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Agricultureranch farm Angus Association Marshall Walker, Proberta, is a new member of the American Angus Association reports Bryce Schumann, CEO of the national breed organization headquartered in Saint Joseph, Mo. Walker joins American The American Angus Association, with nearly 30,000 active adult and junior members, is the largest beef breed association in the world. Its computerized records include detailed information on nearly 19 mil- lion registered Angus. keeps production records on individual animals, and develops industry-leading selection tools for its mem- bers. These programs and services help members select and mate the best animals in their herds to produce quality genetics for the beef cattle industry and quality beef for consumers. Calif. grower to pay $350K growers will pay $350,000 and make changes in com- pany procedures to settle a federal sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commis- sion says a 17-year-old farmworker at Giumarra Vine- yards in Edison, Calif. was sexually harassed by a co- worker. When she and four other workers complained to management, all were fired. in sex harassment case FRESNO (AP) — One of the country's largest grape The Association records ancestral information, & Angus cows and loads of logs The second day of our California Beef Cattle Improvement Federation tour of Humboldt County started with a bus ride through Arcata, and we could see the "travelers on the Plaza." In the early days of Arcata the wharf was where the pack trains to the Trinity mines met the sailing ships. Our bus guides were As part of the settlement, the commission says Giu- marra has agreed to provide thousands of its farmwork- ers and other workers with training on sexual harass- ment and retaliation. The grower will also revamp its anti-discrimination policies and complaint procedures dealing with sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation, as well as develop a tracking system and hire a human resources professional to handle complaints. Giumarra Vineyards declined to comment on the set- tlement. Calif. orchid farm agrees to orchid farm has agreed to pay $139,000 to settle alle- gations that it spilled hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel into a creek and illegally installed an irrigation pump. San Mateo County prosecutors and Challenge Horti- culture, Inc., which operates as Half Moon Bay Orchids, reached the deal on Wednesday. Prosecutors say company employees damaged a pipe while demolishing a structure last June, causing diesel fuel to spill into Frenchman's Creek. The creek drains into the ocean. The company was also accused of installing a pump $139K settlement HALF MOON BAY (AP) — A Half Moon Bay to get water from another creek without obtaining the proper permits. Challenge did not acknowledge any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Robert Wong, who represents the company's owners, said the allegations were blown out of proportion, and the company settled only to move on. two local ranchers, Walt Giacommini and Rich Hunt who knew whose ranch or cattle we were passing. Rich told the Texas joke we had heard in Texas, "all you need is some Angus cows and a few oil wells." In Hum- boldt County, "all you need is some Angus cows and several loads of logs." Blue Lake used to have dozens of small lumber mills and now there are only three or four large mills. We visited a restored Blue Lake Redwood Grove. and Jim Able, a registered professional forester told us about the grove. The ranch was original- ly purchased by Peter Bussman's great-grandfa- ther James P. Anderson in 1892. Peter Bussman James‚ son Harry Anderson purchased the ranch in 1922. Harry used the ranch as a dairy until the place was paid for, and then sold his cows and started grazing sheep. The ranch Courtesy photo Pete Bussman was explaining how they log the redwoods using sustain- able methods to members of the California Beef Cattle Improvement Fed- eration tour. Able. removed in 1985 and the remaining pasture was planted with redwood seedlings. The last livestock was Jean Barton After 1930, with the absence of brush manage- ment, Mother Nature qui- etly took over and through succession the grass was supplanted by a conifer forest. ficient merchantable tim- ber to allow for a selective harvest to help pay the inheritance taxes upon the passing of Peter's grand- mother. Peter's ownership of the ranch began in 1974 and the forest management strategy was devised in 1982 with the help of Jim By 1974, there was suf- — Weeding out one little word from a farm bill might mean real money for raisin growers and other purvey- ors of dried fruit. But a wording change WASHINGTON (MCT) that expands a federal fruit and vegetable program to include dried, canned and frozen foods also could sour key lawmakers and spark a Capitol Hill fight. The con- flict adds one more chal- lenge for a Congress strug- gling to finish its farm bill work this year. royale," predicted Dan Haley, a lobbyist for Sun- Maid Growers and other California specialty crop clients. Many such complica- tions come together next Wednesday, when the House Agriculture Com- mittee is expected to take up its newly released 557-page farm bill proposal. The package setting agricultural policy for the next five years markedly differs from a Senate version approved late last month. "It's going to be a battle The House bill, for instance, makes far more dramatic cuts in food was clear cut in the late 1800s and then burned periodically until 1930 to keep it as pasture. was 1.7 million board feet of standing timber. Since that time, the stand has been selectively harvested on four occasions totaling 1.9 mil- lion board feet. On the property in 2011, there are 2.9 million board feet and growing. In 1982 there trees grow 3.5 feet in height per year. They leave the trees with best genet- ics, and only 30 percent is cut so they never lose the growth. 40 percent of the trees were Douglas fir, and they help the redwoods grow taller by providing wind resistance. When we walked among the trees, I learned the bigger cracks in the bark meant the tree grew faster. A slow growing tree has small cracks, but they don't pay for quality now, so they want a fast grow- ing tree. They will choose two out of a group of five trees, and leave the limbs where The ranch has 60 acres of tim- berland, and the stamps, now called the Sup- plemental Nutrition Assis- tance Program, or SNAP. While both House and Sen- ate bills would substitute insurance for direct pay- ments to growers of com- modities such as cotton, rice and wheat, the House also would set target prices as a subsidy option more attrac- tive to Southern farmers. The Senate bill would set tighter income limits gov- erning who can receive fed- eral payments. "There are differences of opinion, and we'll have to work our way through that," Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a member of the House Agri- culture Committee, said Fri- day. For specialty crops —the wine, fruits, nuts and veg- etables so dominant in Cali- fornia's $38 billion-a-year agricultural industry — the two bills generally coincide. But there are differences. The Senate bill, notably, retains a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in its current form. The bill would allocate $1 billion over 10 years for states to buy healthy snacks to serve low- income children in elemen- they fall. When they pick a tree they want, they have to consider where it will fall, and if they can get it out without disturbing the soil. Bears and pot growers are the pests. If the forest is open, there will be too many berry vines and bears will come. Bears also like the cambium layer in the tree bark. They log under NTMP permits for non-industrial land owners. They agree to not clear cut, keep it sus- tainable, and log under 1.7 million board feet. We saw the notch on the old tall stumps because there was poor quality wood at the butt. The notch was where they put the board to stand on, while using their cross cut saws. Pete had marketed his cattle as grass-fed the last eight years. He uses ultra sound to cull his cowherd, because some had a good fat cover and poor ribeye size. He also uses Expect- ed Progeny Differences when selecting his bulls. We enjoyed coffee, fruit juices, cookies, doughnuts and grapes in a wooded setting, before boarding the busses for the Arcata Bottoms. The 1964 flood was bad with lots of cattle drown- ing, but it did get rid of the gophers. 20,000 acres were flooded, and over tary schools. 5,000 head of cattle were lost, with 2,500 swept out to sea. They said there was 12 inches of rain in 24 hours, high tides, an offshore wind, and on the moun- tains the snow pack had a warm rain. 17 bridges were lost. We were told that fami- lies used to make a living with 40 dairy cows, that were milked for 9 months of year, and then dried up. The small dairies on Arca- ta Bottom would sell the butterfat, and feed the skim milk to the hogs. The Aleutian geese cause so much trouble there is a man hired to herd them off the pastures. Many of these ranchers buy calves and sell them as yearlings since the ground is very soft during winter. From 1930 to 1950 there were 150,000 head of sheep, and in 1980 there were 15,000. The old timers used the homestead law, to claim the land. A story similar to what I have heard about how the meadows at Min- eral were claimed. They put a boat in a wagon, to call it a wetland, and then filed a claim. Samoa used to be a pulp mill, and now the big industry is potting soil. Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton2013@gmail.com. From 'fresh' fruit to just fruit in farm bill keep the program, but drops the word "fresh." Techni- cally, the effect is to make dried fruit and canned and frozen fruits and vegetables also eligible for purchase. Politically, the change mobilizes competing forces. "We strongly oppose any The House bill would provision that opens the (program) to all forms," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of the United Fresh Produce Association. Here's where it gets tricky. Guenther elaborated that the United Fresh Produce Association supports expanding the fruit and veg- etable program to include dried fruit but not canned or frozen foods. Dried fruit had been eligible until law- makers changed the rules in 2008. Guenther's organiza- tion wants to surgically remove the canned and frozen food eligibility from the House language so that only dried fruit rejoins the program. Haley, the Sun-Maid Grow- ers' lobbyist, said they sup- But Costa as well as port the House approach of adding dried, canned and frozen foods. In addition to dried fruit growers, Haley also represents producers of canned peaches and frozen strawberries and blueber- ries; he believes it makes political sense to expand the program widely. Saturday, July 7, 2012 – Daily News 5A