an opportunity to ask questions and seek advice from two of the most knowl- edgeable strawberry professionals in California. All indi- viduals are invited to participate in this informative online brown-bag session. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/ucanr. More information about this session and instructions on how to participate can be found at ucanr.edu/facebookchat. More information about the Organic Strawberry Production Man- ual can be found at ucanr.edu/strawberry. Originally part of the Kahua Ranch, founded in 1928 by Richard von Holt and Atherton Richards, the ranch has evolved into a cow/calf operation that sends their 400 lb calves to the mainland for finish- ing. into two, Kahua Ranch and Ponoholo Ranch. The two ranches were run as a joint venture until 1989 when they were split com- pletely into independent companies. In 1980 the ranch split The ranch is 11,000 acres, both privately owned and leased, reach- ing from sea level to 4,800 feet. The rainfall ranges from 6 inches in the lower elevations to 110 inches in the higher elevations. They are in the 8th year of the drought, and the ranch has destocked the lower elevations of the ranch completely since there was no grass. Their cow herd is an Angus base with Charolais being a terminal cross. Prefer their cows to weigh 1,200 lbs at calving time. Have two calv- ing seasons a year. cows, and the bulls are chosen for tenderness using genetic testing (DNA marker gene). They AI the Courtesy photo Cattle in the break in the trees against the hill. were told. to have 5,000 cows but the drought has cut their numbers to 4,000. Ponoholo Ranch used calves to the mainland, than to market them as grass-fed beef in Hawaii. Since 1990 the calves have been exported by the weekly airplane at Kona airport. It is cheaper to ship the Jean Barton Ponoholo Ranch produces bulls for their own use and to sell to other ranch- es. 4 years old and the bull is gone. when they reach 12 years, but Roberta lived for 21 years. She had been hand raised, and became a nurse cow and baby sitter for the calves. The cows are sold 15 to 20% of the heifers are retained as replacements. All open (no calf) cows are culled. In Hawaii they have to schedule four to five months in advance at the packing plant. The cull cows and older bulls get harvested and processed here on the Big Island, mostly in Paauilo. There were three packing hous- es in all of Hawaii. Not certain if that is now, or in the past from what we ship of the cattle right up until they are harvested in Texas, Kansas, Oregon and Washington. The rock walls and ter- races in the Makai part of the island were built by the Hawaiians. They grew sweet potatoes and dry- land taro as the main crops. Most of the rock walls are remnants of house sites and/or exclu- sions for the crops to keep the wild pigs out. Now the land is used for raising cattle. We enjoyed visiting Angie‚s garden because she had orchids and other colorful flowers in bloom, outside the kitchen win- dow. From the front yard we could look below us and see the ocean sparkling in the distance. Our final stop was Kahua Ranch, owned by The calves are weaned at 6 months weigh- ing about 400 lbs, and loaded on 747 cargo planes to Los Angeles. The calves are then truck ed, depending on the time of year, to pasture or directly to a feed yard. Pono- holo Ranch retains owner- the Richards family where the simple cattle ranch has grown into an integrated and diversified livestock, agriculture and ag tourism operation. John Richards shook hands and welcomed everyone as we stepped down from our bus. A couple young girls led a saddled, gentle horse up on the lawn for us to get on, and have our pic- ture taken riding a horse. Don't remember seeing any one taking advantage of the offer that evening. After getting a soft drink, beer or cup of wine we learned about the his- tory of the ranch. The brochure read: "Join us for a cultural, historical and fun-filled evening on one of Hawaii's historical ranch- es located north of beauti- ful Waimea town. "You will be welcomed with warm hospitality and sincere Aloha for this unique, personal and exciting experience, full of entertainment and sto- rytelling. This experience is for everyone, no matter what your age! "History comes alive as we share stories of the introduction of cattle in 1793 and then the emer- gence of the Paniolo, (Hawaiian Cowboy). "The evening includes a wonderful Steak and Chicken buffet with all the fixin's, coffee, etc. and Macadamia Nut pie for dessert. An open bar with Kona Brewery beer and red and white wine is available also. "Enjoy live country music and kick up your heels for line dancing and participate in our local activities that will include roping, brand a shingle to take home with you, pitch some horseshoes and cook some s'mores over the bonfire. I was looking forward to a luau and watching the hula dancers since we were in Hawaii but that didn't happen. *** the Tehama County Library when I needed his help researching a date or a story of long ago. He could find what I was looking for each time I needed help. I will miss him and all of his help. To quote Robert Minch in The Passing Parade, June 13: "As he perused historical papers he became an advocate for preserving such docu- ments and urged those with knowledge of olden times to get their memo- ries down on paper and into the library achieves." The Presbyterian Church was filled with friends from his years with University of California, Berkeley and I understand that he and Gretchen were in the stands for all the football games each sea- son. There were many familiar faces from Tehama County, also. Another voice of early history of Tehama Coun- ty was silenced on June 12 when Mary Lee Grimes passed away. She wrote The First 50 Years: 1856-1908 A Pictorial Essay of Tehama County and was active in the Tehama County Geneo- logical & Historical Soci- ety. I met Scott Sherman at Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton2013@gmail.com. EPAproposes stricter standards for soot pollution WASHINGTON (AP) — In a step that officials said would save lives, the Obama administration on Friday announced new air quality standards intended to reduce the amount of soot that can be released into the air. Environmental groups and public health advocates welcomed the move by the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it would protect millions of Ameri- cans at risk for soot-related asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart disease and premature death. administration had sought to delay the new soot stan- dards until after the Novem- ber elections. But a federal judge ordered officials to act sooner after 11 states filed a lawsuit seeking a decision this year. receive individual attention from the EPA, McCarthy said Friday in a conference call with reporters. ''We will work very hard But congressional Republicans and industry officials called the proposal overly strict and said it could hurt economic growth and cause job losses in areas where pollution levels are determined to be too high. Perhaps wary of the rule's political risk, the EPA's top air official, said the new rule was based on a rigorous scientific review. All but six counties in the United States would meet the proposed standard by 2020 with no additional actions needed beyond compliance with existing and pending rules set by the EPA, she said. Gina McCarthy, the to make sure by 2020 they can enjoy the same kind of clean air that the other 99 percent of U.S. counties will achieve, based on the federal rules'' already in place or scheduled to take effect over the next few years, she said. Those counties are San Bernardino and Riverside counties in California; Santa Cruz County, Ari- zona; Wayne County, Mich.; Jefferson County, Ala. and Lincoln County, Mont. All six face ''unique challenges'' and will But industry groups said the administration's asser- tion that so few counties would be affected by the new rule is based on the assumption that a dozen or more federal rules and stan- dards — including several that are being challenged in court and in Congress — achieve their pollution reduction goals. The rules include controversial regu- lations governing mercury emissions and cross-state air pollution emitted by power plants, both of which face opposition from indus- try groups and members of Congress. ''The EPA wants to wave its hands and say, 'Don't worry about it, it will all be taken care of by 2020,' '' said Howard Feldman, director of regulatory and scientific affairs for the American Petroleum Insti- tute, the top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry. 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! 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Soot, made up of micro- scopic particles released from smokestacks, diesel trucks and buses, wood- burning stoves and other sources, contributes to haze and can burrow into lungs. Saturday, June 16, 2012 – Daily News 5A The