- Idaho Farm Bureau

Transcription

- Idaho Farm Bureau

Spring 2015 Volume 15, Issue 2
Idaho’s Oldest
Ranch Celebrates
150 Years
- pg. 4
Food Page,
Sheep Shearing
Word Search
Photos, Raw Milk
& GMO Labeling and Much More
Inside
Articles
The Ag Agenda
Farmers and
Ranchers Are
Tired of EPA
Doubletalk
By Bob Stallman
President American Farm
Bureau Federation
Business owners around
the country have joined
with farmers and ranchers in speaking out on
the Waters of the U.S.
rule. More than 30 states
also oppose the rule.
Yet, even in the face of
mounting opposition, the
EPA still isn’t listening.
though a bumper-sticker approach to a complex
regulation would change anything for people so
profoundly affected by her agency’s actions.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has unveiled her latest, campaign-style WOTUS spin,
calling the effort the “Clean Water Rule” – as
McCarthy insists that the rule will allow business as usual for agriculture. She has said farm-
Before throwing caution
to the wind and jumping on the “let’s create a
new national park bandwagon,” a more thorough
investigation of the proposal is needed.
Beyeler R-Leadore. There is local support for
the change and we believe that is important.
Slogans may matter more than facts at the EPA,
but the details still matter to farmers and ranchers who know full well the importance of clean
water. We depend on it for our livelihoods, after
all. Our biggest objection, in fact, is not about
clean water. It’s about land.
See STALLMAN, page 12
The President’s Desk
Craters of the
Moon - What’s
in a Name?
By Frank Priestley
President Idaho Farm
Bureau Federation
The recent proposal to
send a state memorandum to Congress that would change the name
of Craters of the Moon National Monument
to National Park, was supported by the Butte
County Commissioners and State Rep. Merrill
However, the proposal failed after concerns
about it were raised by several voices including
the Idaho Farm Bureau. We would like to stress
that we aren’t here to claim responsibility for
killing the idea and we think it should be given
time for thorough vetting. So let’s ask the hard
questions first and get the answers out in front
of all of the stakeholders. If it still seems like
a good idea after that then let’s move forward
with it.
See PRIESTLEY, page 12
Inside Farm Bureau
Endangered
Species Act
Reform is
Needed
By Rick Keller
CEO Idaho Farm
Bureau Federation
2
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides
a set of protections for
species that have been
listed as endangered or
threatened and is administered by the US Fish
and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS). Originally enacted in 1973,
Congress envisioned a law that would protect
species believed to be on the brink of extinc-
IDAHO FARM BUREAU QUARTERLY / SPRING 2015
tion. When the law was enacted, there were
109 species listed for protection. Today, there
are nearly 1,600 domestic species on the list,
with 125 species considered as “candidates”
for listing. Unfortunately, the ESA has failed at
recovering and delisting species since its inception. Less than two percent of all listed species
have been removed from ESA protection since
1973, and many of those are due to extinction
or “data error.”
See KELLER, page 35
Volume 15, Issue 2
IFBF OFFICERS
President ................................... Frank Priestley, Franklin
Vice President ...................................Mark Trupp, Driggs
Executive Vice President ............................... Rick Keller
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bryan Searle ............................................................Shelley
Mark Harris ................................................. Soda Springs
Chris Dalley ....................................................... Blackfoot
Dean Schwendiman ........................................... Newdale
Danny Ferguson ........................................................Rigby
Scott Steele ..................................................... Idaho Falls
Gerald Marchant .................................................. Oakley
Rick Pearson ................................................... Hagerman
Rick Brune............................................................Hazelton
Luke Pearce ............................................. New Plymouth
Cody Chandler....................................................... Weiser
Tracy Walton ........................................................ Emmett
Marjorie French ............................................... Princeton
Alton Howell ................................................ Careywood
Tom Daniel ............................................... Bonners Ferry
Judy Woody ................................................................ Filer
Cole Smith ...................................................... Montpelier
STAFF
Dir. of Organization............................... Dennis Brower
Commodities & Marketing Assistant ........... Peg Pratt
Member Services Assistant ..................... Peggy Moore
Public Relations Assistant ........................ Dixie Ashton
Dist. I Regional Manager ........................... Justin Patten
Dist. II Regional Manager .............................. Zak Miller
Dist. III Regional Manager .................. Charles Garner
Dist. IV Regional Manager ..........................Brody Miller
Dist. V Regional Manager ....................... Bob Smathers
Dir. of Governmental Affairs ................Russ Hendricks
Asst. Dir. of Governmental Affairs .... Dennis Tanikuni
Energy/Natural Resources ....................... Bob Geddes
Director of Public Relations .............. John Thompson
Video Services Manager ............................ Steve Ritter
Broadcast Services Manager ..................... Jake Putnam
Office Manager, Boise .................... Julie Christoffersen
Member Services Manager ........................ Joel Benson
Administrative Assistant ............................... Cara Dyer
Assistant Treasurer.................................. Tyler Zollinger
Printed by: Owyhee Publishing, Homedale, ID
IDAHO FARM BUREAU QUARTERLY
USPS #022-899, is published quarterly by the
IDAHO FARM BUREAU FEDERATION,
275 Tierra Vista Drive, Pocatello, ID 83201.
POSTMASTER send changes of address to:
IDAHO FARM BUREAU QUARTERLY
P.O. Box 4848, Pocatello, ID 83205-4848.
Periodicals postage paid at Pocatello, ID
and additional mailing offices.
Subscription: $4 a year included in Farm Bureau dues.
MAGAZINE CONTACTS:
Idaho Farm Bureau Federation
EDITOR (208) 239-4292 • ADS (208) 239-4279
E-MAIL: [email protected]
www.idahofb.org
Cover: Paul Nettleton is preparing to host hundreds
of friends and neighbors for a celebration of the Joyce
Ranch, established in 1865.
Photo by Steve Ritter
Contents
Features
Owyhee County ranch
celebrates 150 years
PAGE 4
Nationwide GMO labeling
bill proposed
PAGE 21
Profile: Two east Idaho
farms produce and market raw milk
PAGE 8
Idaho Legislature passes
eminent domain bill
PAGE 25
Backyard egg production
becomes more popular in
urban areas
PAGE 10
Sheep shearing photo
spread
PAGE 14
Idaho Farm Bureau essay
contest
PAGE 27
Quarterly Marketbasket
Survey
PAGE 38
DEPARTMENTS
The Ag Agenda: Bob Stallman............................................................. 2
The President’s Desk: Frank Priestley.............................................. 2
Inside Farm Bureau: Rick Keller......................................................... 2
University of Idaho Forestry............................................................. 18
Farm Facts............................................................................................. 28
Food Page: A Taste of Idaho.............................................................. 32
Classifieds ............................................................................................ 42
Idaho Farm Bureau Quarterly / SPRING 2015
3
MJ for Matt Joyce is a brand that has endured in Owyhee County for 150 years. Photo by Steve Ritter
Owyhee County Ranch Celebrates 150 Years
By John Thompson
Water diverted from Sinker Creek spills
out across a pasture where a pair of mallard ducks forage as Paul Nettleton leans
on a corral rail talking about the history of
this high desert ranch.
Sinker Creek forms a narrow canyon that
winds south from Highway 78. It’s been
the lifeblood of the Joyce Ranch and helped
sustain the family’s cattle operation since
1865. Cottonwoods and willows line the
stream while sagebrush and bunch grasses
stretch for 20 miles to the base of the snowcapped Owyhee Range which dominates
the landscape. A California quail hails
strangers with a high-pitched bark, disturbing the morning stillness.
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Standing well over six-feet tall, Nettleton’s
black felt hat and neatly waxed mustache
make him a bit imposing. He’s not a guy
you’d want to get on the wrong side of, or
at least he gives off that appearance. But
what strikes you most after sharing some
time with him is his humility, which likely
comes from the hardship he’s faced, and an
earnest desire to see his family continue its
traditions.
The Joyce Ranch originated when Matt
and Mary Joyce left northern Nevada and
formed a partnership with a fellow known
as Scotch Bob on Sinker Creek, where the
ranch headquarters is today. Nettleton said
there were no official deeds, homesteads
were popping up around the region, raising
cattle to support the mining and prospect-
ing that was going on at the time.
Shortly after the Joyce’s settled in and built
their first house along the creek, Scotch
Bob left for greener pastures. In the years
that followed, the family faced mounting
debt, droughts, fires, predators and cattle
rustlers. They lost the original house in a
flood and lived in a chicken coop for part
of a winter.
With regard to Indians, Nettleton said the
Joyce children made friends with the local
tribe and when the Bannock War started in
1878 all of the neighboring ranches were
burned out but they never touched the
Joyce Ranch. “The kids were friends and
we think that’s why they left us alone,” he
said.
A rock barn at the Joyce Ranch dating back to 1901. Photo by Steve Ritter
Matt Joyce Sr. was one of the founders
of the Owyhee Cattleman’s Association
formed in 1868 to control cattle rustling,
Indians and predators. He died in 1893,
leaving the ranch to sons Matt Jr., Jim and
a sister, Annie Joyce. The ranch grew to
encompass properties throughout the region but debt also piled up during this time
period. Matt Jr. and Jim died in 1935 within five days of each other. They both succumbed to pneumonia. Paul’s grandmother
Margaret Joyce married Vilo Nettleton and
the ranch was passed on from the Joyce’s to
the Nettleton’s after the death of the Joyce
brothers.
Prior to the deaths of Matt Jr. and Jim,
Paul’s father Hubert became distraught
with the family business and struck out on
his own. However, the Joyce sisters Annie
and Margaret could not secure the financing they needed to keep the ranch solvent
after their brothers died so they convinced
Hubert to come back to the family ranch in
1935. With a large debt hanging over the
operation Hubert saw an opportunity.
Paul explained that the industrial age had
come to southwest Idaho and with the advent of tractors and automobiles, the demand for horses disappeared. Ranches still
needed good saddle horses but draft horses
were turned out by the hundreds to fend for
themselves on the vast ranges.
“All of those horses were literally killing
the range,” said Paul. “So they gathered
horses and sold them for slaughter. They
were worth a penny a pound so you could
get $10 for a horse which paid down a lot
of their debt.”
Hubert was an innovative business man
who also made money speculating in real
estate. When a federal irrigation project
was announced in the area, Hubert purchased several bankrupt homesteads in the
area for 10 cents an acre, or the cost of the
back taxes owed to Owyhee County. After
the irrigation project provided an opportunity to make farmland out of the hardscrabble ranches, he sold the land for $200
See JOYCE RANCH p.6
5
JOYCE RANCH
Continued from page 5
The Joyce Ranch on Sinker Creek in Owyhee County will recognize 150 years in business during a special celebration June 10-14.
an acre. Later the county would approach
him with similar deals and he purchased
other parcels for the cost of the back taxes
owed.
Paul also remembers rounding up horses
from the range in the spring, branding the
young colts and breaking the older colts to
sell to neighboring ranchers. This provided an income stream that helped keep the
ranch running in the black.
Hubert was 53 when Paul was born. He
decided to lease the ranch and move the
family to Boise in the mid 1950’s so that
Paul could attend Catholic schools at the
behest of his mother. Paul later graduated
from Bishop Kelly High School.
But living in the city didn’t stick for the
Nettleton’s. Hubert said the ranch went to
hell in those years it was leased. Hubert
6
suffered a stroke and at 71 years old wasn’t
able to boss a crew and work all day. So
Paul took over managing the ranch in his
late teens. “Being a cowboy was all I was
really ever interested in,” Paul said.
Early on Paul wasn’t interested in the ranch
paperwork and politics. His mother Margaret ran that end of the ranch. Paul said his
son Chad is much the same today, making
the transition into managing the ranch, the
herd and the crew, but shows little interest
in the books and politics.
“He’s doing an excellent job keeping the
crew lined out, he’s just not interested in
paperwork and politics yet,” said Paul.
There’s also a handful of grandsons that
may move up and manage the Joyce Ranch
one day.
“A friend told me once that I could sell this
place and live like a king for the rest of my
life,” said Paul. “But it’s not really mine to
sell, I’m just a caretaker here.”
When asked about his future Paul said old
ranchers never die, they just slow down a
little. “I don’t think I’ll ever leave the ranch
unless I’m not able to care for myself anymore,” he said.
The Joyce / Nettleton family will celebrate
150 years of ranching in Owyhee County
on June 10-14. They will welcome family,
friends, neighbors and guests for tours of
the ranch and a banquet. For more information http://www.joyceranchreunion.
blogspot.com or check the ranch Facebook page at Joyce Ranch Reunion: Murphy, Idaho.
Stock Water Rights Legacy Lives On
By Jake Putnam
Ranchers Paul Nettleton and Tim Lowry
won arguably the greatest private water
right victory in the United States back in
2007. Their landmark court victory preserved
the ranching legacy on public land in the
West, yet the two modest ranchers continue to face a massive legal bill alone and in
relative obscurity.
“The thing about it that always surprises
me is that it wasn’t more embraced by other
Idaho water users in this state,” said Nettleton. “It’s as if it wasn’t that big of a deal,
and I wonder why? We were the first ones
to prove private property rights on public
land. We proved that rights belonged to us
because we made the beneficial use of water on the land and that’s important to every rancher in Idaho and across the West.”
In their case, the Idaho Supreme Court
ruled in 2007 that the federal government
does not hold federal rangeland water
rights. But sadly the court also ruled the
ranchers were not entitled to recover attorney fees, a decision the families unsuccessfully appealed.
Nettleton and Lowry stood on principle
and challenged the government in state
court starting back in the late 90’s refusing to back down in a case they determined
was a clearly a case of right vs. wrong. Seven years later the financial future of both
operations remains threatened because of
mounting legal fees.
That’s because Supreme Court denied legal fees for ranchers and landowners and
many are reluctant to fight the Federal
Government and environmental groups in
court. Meanwhile, Nettleton and Lowry’s
bill could soon top the $3 million mark.
“It’s building up at a rate of $3,000 to
$4,000 a month in unpaid interest on the
debt and penalty fees,” said Nettleton. “I
think we could probably pay the original
bill, it would have ended up half what the
bill is now. But I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen.”
In the 150 year history of the Joyce Ranch,
this water right battle remains the biggest
threat to its survival.
“I looked up a water right the other day at
the Department of Water Resources and it
was still listed under BLM! I said wait a
minute you guys, I called Water Resources
and said what’s going on here? They said
they have never had a directive to change
the name and titles on public land water
rights. I think someone needs to rattle the
Supreme Court and tell the BLM that this
case is over,” said Nettleton. It all started when the two ranchers ended
up fighting the government in state court
after the BLM challenged their stock watering rights during the Snake River Basin
Adjudication. During the SRBA, the U.S.
filed overlapping claims to Idaho ranchers’
stock water rights. The SRBA court ordered the ranchers to try to reach a settlement. Most ranchers accepted a settlement
because they feared the financial risk of
fighting the deep pockets of the government. Virtually every rancher in Idaho was
forced to compromise their water rights to
avoid a protracted fight with the government. While others gave in because of the
risk, Lowry and Nettleton decided to defend their rights against the odds.
At the time Nettleton knew the BLM’s
claims were baseless because they were
blatantly going against Western water law.
“The Bureau of Land Management never
owned a cow,” he said at the time. “How
could they claim beneficial use and win?”
The ranchers say the BLM’s sizable legal
team tried to intimidate them. The BLM
told the ranchers that they’d be broke by the
end of the battle, but they fought on.
have water rights but issued priority dates
later than 1934. That made the ranchers’ stock water rights junior to the BLM.
Lowry and Nettleton appealed, and the
case was appealed to the Idaho Supreme
Court. Affirming a district court ruling,
the Idaho Supreme Court ruled the operations’ staked their water claims by grazing
livestock back to 1898, decades before the
1934 Taylor Grazing Act.
“Joyce Livestock’s ancestors obtained water rights on federal land for stock watering
by simply applying the water to a beneficial use by watering cattle in the springs,
creeks and rivers on the range they used for
forage,” the Supreme Court ruled.
The court added that the BLM couldn’t
put the water to ‘beneficial use’ because it
didn’t own cattle. Therefore, it can’t hold
a stock water right. The court rejected the
United States’ position and ruled in favor
of the two ranchers on all of their substantive water rights claims. One of the best
parts of the ruling in Nettleton’s mind is
what the court said about the BLM at the
time; that the government’s argument “reflects a misunderstanding of water law.” The Nettleton and Lowry legacy will live
on in water right cases for generations to
come and ‘beneficial use’ is now a standard
of proof in determining public and private
water rights, thanks to the ranchers who
chose to fight.
“Through it all,” Nettleton sighs, “I’m glad
I put up the fight and I’m happy we did it. It
was something that needed doing and I’m
not through with it. The BLM has already
rattled my cage with some right-of-way issues. I told them you can take me court,
they know my history. We’ll fight you, and
the 2477 issue is going to come to a head
next. But I might have trouble finding a pro
bono attorney on that one.”
A Snake River Basin Adjudication judge
ruled back in 2005 that the ranchers did
7
Owner/partner in Daloris Dairy, Dale Mortimer, doesn’t use a pasture-based system for his registered-Jersey cattle. He explains by keeping his cattle
on a consistent feed ration, he reduces variability in raw milk flavor.
Dairy Owners Offer Raw Milk and
Differing Views on Technology
Two eastern Idaho dairy farms are offering raw milk products but go about producing them differently.
Article and photos by Paige Nelson
Two eastern Idaho dairy farms directly compete with each other in raw milk sales, and
both believe the health benefits of consuming raw product far outweigh the risks. However, the similarities between the two operations end there.
Deep Roots Farm and Livestock LLC. in
Rexburg offers a variety of products to their
customers. Everything from raw milk to raw
yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese to
farm fresh eggs and all-natural beef, pork,
chicken and rabbit is for sale at Deep Roots.
Daloris Dairy, a registered-Jersey dairy in
LaBelle, Idaho, about 15 minutes south of
Deep Roots, also sells raw milk. The 60head dairy provides milk for Manwaring
8
Cheese but sends the majority of their milk
to the Snake River Dairymen’s Association.
and on pasture during their dry period, and
the flavor of the milk doesn’t change.”
Although both dairies’ finished product is
basically the same — raw milk topped with
a thick layer of cream straight from a Jersey
cow — the “how it happens” process is dramatically different.
A critical part of the dairy’s ration is genetically-modified corn.
Daloris Dairy cows are housed in paddocks
and fed through a manger.
“We’re not pasture-based,” says Dale Mortimer, partner/owner of Daloris Dairy.
“When cows are on pasture the flavor of the
milk changes because it changes according
to what the cows eat. We have a nutritionist who comes in and balances the ration according to the cows’ needs, so we keep them
on that ration during their entire lactation
Tyler Mortimer also a partner/owner in Daloris Dairy says, “I think what we’re doing is
right. I have no problem with GMO corn.”
He says he received a phone call one day.
The caller asked about what ingredients
made up the milk cows’ feed:
He replied that the ration is mostly alfalfa,
silage and some dry corn from Intermountain Farmers Association (IFA).
“So, the silage corn, is that genetically-modified?” the caller asked.
“Absolutely,” he responded.
“Oh, you say that like it’s a good
thing?”
“It is” he answered.
“They showed up, bought milk
and didn’t have a problem,” Tyler explained.
Tyler’s father Dale, now a retired high school teacher, sees
genetic modification from a
cattle breeder’s perspective.
“If people went in and looked
at GMO corn and the old corn,
they would see no difference.
It’s just like breeding a cow for
better traits and better qualities.
All they’ve done is speed up the
process,” he said.
On another note, even though
Mortimers don’t use the hormone, rBST, they don’t believe
it’s bad, either. It just helps the
cow produce more milk, said
Dale.
Up the road at Deep Roots Farm
and Livestock, Owner Marc
Stott takes a different approach
to feeding his animals.
“We are not a certified organic
program, but we are a program
using all-natural feeds,” he said.
Stott could become certified,
but he doesn’t want to add more
licensing and regulation to his
life. Instead, he sells products
raised in what he calls “a natural
environment.”
“We don’t use any GMO products. We try not to use any synthetic fertilizers. None of our
animals have growth hormones
added to their diet, and we try
and use an all-natural environment for them. All of our beef is
grass-fed,” he said.
Because Deep Roots is a much
smaller operation, only producing milk for the raw market,
the state limits how many cows
Stott may milk at one time to
three. Stott’s two Jersey cows
and few head of beef cattle share
the same large pen with a round
feeder in the middle. At milking
time, one cow at a time walks
through the back door of a one
story white barn, which serves
as retail store, milking station
and dairy processing facility.
While she is milked, she
munches her daily ration of
non-GMO grain. The milk is
pumped into a small tank. From
there, it’s poured into sterile
plastic milk jugs with red caps.
Stott has a good relationship
with another large dairyman in
the area, Alan Reed, owner of
Reed’s Dairy. Thanks to their
relationship, Stott is able to acquire these disposable plastic
jugs at a low price.
Stott says sanitation is the most
critical step in ensuring a safe,
raw product. He said cooling the
milk quickly adds significantly
to the quality.
“The faster you can get the milk
cold, the longer shelf life it has,”
he said. “Regulation says we
have to have it cooled to below
40 degrees within two hours.
But we’ve found our best product is made when we can get
the milk to about 38-39 degrees
within 45 minutes. For a raw operation like ours, that’s as fast as
we can get it cooled down.”
Deep Roots has an open door
and running tab policy. Customer’s enter the retail room of the
barn and select their products
from the fridge or freezer in the
corner. Regular customers are
billed on a monthly basis.
Unlike Deep Roots, milking
the cows and raw milk sales at
Mortimer’s Daloris Dairy takes
place on an expanded scale.
Mortimers milk in a Grade A
milking parlor. Six cows are
Because Daloris Dairy’s retail store is open during evening chore hours,
customers often see the cows being milked or witness the Mortimer’s
performing other duties around the farm.
milked at a time, while they
munch their daily ration of
grain. The milk flows through
a stainless steel pipeline into a
large milk tank in another room
and is cooled within minutes to
38 degrees. The cooled milk is
then divvied out between raw
milk purposes, what the cheese
maker needs and the rest goes
with the milk truck to the commercial creamery.
The milk allotted to the raw
market is bottled in glass bottles
through a system with little, if
any, exposure to open air. Tyler
says glass preserves the taste of
the milk better than plastic.
Mortimer’s customers come
right to the dairy farm where
the small retail store resides.
The store is primarily open
during the evening chore time;
all visitors have the opportunity to watch the cows being
milked. To be able to have reus-
able bottles, the customers pay
a one-time deposit per bottle of
milk they buy. When it’s time
for more milk, they bring the
empty bottles back and pick up
filled bottles, this time only paying for the milk.
But, Tyler says, not all of those
bottles make it back to the dairy.
The glass has an old school feel
and presentation and Mortimers suspect the bottles are making great home décor pieces
throughout the area.
The Mortimer family manually
washes empty bottles — more
than 750 per week. Dale says a
bottle washer will be the next
big purchase.
Both dairies are subject to the
same monthly state department
of agriculture tests: a bacteria
test, a coliform test and a somatic cell test. When dealing
See RAW MILK page 39
9
A mixed flock of laying hens on a farm near Emmett. Photo by Steve Ritter
Backyard Poultry Gaining Popularity in Idaho
By Jake Putnam
Emmett—Urban poultry sales
are increasing in many parts of
the Gem State.
At High Desert Feed and Supply
in Emmett the chicks are in—
and should be gone by the end
of spring, according to salesman
Debra Cox.
More and more people are raising small flocks. Cox says folks
have a growing interest in where
their food comes from, how it’s
raised and how it’s handled before it reaches their tables.
“We’re bringing in anywhere
from 4,000 to 5,000 chicks per
week. Right now we have the
White Plymouth Rock and Cuckoo Maran which lay a chocolate
brown egg,” said Cox. “And we
have the more exotic breeds and
can get just about anything.”
Cox said raising chickens is easy
10
and people can experience raising their own food and can start
a flock without a major investment. An average flock runs
about a dozen birds, but that varies depending on where people
are raising the birds, how much
space they have and what they
want in return for their time.
A chicken lays an egg approximately every 26 hours, which is
helpful to know in deciding the
size of your flock.
Cox will pen up as many as 300
chicks a day to meet demand of
customers. Chickens have found
a niche market with hobby farmers that pay up to $2.50-$3.30 per
bird.
“These chickens won’t run you
over and stomp you into the
ground like livestock. But they’re
a lot more fragile. You have to
keep them warm and baby them
until their legs get strong,” said
Cox, “and that takes time.”
“Most chickens will start laying
eggs at 18 weeks old,” she said.
However, some hybrid varieties
will start earlier. When buying
chicks, consumers should explore their options. Many hatcheries will ship chicks directly to
your local Post Office and there
are hybrid chickens available
that have a genetic sex marker
at birth. This means you can
buy hens - only - if that’s what
you want. If you buy traditional
breeds, expect a few roosters
in the mix that you will have to
butcher at some point. Roosters
can be aggressive and sometimes
dangerous to small children.
They will also fight each other
if more than one is kept with
the flock. However, some people
like them around their flocks because a rooster will watch over
the flock and be the first to confront a loose dog, skunk or other
predator.
Cox says getting the right food
for young chicks is critical.
Chick starter medicated with
amprollium helps chicks grow
and remain healthy until they
develop an immunity to coccidiosis. In simple terms, a chicken’s gut always contains some
chicken manure because they
regularly eat off the ground and
drink water that is contaminated
with manure. The medicated
feed keeps them healthy until
they can fight off coccidiosis on
their own. Amprollium is not an
antibiotic, but some people may
want to forego using medicated
feed for various reasons. However, without amprollium some
chicks will die before they reach
maturity.
Cox said a 40-pound bag of feed
costs about $14. After four to
six months, when they start laying eggs, she says switch them
to egg-laying pellets, grain or
Glass says exact feeding and watering is critical for chicks when
making the transition to the
chicken coop, the more weight,
the better chance for survival.
Raising chickens is a fun project for kids and fresh eggs are hard to beat.
mash.
“The first 17 weeks of age you
might want to keep them on a
medicated feed, and once they
reach 17 weeks of age you can
switch them over to a layer feed,”
Cox said.
A bag of electrolytes also is recommended to help the chicks
with digestion. That costs about
$2. A feeder and waterer cost
about $5, depending on the size.
Then there’s bedding to consider,
“A bag of straw or pine shavings
costs about $6. You want to clean
it out a couple times a week,”
Cox said.
Cox says it’s important to look
into the legality of keeping chickens especially within city limits.
Many homeowner associations
also have stringent rules banning
chickens, coops and roosters
(because of the noise they make).
Other cities allow chickens but
limit the number of hens for each
household. Count on chicken
coops in an upscale subdivision
to also be upscale.
Heather Glass lives in the Boise
foothills. She built a chicken
coop, did her research and
brought home 24 chicks.
“I needed fertilizer for the garden this year and wanted to have
fresh eggs, so I got the chicks,”
she said.
Glass says she’ll feed garden
waste to the flock and it’s a winwin situation for her because she
gets the eggs while chickens get
the scraps.
Chickens are omnivorous and
a free ranging flock will eat all
sorts of insects and grasses, but
make certain your garden is protected. Chickens love greens and
they also like to scratch and dig
and cover themselves with loose
dirt. A small flock can destroy a
garden in a short time, so a fence
is mandatory.
Chicken feed is made from finely
crushed grains, and provides 100
percent of a chicken’s daily nutrient requirements or is fed along
with other grains. Whole grains
cause chickens to gain added fat
which can slow egg production,
so it’s important not to give them
too much.
While Glass is raising white
Plymouth Rock chickens for laying, Tina Woodward of Emmett
prefers the popular Buff Orpington chicken. “They are plump,
fat and great egg-layers and the
meat is good on them too,” she
said.
Farmer Alisha Rohrbacher of
Emmett has advice for novices:
“Try everything you can and if
that doesn’t work, don’t do that
again. You’ll learn to find what
works over time. That’s what
I’ve found, you just have to dive
in and get it done.”
Another thing to consider is
there is a distinct difference in
chickens bred for laying versus
broilers, or birds destined for a
frying pan. Broilers grow much
faster and are much less gregarious. Laying breeds are slow to
mature and consume less feed
and water, while broilers don’t
do much besides eat. Broilers
can reach maturity in as little as
eight weeks. Many small farms
raise them in pens that are built
from wire mesh and without
floors. The pens are dragged a
short distance across a pasture
each day to keep the chickens on
fresh grass which makes up 20 to
30 percent of their diet.
Glass brought the chickens home
when they were just five days old
and put them under a light in the
bath tub. “They did real well, I
fed and watered them throughout the day and made sure they
hadn’t spilled their food. After
2 weeks I put them out in the
chicken coop. It’s been cold in
the morning so they still have the
light on them to keep them warm
and I’m making sure they get a
bit more feed,” she said.
A plastic swimming pool with
a cardboard or plywood cover
makes a good brooder for chicks.
Use wood shavings on the bottom and rig a light bulb for heat
but make sure it stays clear of the
shavings so that it won’t create a
fire hazard. The chicks need to
be kept warm until their feathers
grow out.
11
STALLMAN
ers and ranchers won’t need special permits “to go about their business.” But what
she’s saying just doesn’t match up with the
language of the rule. Anyone who’s been
out on farmland knows that water collects
in spots that aren’t regular water sources
for anything else, let alone major streams
and rivers.
Prairie potholes are a good example of
the “waters” the EPA is targeting. These
isolated wetlands are sprinkled across the
Upper Midwest and Northern Plains. By
pooling these isolated features together,
the Waters of the U.S. rule would let the
agencies treat them as a “significant nexus” to streams and rivers – an idea that’s
simply not supported by law or common
sense. Together, the prairie potholes in
a region could be treated just like a large
body of water, even though the end result
would be more control over land, not water
– something that Congress never intended.
Rather than recognizing the careful stewardship that farmers and ranchers practice,
EPA keeps forcing farmers and ranchers back on the defensive. McCarthy said
farmers shouldn’t worry about the rule at
all “unless you want to pollute or destroy
jurisdictional water.” Statements like this
hint that the agency is looking to broaden
the rule by making it more ambiguous, not
less.
Farmers and ranchers can’t afford the steep
fines that regulators could impose for normal farming practices. And farmers aren’t
looking to sidestep regulations: We have
the most to lose if one of our most valuable
resources is compromised.
EPA claims that it’s simplifying regulations and making them easier to follow, but
the fine print tells another story. No matter what name the agency gives its rule,
it can only lead to needless pain for agriculture and businesses across the country.
If EPA won’t listen, perhaps Congress will.
Please let your senators and representative
know that farmers, small business owners
and state and local governments are looking to them to stop the Waters of the U.S.
rule.
PRIEstley
Discussion circulating through the Idaho
Statehouse was the proposed change was
not more than changing the name on the
sign. The Idaho Statesman editorial page
says it’s a great idea because Idaho doesn’t
have a national park and it will only cost
about $10,000 to change the signs.
We are curious whether swapping the word
“Monument” for the word “Park” on a sign
really changes anything. According to
National Park Service data, Craters of the
Moon is a “lava flow with scattered islands
of cinder cones and sage brush,” that is visited by about 200,000 people per year. But
Craters of the Moon is not unlike the thousands of acres that surround it. The entire
Great Rift region from Blackfoot to Arco
to Shoshone to Acequia and back along the
west side of American Falls Reservoir is
as fabulous of a desert as exists anywhere
in the world. It’s got back roads and caves
and old homesteads and wildlife and tons
of outdoor recreation opportunities. It’s
“all that,” to anyone who finds solitude in a
12
desert environment.
In all honesty, Craters of the Moon is just
a lava flow near the north end of this fabulous desert. Some people would even call
it a rock pile, but that doesn’t sound “touristy.”
The point we are trying to get at here is
does Craters rise to the level of National
Park? If you’ve just traveled through Yosemite, Glacier or Yellowstone and you
arrived at Craters would it be a letdown?
Should we care? Is it enough to just change
the name on the sign?
Would this change stimulate the local
economy? Liberal think tank organizations are fond of publishing studies that
allege the economic benefits of national
monuments, parks and wilderness areas.
One that was released to support a monument in the Boulder White Clouds region
last year claimed more middle-class telecommuters – people who work from home
online - would move to central Idaho if a
monument was created, or that tourism
dollars would shore up the economy. Yet,
the facts don’t support those claims. We’ve
had a monument in central Idaho since
1924 when President Calvin Coolidge established Craters of the Moon. There is
also very little to indicate that Craters is
supporting tourism in the region.
In addition, inviting the federal government to make management changes at
Craters also raises red flags. One thing
we know for certain is that federal agencies and regulations go together like watermelon and sticky fingers. If we invite a
name change who’s to say the Park Service
won’t increase the size of the monument or
reduce the area available for off-road vehicles, grazing, hunting or other uses that
are currently allowed?
We don’t want to throw cold water on this
proposal. It would be great if Craters could
become an important tourist destination,
there’s just not much evidence that it will –
no matter what it says on the sign.
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Idaho Farm Bureau Quarterly / SPRING
20154:52 13
Shearing
of the
Sheep
A shearing company out of Wyoming with crew members
from several countries was working in southwest Idaho in
March. The fastest shearers will finish 200 sheep per day.
Photos by Steve Ritter
Sheep owned by Soulen Livestock await their turns in the shearing trailer. Shortly after shearing the ewes will begin lambing, followed by summer in high
elevation pastures.
14
After the wool is sheared and graded, it’s loaded into a machine that compresses it into bales that can be loaded on trucks for shipping.
The large purple building with green stripes is a semi-trailer where the
shearing crew works. After the wool is shorn it is pushed out of the
doors so it can be graded and baled.
After the wool is removed from the sheep, it’s graded based on how
clean it is and the length of the fibers.
15
16
17
Idaho’s new BMP forestry publication helps landowners protect water quality.
Keeping Idaho Forest Streams Healthy
By Chris Schnepf
Water has always been important in the
western United States, but California’s
drought is making us all more aware
how critical water can be. According to
the U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho uses
over 17 billion gallons of water per day.
Water is important for agriculture and
domestic consumption, but it is also vital
for maintaining Idaho’s high value fisheries and outdoor recreation.
Forests are perhaps the most important
landscapes in Idaho for maintaining
our water quality and quantity. Forests
cover more than forty percent of Idaho,
and receive more rain and snow than
non-forested areas – that is part of the
reason trees grow there. Water from forests is particularly valuable because it is
so clean.
Our forest activities, as well as development, agriculture, and other land uses
often affect water quality and quantity,
particularly when we work close to
streams and other water bodies. State
18
forest practice laws help protect Idaho
forest water quality and quantity, but
forest owners and logging operators will
better implement or even exceed them
if they understand the spirit of these
laws. University of Idaho Extension has
always provided a variety of programs
related to water quality, but this year we
have produced some exceptional new
educational tools to help Idaho citizens
protect and enhance water quality.
In partnership with the Idaho Department of Lands, the U.S. Forest Service,
the Renewable Resource Extension Act,
and many other partners, University of
Idaho Extension has just completed a
new 3-part curriculum on forest water
quality. The first part of the curriculum
is a field guide titled “Idaho Forestry
Best Management Practices Field Guide
– Using BMPs to Protect Water Quality”
(UI Extension Bulletin 891). The publication is 149 pages, has over 130 color
illustrations and photos, and is glove box
sized with a wire binding to maximize
field use. Hard copies of this booklet
are available through both University of
Idaho Extension and Idaho Department
of Lands offices.
We also just completed a two-part video
on forest water quality. The first segment of the video describes how water
moves through the forest, how our forest activities can affect that water, and
what landowners and operators can do
to enhance forest water quality. The second part of the video outlines the Idaho
Forest Practices Act (FPA), a state law
that sets minimum “Best Management
Practices (BMPS)” to guide forest management activities that can affect water
quality.
The third leg of the curriculum is a website that largely mirrors the content of
the publication and video. The website
(www.idahoforestrybmps.org) also includes links to downloadable versions of
the video and the publication.
We are also offering field extension programs this summer to help landowners,
loggers, and foresters who want to learn
Forest streams are essential to Idaho water.
more about enhancing forest water quality and related resources such as fisheries. In late June and early July we will be
holding at least three “Idaho FPA Stream
Protection Twilight Tours”, designed to
help landowners and loggers correctly
implement FPA stream protection regulations, particularly as related to the new
stream shade requirements. The tours
are being held in late afternoon/early
evening to make them more feasible for
loggers, many of whom complete their
work day by mid-afternoon.
tion fundamentals as well as simple and
more elaborate techniques to improve
stream health, function, and stability.
A short indoor session in the morning
on restoration techniques and funding
sources will be followed by a field trip
to sites where stream restoration efforts
have been practiced. Flyers with registration details about the twilight tours
and stream restoration program will be
available on the Extension forestry web
site (www.uidaho.edu/extension/forestry) at least 6 weeks prior to the events.
Landowners who are lucky enough to
have a perennial stream flowing through
their property often want to improve that
stream’s health for fisheries and other
values. On Friday, August 14, we are offering a program titled “Restoring Idaho
Streams” in Sandpoint, Idaho. Participants will learn about stream restora-
Finally, University of Idaho Extension
has a volunteer program titled “Master
Water Stewards.” This program is condensed compared to other UI master
volunteer programs such as Master Gardeners and Master Forest Stewards. The
training is only 8 hours and is designed
to help participants measure some spe-
cific water quality parameters. It is a
great option for landowners who are curious about water quality on their own
properties, and want to provide baseline
data to see what effects different management practices or other factors have,
if any, on water quality. For more information, go to www.uidaho.edu/cda/
idah2o.
Idaho is blessed with some of the most
spectacular water resources in the United States. If you would like to learn more
about protecting or enhancing those resources, these extension programs can
be very helpful to you!
Chris Schnepf is an area extension educator – forestry – for the University of
Idaho in Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Benewah counties. He can be
reached at [email protected].
19
Focus on Agriculture
Answering Tough Questions About Agriculture
By Cyndie Sirekis
Through social media, America’s farmers
and ranchers explain why they do certain
things when raising animals for food. This
communication is not just one way. Facebook posts from the farm, tweets from the
tractor seat and blogs from the “back 40”
allow members of the non-farming public
to ask questions on everything from how
today’s food is grown to how it is processed and eventually brought to market.
Although a growing number of farmers
use social media to interact with consumers, trepidation about answering tough
20
ag-related questions causes some to shy
away from using this valuable communications tool. But it doesn’t have to be that
way, according to a couple of social media
experts who teamed up recently to share
time-tested tips with Farm Bureau members.
“Be authentic in telling your story,” says
Lyndsey Murphy, digital media specialist
at the American Farm Bureau. “Speak for
you and your farm, not the whole of agriculture,” she advises. If you’re not sure
how to answer a question, it’s perfectly
OK to say you don’t know but will find
the answer.
Murphy finds that using social media to
build relationships yields great rewards
because everyone is on the same playing
field with similar opportunities for interaction. But it does take time. “People’s
viewpoints are unlikely to be changed
after interacting with you just once,” she
cautions.
“Using beautiful visuals and an authentic
voice to share what we as agriculturalists
know and love” is the sweet spot for many
See FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE p. 26
Bill Furthers Conversation on GMO Labeling
Farmers and ranchers welcomed the introduction today
of the bipartisan Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act,
which will clarify the FDA as
the nation’s foremost authority on food safety and create
a voluntary labeling program
run by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, the
same agency that administers
the USDA Organic Program.
The legislation will provide
a federal solution to protect
consumers from a confusing
patchwork of 50-state GMO labeling policies, and the misinformation and high food costs
that would come with them.
“State-led mandatory food
labeling initiatives mislead
consumers about the safety of
GM foods, even though there
is no credible evidence linking a food-safety or health
risk to the consumption of GM
foods,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob
Stallman said in a statement.
“These state labeling initiatives
mask the benefits of biotechnology in food production and
can lead to decreased food supplies. Creating a national labeling standard will give consumers the information they need
while avoiding the unnecessary confusion and added cost
of a patchwork of state laws.”
The GMO labeling ballot initiatives and legislative efforts that
many state lawmakers and voters are facing are geared toward
making people wrongly fear
what they’re eating and feeding
their children, despite the fact
that every credible U.S. and international food safety author-
Nationwide legislation on GMO labeling is being considered in Congress to prevent a mish-mash of state laws
that could make it difficult to market food to consumers.
ity that has studied GMO crops
has found that they are safe
and that there are no health effects associated with their use.
In addition, much of the activity at the state level undermines
the public’s understanding of
the many benefits of biotechnology. GMO crops use less water and pesticides, boost farm
yields by reducing damage and
damage-control costs and are
key to feeding a growing world
population of 7 billion people.
The Safe and Accurate Food
Labeling Act protects consumers on two fronts. First,
it requires FDA to conduct a
safety review of all new GMO
traits well before they’re available on supermarket shelves
and empowers the agency to
mandate the labeling of GMO
food ingredients if the agency
determines there is a health,
safety or nutrition issue with
a new GMO technology.
Second, it will ensure farmers and ranchers have access
to the technology they need to
provide consumers with the variety of food options and price
points they expect, and need.
This legislation will ensure
food safety is the leading driver
of a national labeling policy,
while maintaining the affordability of the U.S. food supply.
The bill will not prevent companies from voluntarily labeling their products for the
absence or presence of GMO
ingredients, but would instead
direct USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service to create a
voluntary labeling program.
In his statement, Stallman
noted farmers’ and ranchers’
appreciation for the bipartisan
leadership of the bills’ sponsors,
Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.)
and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.).
“Consumers have a right to
know what’s in their food, but
they shouldn’t be misinformed
about what’s safe, or forced
to pay higher prices unnecessarily. Thanks to innovation,
farmers and ranchers have new
and improved methods to increase their efficiency while
preserving farm land for generations to come. Farmers benefit from choice and so should
consumers,” Stallman said.
For more information about
the importance of biotechnology in agriculture, please see
AFBF’s Biotech Grassroots
Toolkit at http://www.fb.org/
index.php?action=issues.biotech. - See more at: http://
f bnews.f b.org / Templates/
Article.aspx?id=39506&utm_
21
Your Home’s Ability To Withsta
ZONE 1: The area nearest your house, plant
only low growing plants with low fuel content…
there should be no tall plants, but since we all like
shade trees pick your species wisely.
ZONE 2: Low growing fireresistant ground cover is
recommended from 30 to 100 feet
from your home. Properly
maintained low fuel plants will slow a
fire before it gets to your house.
ZONE 3: Zone three is the area 100 feet
beyond your home and can contain healthy
naturally growing vegetation.
If you live in a wild land-urban interface, like so many of us in Idaho
do, then consider yourself a critical first responder when it comes to
defending your home from fire. But unlike those trained to actually
fight a blaze, your first response should take place long before the
smell of smoke is in the air.
items like landscaping, woodpiles, decks, etc.
With a little planning and understanding of what is important you
can take key protective measures in the defense of your home.
While there are no guarantees that a home will be fireproof, creating
a survivable space and taking the other steps listed can increase the
chances that your home will withstand a wildfire.
P.O. Box 4848
Pocatello, ID 83205
(208) 232-7914
www.IdahoFarmBureauInsurance.com
2. Plant more native vegetation.
3. Space trees at least 10 feet apart.
4. Keep trees and shrubs pruned. Branches shou
a minimum of six feet from the ground and
under trees should be no more than 18 inche
275 Tierra Vista Drive
22
1. Remove the fuel fire needs to reach your hom
5. Mow your lawn regularly and dispose promp
cuttings and debris.
6. Maintain your irrigation system.
7. Clear your roof, gutters and eaves of debris.
and Wildfire Depends On You.
CREATE SURVIVABLE SPACE:
me,
.
8. Trim branches so they do not extend over your roof
or grow near your chimney
9. Move firewood and storage tanks 50 feet away
from your home and clear areas at least 10 feet
uld be
shrubs
es high.
ptly of
around them.
10. Use only noncombustible roofing materials.
11. Box in eaves, fascias, soffits and subfloors with
fire-resistant materials like treated wood, reducing
the vent sizes.
12. Apply ¼” noncombustible screening to all vent or
eave openings.
13. Install spark arresters in chimneys.
14. Enclose the underside of decks with fire-resistant
materials.
15. Cover exterior walls with fire-resistant materials
like stucco, stone, or brick. (Vinyl siding can melt
and is not recommended.)
16. Use double-paned or tempered glass for all exterior
windows.
17. Install noncombustible street signs.
18. Make sure your street address is visible from the
street.
23
Word Search Puzzle: Chicken Breeds WORD
SEARCH PUZZLE: CHICKEN BREEDS
B U F F O P I N G T O N M F J S I A P J L M A M E R I C A N G A M E N R S A C R O Y T U R K E N V Y P T K T M W A C E K J S P R D A A L A C N B D U T K A S P G E E F R E M O R E O C B C M B C R S L N G G S R W R M A L U E J D P L A D A H A H I W I N A B R N W Y M W E I O G T N H N A C R A C N N W A D N R I U N I I H K L U R B C Y R M R N T O E T Q W S A C M R H A E C O G T M B E U I T M A S H E N P T F H A Y A R E B A O N J R O D C L I F N L G D F S R N A F L N O R W L Y W P O J V K S A R S P M T P O A N T H O L L A N D I N F K T N G C J R E D R A N G E R D T S E F L R K 24
Ameraucana
Amber White
Ameraucana
Araucana
Amber White
American Game
Araucana
Bantams
American Game
Barred Rock
Bantams
Black Stars
Barred Rock
Buckeye
Black Stars
Buff Opington
California Gray
Delaware
Delaware
Dominique
Dominique
Holland
Holland
Java
Java
Lamona
Lamona
Leghorn
Leghorn
Plymouth Rock Buckeye
Pyncheon
Buff Opington
Red Ranger
California Gray
Rhode Island Red
Plymouth Rock
Pyncheon
Sagitta
Red Ranger
Turken
Rhode Island Red
Winnebago
Sagitta
Wyandotte
Turken
Winnebago
Wyandotte
ANSWERS ON PAGE 29
Use of Eminent Domain restricted by Lawmakers
By Jake Putnam
On March 16th the Idaho House
of Representatives approved a
bill banning the use of eminent
domain by municipalities in
building recreational paths.
The Senate voted 20-13 to pass
S1044 back in February while
the House approved it overwhelmingly 54-15-1. Senator
Jim Guthrie, of McCammon
carried the bill and worked
over the last three years to finally gain approval. However,
it’s uncertain whether Idaho
Gov. Butch Otter will sign the
bill.
“We’re thrilled and ecstatic,”
said Russ Hendricks, Idaho
Farm Bureau’s director of
governmental affairs. “The
Farm Bureau supports private
property rights and this bill.
This is a gigantic victory for
private property rights here in
the state for private property
owners who have this hammer
over their head. Now it has to
be willing buyer, willing seller
proposition with amicable negotiations.”
Back in 2011 while serving in
the State House of Representatives, Guthrie introduced the
first bill. It passed the House
but died without a hearing in
a Senate committee. After his
election to the Idaho Senate in
2012, he reintroduced the bill in
2013, but it didn’t make it out of
committee. He then vowed to
give the bill one last shot.
“Senator Guthrie replaced one
of the no-votes on the committee and that changed the balance of power in that committee,” said Hendricks. “We’re
grateful that he stuck with it.
He did a masterful job shep-
Land along the Portneuf River was under threat of condemnation for construction of a recreational path.
However, that power was recently taken from Idaho municipalities by legislation sponsored by Sen. Jim Guthrie
R-McCammon. Farm Bureau file photo
herding it through the process.”
Guthrie served as a Bannock
County Commissioner before
entering the State Legislature.
At that time supporters of the
Portneuf Greenway project attempted to condemn private
land in the County that would
extend the Portneuf River
greenbelt. The Greenway group
wanted to take land not only in
Pocatello but it was feared that
large sections along the river
in south Bannock County may
have been at risk.
Sen. Guthrie’s family farms
and ranches along the Portneuf
from Inkom to McCammon
southeast of Pocatello. He says
farmers and ranchers along
the Portneuf feared that they’d
eventually lose their private
land under eminent domain
takings.
Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise,
disagreed during a committee
hearing on the bill this year.
She says eminent domain is
rarely used and argued that
it’s difficult for cities to build
a strip of land long enough for
a path or greenway unless the
government threatens to use
eminent domain. “I’m not sure
the intent of this bill was to stop
the greenbelt development and
bike paths in Idaho but I think
that’ll be the effect,” she said.
Idaho Farm Bureau President
Frank Priestley supports private property rights.
“If the people who live along
the river want to sell their land
so that it can be turned into a
recreational path, so be it. No
one can object to that and there
is no argument that a greenbelt
wouldn’t be beneficial to Pocatello. But several landowners
along the Portneuf didn’t want
to sell. They don’t want a path
through their backyards that
could be occupied at any time
of the day or night. That’s their
right and it should be respected,” Priestley said.
Idaho Governor Butch Otter
has the bill on his desk. “I’ve
been through several eminent
domain actions, some in Ada
County, others with the Federal
Government some wilderness
issues and wild and scenic rivers, I’ve seen it all,” Otter said.
“I wanted to build a cabin in the
Frank Church Wilderness and
they said we couldn’t, that’s a
taking. I have great respect for
private property rights, but before I sign I’ve got to sit down
and talk to my lawyers about
consequences here.” Otter says it’s his understanding that this bill prohibits the
gift of property. “So I’m checking with my lawyers because
if someone wants to give a gift
and get a tax deduction for that
gift they should be able to do
that,” he said.
25
FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE
farmers active in social media, Murphy says. She’s found that
visuals are a tremendous help in telling one’s farm story because
“people might not always believe what they read but they always
believe what they can see with their own two eyes.”
Photos, videos and fun infographics are all proven effective at
helping tell a farm or ranch story. For many in agriculture, deep connections to the farm make it
hard to hear some comments without feeling judged or that the
other person is misinformed. This happens online and in person,
notes Janice Person, director of online outreach at Monsanto.
“Reacting the wrong way can shut down any opportunity for
dialogue but when we listen from a place of truly trying to understand others, we learn a lot and others notice that we are open
to their thoughts,” Person says. She tries to ask three broad questions to gain understanding before offering her experience or
perspective. Often, she finds someone that she may have written
off as a staunch critic may only have some criticism and talking through that and discussing experiences can result in a new
openness to other perspectives.
When you choose to use social media, understanding the public
nature of it and the possibilities for controversy can be useful
in shaping your presence, Person says. She’s found that being
proactive on a few key components can be helpful.
Having a comment policy on your blog or Facebook page can
help establish “rules” to be referred to if controversy surfaces.
Person advises social media newbies to always consider who
they want to share information with before posting. Utilizing
friends’ lists on Facebook rather than broadcasting across multiple social media social platforms is one option to consider.
If controversy surfaces in response to your posts, Person says
how you respond should depend on your goals, not your emotions. And keep in that mind that not everyone who lobs criticism your way is a troll. When criticism is honest, it is important
to step back and listen to different perspectives, she says.
You can also take time to respond rather than allowing the perceived need for immediacy drive you into an emotion-driven,
fast-paced back and forth. Taking time to think through how
to reply is acceptable. Talking through how to respond with a
trusted friend can help provide perspective and clarity.
“Although ‘haters’ sometimes surface on social media, using respect as a baseline for online interactions not only is the right
thing to do, it helps build a community that will reinforce the
guidelines that have been established,” Person says.
Cyndie Sirekis is director of internal communications at the
American Farm Bureau Federation.
26
2015 Essay Contest Winners
Results of the “How Agriculture Affects Me” essay contest are in. Winners receive cash prizes for their efforts. The contest began as
a way to reinforce agriculture in our daily lives for 5th grade students sixteen years ago.
HOW AGRICULTURE AFFECTS ME
Agriculture has affected my life in so many ways because I live on a farm, and when you live on a
farm every day you learn more about agriculture than you learn at school. I learned how to grow some of
my favorite plants, and how to raise some of my favorite animals.
Last year I decided to make a change and plant other things that my family has never grown before.
So to make that change, I found some Sun Flower, Marigold, and Zinnia seeds. I planted the seeds, watered
them, and cared for them until they turned into flowers. When they were ready, I went to the Farmers
Market to sell them. I met many people and learned how to do good customer service.
My parents run a corn maze that is special because there are questions about agriculture at every fork
in the maze. Some of my favorite facts are: white eggs and brown eggs are equally nutritious, an Acre is the
size of a football field, a cow can drink a bathtub of water every day, and a horse cannot vomit. Some people
that come to our farm think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows, but after reading our questions,
they know people make chocolate milk by taking white milk, sugar, and cocoa and mixing them together.
Yum!
There are approximately 25,700 farms in Idaho. Our farm is small, but important. People come out
to our farm buy vegetables and produce at our garage. We fill it with sweet corn, potatoes, onions, peppers
and everything else we can grow. I work a lot every day, especially in the summer and fall. (I like winter
because I get a break.)
My farm is not just an old house with animals and lots of land, it’s a home. When you live on a farm,
you have lots of chores like city kids do, except they are bigger chores … way bigger. You have your normal
house jobs like clean you room, plus a whole bunch more. You need to feed all the animals because it’s our
responsibility to take care of them. The animals would get sick and die if we didn’t take care of them. It’s
mean to ignore your animals, because they are like family and you can’t let them go hungry any more than
you would let your little brother or sister go hungry. I also help water all the plants, weed the fields so the
bad weed don’t choke out all the good plants, and many other important chores.
As I told you earlier I wanted to make a change and so I did. Now I am an even bigger part of the
family business. I am already planning out my flowers for this year and will plant them soon. I am only 10,
and I am a florist. Agriculture has taught me everything I need to know about my new business. Agriculture
rocks!!!
This 1st Place essay was written by Mary Swore of Bannock
County. Daughter of Mike and Wendy Swore, Mary is a student
at The Academy in Pocatello.
2nd Place goes to Tea Uranga of Owyhee County with a tie for
3rd Place of Kelli Ann Strand of Custer County & Halle Ramos
of Twin Falls County.
27
Farm Facts
28
Celebrating 75 Years Conserving the Idaho Way
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B U F F O P I N G T O N M F J S I A P J L M A M E R I C A N G A M E N R S A C R O Y T U R K E N V Y P T K T M W A C E K J S P R D A A L A C N B D U T K A S P G E E F R E M O R E O C B C M B C R S L N G G S R W R M A L U E J D P L A D A H A H I W I N A B R N W Y M W E I O G T N H N A C R A C N N W A D N R I U N I I H K L U R B C Y R M R N T O E T Q W S A C M R H A E C O G H T M B E U I T M A S H E N P T F A Y A R E B A O N J R O D C L I F N L G D F S R N A F L N O R W L Y W P O J V K S A R S P M T P O A N T H O L L A N D I N F K T N G C J R E D R A N G E R D T S E F L R K swc.idaho.gov | 208-332-1790
29
Art Winners 2015
The Art Design Contest began in 2000 in an effort to promote the arts and further the understanding of agriculture in our lives. Targeted at grades 6-8, only original designs are accepted. Those winning designs will be used in the 2016 calendar distributed at the
Women’s Business Meeting of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation.
Winning design in the 2015 “Idaho
Agriculture” art design contest is
Macey Fillmore, a 7th grade student
at Sugar Salem Jr. High.
Placing 2rd in the state and first in her district is Teri Worrell. She
is a 7th grade student at South Fremont Jr. High in St. Anthony.
30
Payge Sanderson, student at Alameda Middle School in Bannock
County, placed 3rd overall and first in her district.
What’s in a Word?
As a prominent radio commentator is
fond of saying, words mean things. For
instance, rights are actually rights, they
are not merely privileges dispensed by a
benevolent government, which might as
easily retract them at any time for any contrived purpose. Rights are God given, inherent in man, and are not dependent upon
any law for validity.
The Declaration of Independence proclaims it is self-evident that all men are
“endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
- that to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Adding “unalienable” to describe our
rights makes them even more solid and
secure, if that is possible. Unalienable
means these rights are incapable of being
given away or taken, by any individual or
entity, even government. Therefore, “unalienable rights” is a redundant phrase,
further impressing upon us the immorality of any action that restricts or diminishes
legitimate rights.
Consequently, the entire purpose of a
written constitution is to institute a government that protects the rights of citizens, while at the same time restrains the
government from violating the very rights
it was created to protect.
Unfortunately, over time we have become
accustomed to an erosion of our rights by
our own government. For example, we
routinely allow government to intrude into
our right to peacefully enter into mutually
agreeable contracts even when it comes to
such banal pursuits as getting a haircut.
What right is the State protecting when
it requires a barber to get a license before
they can legally cut hair? Are consumers incapable of determining for themselves if the barber meets their standards?
Wouldn’t we have less unemployment if
there were fewer barriers to entry into an
occupation?
Another prime example is the concept of
eminent domain. This is the legal fiction
that, contrary to morality and ethics, enables an individual, organization or government to take the property of another
person who has no intention to sell, so
long as he is “compensated.”
Proponents of eminent domain argue that
both the U.S. and Idaho constitutions permit it. This is true. The Idaho Constitution
however, begins by stating “All men are
by nature free and equal, and have certain
inalienable rights, among which are enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing and protecting property;
pursuing happiness and securing safety.”
Are these inalienable rights or not?
Logic tells us one section of the constitution cannot conflict with another, or there
is an irreconcilable contradiction. Rather
than the final word and supreme law of the
land, the document then becomes a catalyst for unending litigation. There must
be a way to reconcile the two seemingly
inconsistent declarations.
The simplest and most plausible explanation is that property is a right that cannot
be taken except under the most limited circumstances - when it is the only possible
option, and when it is clearly in the best
interest of all citizens. There are very few
instances when all of these requirements
would be met.
Over time, cities and counties have nevertheless used the power of eminent domain
to take property from unwilling landowners for such trivial projects as recreational
trails, bike paths and greenbelts. This
is an inappropriate use of this ominous
power.
Most citizens faced with this situation feel
helpless to fight “their” government. Attorney fees can add up quickly; so with no
guarantee of victory, most citizens grudg-
Russ Hendricks is Idaho Farm Bureau’s director
of governmental affairs. He can be reached at
[email protected].
ingly capitulate. Before you know it, the
very government that was supposed to
protect your rights has become the government that takes your rights. It all appears legitimate and has a thin veneer of
legality. However, it is nonetheless immoral and unethical.
During this past legislative session, the
Idaho Farm Bureau worked closely with
Senator Jim Guthrie to rectify this situation. He sponsored a bill to prohibit local
governments from using eminent domain
for recreational trails, unless they are adjacent to roads. Fortunately, that bill is now
law. Cities and counties can have all the
jogging paths they want, as long as there is
a willing buyer/willing seller negotiation.
If a landowner does not wish to sell, an
alternate route must be chosen.
We each should encourage government at
all levels to actively focus on protecting,
rather than destroying rights. A right is
not really a right if it can be violated or
taken away. Words do have meaning, unless we allow them to be eroded by our
apathy.
31
A Taste of Idaho:
Fried Chicken and Smashed Idaho Taters
By John Thompson
Here is a good recipe when it’s your turn
to cook and somebody else’s turn to clean
up. Actually the cleanup wasn’t all that bad
because the chicken is fried slowly with the
lid on the pan which reduces splattering.
This chicken recipe is a winner if you do
everything right. This recipe was allegedly high-jacked from one of the nation’s
top fried chicken chains. It’s a basic fried
chicken recipe but the actual frying is done
a little differently. The trick is setting the
heat right so that it maintains cooking temperature throughout the 40 minute process.
The side dish, smashed potatoes, is a nice
way to break out of the same old starch
routine. It’s a bit time consuming and labor
32
intensive for a potato dish, but the Italian
parsley and parmesan give off a fresh, salty
flavor that finishes the dish with style.
As I’ve stated before in this column, my
first rule for putting a good meal on the
table starts with quality meat. I purchased
four fresh, not frozen chicken leg quarters,
which are legs and thighs still connected.
They were large hunks of chicken and I
had to cook them in two batches. I used a
12-inch Dutch oven with legs on an electric range. If I had my druthers, I would
use a Dutch oven with no legs and a gas
range. The frying part of this recipe is a bit
tricky for me as I had no experience frying meat using a lid. The recipe says heat
oil to medium, fry on each side for eight
minutes, then cover and reduce heat. With
my stove and pot combination the only
way it worked was high heat in the beginning and medium heat to finish. My second
batch turned out much better than the first.
With the first batch I reduced the heat and
covered the pot, waited five minutes and
discovered that my chicken was just taking
a swim in oil – there was no cooking going
on in that pot. So keep your eye on things
and adjust heat accordingly.
In addition, I deviated from this recipe in
a couple ways. First, it only calls for one
teaspoon of red hot sauce in the brine. I like
a lot more than that and used about three
tablespoons. It also calls for smoked paprika and white pepper. I used regular paprika
and black pepper. For the potatoes, I used
canola oil instead of olive oil.
Fried Chicken
For the brine:
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon red hot sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
For the breading:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Canola oil for frying
Smashed Potatoes
12 small red potatoes
Kosher salt to taste
One quarter cup olive oil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
Wash potatoes and boil them whole in salted water for 25
minutes. Drain potatoes and preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and place
the potatoes on it, then mash them slightly with the palm
of your hand or a spatula being careful to keep the spuds in
one piece. Brush on the oil and add salt and pepper. Roast
for 15 minutes and then turn the potatoes with a spatula.
Brush on more oil, salt and pepper, and roast for another 15
minutes. After that sprinkle on parsley and parmesan and
roast for another five minutes.
Put the chicken in a zip-top bag with the brine ingredients
and refrigerate for four to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator
about 30 minutes before frying. Mix the breading ingredients
in a bowl. Pour canola oil into Dutch oven until it’s approximately one-half of an inch deep and heat it up to 350 degrees.
Dunk the chicken in the breading until it has good coverage then carefully drop each piece in the oil. Fry eight to ten
minutes on each side then reduce heat to medium and cover
the pot. Simmer the chicken for another 30 minutes turning
every ten minutes. Uncover, increase heat and fry for another
five minutes to crisp.
33
SPOTLIGHT ON IDAHO FFA—Building Tomorrow’s Agricultural Leaders
Idaho FFA Elects New State
Leadership
Idaho FFA wrapped up the 84rd Annual
State FFA Leadership conference in
Twin Falls on April 11 with the exciting
announcement of the 2015-16 State
FFA Officer Team.
The new officers began their training in
April and will spend the next year
serving Idaho’s over 4,200 FFA
members, promoting the FFA
Organization and advocating for Idaho
agriculture.
2015 - 2016 Idaho State FFA Officer Team
To learn more about Idaho FFA, please visit:
www.idahoffa.org
www.idffafoundation.org
(Pictured from left) Henry Wilson, State Sentinel, Kuna FFA Chapter;
Samantha Daniels, State Treasurer, Malad FFA Chapter; Riely Geritz, State
President, American Falls FFA Chapter; Abigail Raasch, State Secretary,
Troy FFA Chapter; Jentrie Stastny, State Reporter, Kimberly FFA Chapter;
and Dustin Winston, State Vice President, Middleton FFA Chapter.
Idaho Farm Bureau proudly sponsors the Idaho FFA Extemporaneous Public Speaking
Career Development Event
The Extemporaneous Public Speaking Career Development
Event challenges FFA members to prepare and deliver a
factual speech on a specific agricultural issue in a logical
manner – in a short amount of time. Participants draw one
topic and have 30 minutes to prepare their four to six
minute speeches. A panel of judges uses an additional five
minutes to question the speaker on their assigned topic.
Through this event, students develop a broad knowledge of
current agricultural issues, as well as polish logical
reasoning and effective communication skills that will
allow them to excel in the classroom and beyond.
2015 Idaho FFA Extemporaneous Public Speaking Winner:
Congratulations to Riely Geritz of the American Falls FFA
Chapter, 2015 Idaho FFA State Champion in Extemporaneous
Public Speaking. She will represent Idaho at the National FFA
Convention in Louisville, KY in October.
FFA—Premier Leadership, Personal Growth and Career Success through Agricultural Education
34
KELLER
The ESA is one of the most far-reaching
environmental statutes ever passed. It has
been interpreted to put the interests of species above those of people, and through its
prohibitions against “taking” of species, it
can restrict a wide range of human activity
in areas where species exist or may possibly exist. Furthermore, it allows private
special interest groups to sue anyone who
they allege to be in violation of the Act.
The ESA is a litigation-driven model that
rewards those who use the courtroom at
the expense of those who practice positive
conservation efforts. Currently, sue-andsettle tactics employed by radical environmental groups have required the government to make listing decisions on hundreds of new species. These plaintiffs have
been rewarded for their efforts by taxpayer
funded reimbursements for their legal bills
as a result.
Despite the fact that the ESA was enacted
to promote the public good, farmers and
ranchers bear the brunt of providing food
and habitat for listed species through restrictions imposed by the ESA. Society expects that listed species be saved and their
habitats protected, but the costs for doing
this fall to the landowner upon whose
property a species is found. We believe
that farmers and ranchers will respond to
incentives to protect species and habitat
on their privately owned lands. Instead
of being forced to feed and shelter listed
species on their own, farmers and ranchers should receive technical and financial
help to accomplish this. The ESA should
provide a carrot instead of the stick it currently wields.
We believe that endangered and threatened
species protection can be more effectively
achieved by providing incentives to private
landowners and public land users rather
than by imposing land use restrictions and
penalties. The ESA should not be reauthorized in its current form. The current federal ESA must be amended and updated
to accommodate the needs of both endan-
gered and threatened species and humans
with complete respect for private property
rights within the framework of the United
States Constitution
The American Farm Bureau (AFBF) has
developed a SHARE YOUR STORY
website to gather important stories and
examples of how the ESA has impacted
farm and ranch operations. The link to the
SHARE YOUR STORY website is: http://
cqrcengage.com/af b/app/share-yourstory?0&engagementId=78791
Understanding that privacy is a very important issue for our members, personal
details from the individual responses and
case studies will not be shared outside of
AFBF. A strong showing of participation
and grassroots engagement in this exercise
will enable AFBF legislative staff to better
develop more personalized advocacy efforts to congressional offices with a greater
level of detail and accuracy.
35
USDA Corn and Soybean Plantings Forecast Increases
The Agriculture Department’s Prospective
Plantings report indicates that compared to
2014 farmers will plant more acres of soybeans but fewer acres of corn this spring.
According to the American Farm Bureau,
the USDA raised its estimates on corn
and soybean acreage from the numbers
released at the annual USDA outlook forum in February. Prospective planting estimates for corn increased from 89.0 million
acres to 89.2 million. Soybean estimates
increased from 83.5 million to 84.6 million
acres.
“The increase in corn was a bit of a surprise, and the market has not responded
favorably,” said John Anderson, American
Farm Bureau’s deputy chief economist.
Corn futures dropped by around 15 cents
a bushel with this news, but the soybean
market has remained relatively stable. But
“it’s not too late for late acreage shifts,”
Anderson noted. “So if corn is down that
affects soybeans prices as well.”
Other feedgrains (grain sorghum, barley
and oats) are all projected to be up from
last year. The combined increase for these
three crops is almost 1.3 million acres. According to Farm Bureau, that almost completely offsets the projected year-over-year
decline in corn acreage.
All wheat acreage is projected at 55.4 million acres, which is a little lower than USDA’s February estimate. Cotton acreage is
also down for 2015, projected at 9.55 million acres. If realized, that will be a 13 percent decline in cotton plantings compared
to last year
Farmers and Ranchers Embrace Drones in Agriculture
Farm Bureau member Jeff VanderWerff
explained the value and risks of unmanned
aircraft systems (UAS) in agriculture in
his testimony before a Senate subcommittee today. The Michigan farmer and agronomist discussed how farmers and ranchers
are leading the way in exploring commercial use for this technology.
and spraying the entire field,” VanderWerff
said.
Precision technology does not come without potential risks, however. Farmers and
ranchers must be sure their data is secure
and cannot be used unfairly against them
by any third party, including the government. “The use of unmanned aircraft will
be an important addition to a farmer’s
management toolbox, but it is critical that
the data remain under the ownership and
control of the farmer,” VanderWerff said.
America’s farmers and ranchers embrace
technology that allows their farming businesses to be more efficient, economical and
environmentally friendly. VanderWerff
sees these benefits firsthand on his farm
where he where uses precision technology. “I rely on data to produce the accurate information critical to my day-to-day
business decisions. These decisions affect
my yield, environmental impact and ultimately the economic viability of my farm,”
he said.
According to VanderWerff, UAS would
provide a valuable tool for farmers and
ranchers to manage their fields and respond to threats quickly before they turn
catastrophic. “Currently, I spend about 12
hours a week walking the nearly 3,000
acres of land we farm. This may be effective, but it is not efficient,” he said. UAS
can also help farmers reduce their environmental impact. “With the imagery from
unmanned aircraft, I can spot-treat sec- Michigan farmer Jeff VanderWerff (left) visits with Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) at a Senate
tions of my fields as opposed to watering subcommittee hearing on unmanned aircraft systems in agriculture.
36
President Bob Stallman said.
The world’s leader in agricultural exports, the United States has much to gain through
congressional approval of TPA. The U.S. is coming off a record year of $152 billion in
agricultural exports. TPA will help keep that trend moving forward.
Farm Bureau Supports Trade Promotion Authority Bills
Expanding international trade
is vital to the success of America’s farmers and ranchers. To
make that expansion happen,
Congress must approve trade
promotion authority, the American Farm Bureau Federation
said today.
“Senators Orrin Hatch (RUT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR),
and Congressman Paul Ryan
(R-WI) today introduced legislation that greatly benefits
American agriculture and farm
families across the nation. This
bipartisan effort advances an
important policy objective
just as the administration is
engaged in major trade talks
such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” AFBF President Bob
Stallman said.
The world’s leader in agricultural exports, the United States
has much to gain through congressional approval of TPA.
The U.S. is coming off a record
year of $152 billion in agricultural exports. TPA will help
keep that trend moving forward.
“TPA streamlines negotiations and strengthens our position at the bargaining table,” Stallm
said. “The growth of U.S. agriculture depends on our ability to compete in the internationa
marketplace. We will cede potential markets and economic leadership to our competitors
central
to completing key trade ports if Congress fails to pass
cannot negotiate and ratify trade agreements through TPA.”
negotiations already underway. these vitally important bills.”
StallmanU.S.
explained
TPAbrink
is central
“The
is onthatthe
ofto completing key trade negotiations already
NOTE: The following chart
underway.
“The
U.S.
is
on
the
brink
of
completing its most ambitiouscompleting its most ambitious trade agenda in year
during fails to
he said. “We stand to lose billions of dollarsshows
in futuretop
U.S.U.S.
farm exports
exports if Congress
trade
agenda in years,” he said.
the 2014 fiscal year.
pass these vitally important bills.”
“We stand to lose billions of
NOTE: The
dollars
in following
future chart
U.S. shows
farm top
ex-U.S. exports during the 2014 fiscal year.
“TPA streamlines negotiations
and strengthens our position at
the bargaining table,” Stallman
said. “The growth of U.S. agriculture depends on our ability
to compete in the international
marketplace. We will cede potential markets and economic
leadership to our competitors
if we cannot negotiate and ratify trade agreements through
TPA.”
Stallman explained that TPA is
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37
Marketbasket Survey
Beef and Pork Prices Up, OJ Too
Higher retail prices for several foods, including sirloin tip
roast, ground chuck, deli ham
and orange juice, resulted in a
slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s
Spring Picnic Marketbasket
survey.
The informal survey shows the
total cost of 16 food items that
can be used to prepare one or
more meals was $53.87, up $.60
or about 1 percent compared to
a survey conducted a year ago.
Of the 16 items surveyed, eight
increased and eight decreased
in average price.
“Several meat items increased
in price, accounting for much
of the modest increase in the
marketbasket,” said John Anderson, AFBF’s deputy chief
economist. “The 1 percent increase shown by our survey
tracks closely with the Agriculture Department’s forecast
of 2 percent to 3 percent food
inflation for 2015,” he said.
Items showing retail price
increases from a year ago included:
sirloin tip roast, up 14 percent
to $5.71 per pound
ground chuck, up 12 percent to
$4.61 per pound
orange juice, up 7 percent to
$3.47 per half-gallon
toasted oat cereal, up 7 percent
to $3.12 for a 9-ounce box
deli ham, up 6 percent to $5.53
per pound
eggs, up 4 percent to $2.05 per
38
dozen
shredded cheddar cheese, up 3
percent to $4.59 per pound
potatoes, up 2 percent to $2.74
for a 5-pound bag
These items showed modest retail price decreases compared
to a year ago:
flour, down 9 percent to $2.52
for a 5-pound bag
bacon, down 8 percent to $4.44
per pound
apples, down 8 percent to $1.47
per pound
chicken breast, down 7 percent
to $3.28 per pound
whole milk, down 6 percent to
$3.45 per gallon
vegetable oil, down 6 percent
to $2.67 for a 32-ounce bottle
bagged salad, down 5 percent
to $2.47 per pound
white bread, down 3 percent to
$1.75 per 20-ounce loaf
Price checks of alternative
milk and egg choices not included in the overall marketbasket survey average revealed
the following: 1/2 gallon regular milk, $2.24; 1/2 gallon
organic milk, $4.47; and one
dozen “cage-free” eggs, $3.57.
The year-to-year direction of
the marketbasket survey tracks
closely with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index
(http://www.bls.gov/cpi/) report for food at home. As retail
grocery prices have increased
gradually over time, the share
of the average food dollar that
America’s farm and ranch families receive has dropped.
“Through the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of
consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home
and away from home, on average. Since then, that figure has
decreased steadily and is now
about 16 percent, according to
the Agriculture Department’s
revised Food Dollar Series,”
Anderson said.
Using the “food at home and
away from home” percentage
across-the-board, the farmer’s
share of this $53.87 marketbasket would be $8.62.
AFBF, the nation’s largest general farm organization, began
conducting informal quarterly
marketbasket surveys of retail
food price trends in 1989. The
series includes a spring picnic
survey, summer cookout survey, fall harvest survey and
Thanksgiving survey.
According to USDA, Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual
income on food, the lowest
average of any country in the
world. A total of 86 shoppers
in 29 states participated in the
latest survey, conducted in
March.
RAW MILK
with raw products, sanitation
is a priority. Daloris Dairy and
Deep Roots use extreme caution
and cleanliness in milking, bottling and storing their products.
It must be paying off because to
date neither operation has had
any issues with the safety of
their products, and their customers keep coming back.
Although customer base between the two dairies is similar,
each attracts a unique following,
probably relative to each dairy’s
geographic location.
With his business located just
outside of Rexburg, Stott conducted surveys through the
large, well-attended Rexburg
Farmer’s Market. Stott found
Deep Roots Farm and Livestock’s target market was the
millennial crowd, people 18-35
and mostly women.
“I would attribute it to people
who are more health conscience.
This age group are people used
to changing and taking advantage of new opportunities in
food, in businesses, in all sorts
of things,” Stott said.
They are concerned with knowing the facts about their food
such as can it be sourced, can it
be certified, how was it treated,
and what was it fed?
Deep Roots is about 10 minutes south of Rexburg, home of
Brigham Young University-Idaho. The University continues to
grow in attendance so proximity
to his target demographic is no
problem.
However, college students, says
Stott, are his highest turnover
age group, but many are willing
to give raw milk a try, at least
once.
During the first year of business,
Deep Roots, set up a booth each
Friday at the Rexburg Farmer’s
Market. Now in his third year,
Stott says he hasn’t been able
to attend the farmer’s market
because he just doesn’t have
enough products.
“We haven’t had enough product to actually stock the farmer’s
market. We sell out just about as
fast as we can produce it.”
Stott has also tapped into an
older customer base. People
who grew up eating and drinking raw dairy products and still
like the taste but no longer have
access to a family milk cow.
In addition to attending the
farmer’s market, Deep Roots
also advertises on Craigslist,
Facebook and with local businesses. The family business also
depends on word-of-mouth advertising.
Daloris Dairy, a one-year-old
business located on the east
side of Rigby, takes a different
approach to finding customers, although they too depend
on word-of-mouth advertising.
Dale is a second-generation
dairy farmer and has lived in
LaBelle on his dairy for 28
years. Selling milk for as long
as he has, he knew people were
interested in the raw product.
“You have a lot of people coming back to natural foods, and
there’s a lot of people in their
60s right now that grew up on
farms,” he explains. They drank
raw milk and want to again.
“We didn’t do any surveys or
anything because everything we
had heard was it was just impos-
Marc Stott owner at Deep Roots Farm and Livestock stocks the fridge in
the retail room of his barn. Deep Roots customers are welcome to pick
up their products anytime during the day. Stott bills his regular customers
on a monthly basis.
sible to sell raw milk because of
the state requirements and regulations,” Dale says.
Because Mortimers were already selling Grade A milk,
they had an established clean
facility. Mortimers were able
to pass all the certifications and
become raw milk certified.
Tyler says the dairy’s customer
base is very diverse, and Rigby
is a great central location, with
regular customers coming from
as far as Howe, Challis, Teton,
Pocatello, Afton, Wyoming, and
Island Park.
Both companies expect their
respective customer bases to
grow, but product wise they are
headed different directions.
Daloris Dairy already has the
cheese angle covered and expects their raw milk sales to
increase and would love to add
butter, bottles of cream or even
flavored milk in the future. Deep
Roots is limited in its dairy production but Stott sees expansion
possibilities in meat production.
He says he can produce as much
meat as demand requires.
One objective is clearly the
same. Both dairies are staunch
believers in the safety and
healthiness of raw milk products. Both consider raw milk
to provide health benefits that
homogenized and pasteurized
dairy products can’t.
Paige Nelson is a freelance
journalist working from Jefferson County.
39
Third Annual Bluegrass Festival Slated for June 26-27
In 2011 a few bluegrass musicians and
fans got together and formed Lewis Clark
Bluegrass Organization a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the idea of promoting bluegrass
in the LC valley. The first two years they
put on six evening concerts at a local high
school. With good turn outs it was decided
in 2013 to go ahead with plans for a bluegrass festival at the Nez Perce County Fairgrounds. Always the last weekend in June
this year will be the third annual Valley
Bluegrass Festival. So far we are holding
at a two day event, Friday evening and all
day Saturday, with six local and regional
bands. From the beginning this was a grassroots
effort, with little experience in festival
promotion. In spite of that we have had dynamic Northwest bands for our headliners
each year. This year we were also able to
bring in a couple of great West Coast bands.
Keeping with the spirit of promoting bluegrass music this year we started a program
we call Bluegrass Sprouts for the younger
folks who are interested in learning to play
a bluegrass instrument. We can provide
instruments for those who can’t afford one
and they meet twice a month to practice
and jam with some of the older musicians. This year’s headliners are FarmStrong and
The North Country Bluegrass Band. Farm40
Strong lights up the stage with exquisite
harmony singing and seasoned instrumentation. The heart of the band draws on inspiration from the last century of country,
blues and bluegrass music from the 1920’s
through the 50’s, as well as folk, rock, gospel and soul music of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s
and beyond. FarmStrong’s talented and
experienced musicians take their audience
outside the bluegrass tradition. Their unmistakable sound moves the soul, while
remaining firmly rooted in music from the
mountains. The North Country Bluegrass
Band, based out of the Seattle, Washington
area, performs high energy, tasteful and
original acoustic bluegrass music. Formed
in 2012, the band is quickly rising and
making a name for itself in the Northwest
bluegrass scene. Within the first year of formation, the band has played many notable
music venues, including Wintergrass and
the famous Paramount Theatre in Seattle. Other bands performing this year are Slipshod, Beargrass, Wanigan, & Hard Travelin. Slipshod is Matt Snook (dobro and
banjo) and Steve Blanchard (guitar and
mandolin). They met a number of years
ago as part of the Northwest bluegrass
community and became fast friends and
picking partners. They have similar musical styles, yet they draw on many different
influences like Gordon Lightfoot, Norman
Blake, Simon and Garfunkel, and Tim
O’Brien, to name a few. Beargrass performs live, traditional country music, no
prerecorded tracts, just straight-up country music. The cornerstone of Beargrass is
the husband and wife duo of Shayne and
Alane Watkins. They often perform as a
duo and can charm a coffee house crowd
with a blend of folk, country and bluegrass
but when the full band fires up, there is a
steady, country dance beat provided by
Kendall Heustis on drums James Phillips on base. The progressive grass group
known as Wanigan is a dynamic fivepiece acoustic band bringing old sounds
to original songwriting and new sounds to
old: close three- and four-part harmonies
backed by mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar,
and bass. Hard Travelin’ is an acoustic
trio that performs the hard driving folk
music of the late 50›s and early 60›s, but
with a dash of bluegrass, country and pop.
The Nez Perce County Fairgrounds is a
family friendly venue, so bring the kids.
Camping and jamming are available and
encouraged at the Festival. Hope to see you
all there. June 26-27, 2015. For more info: lewisclarkbluegrass.org or LCBO, PO
Box 566, Clarkston Wa.
41
DEADLINE DATES:
Classifieds
ADS MUST BE
RECEIVED BY MAY 20
FOR NEXT ISSUE OF THE
PRODUCER
Animals
Miscellaneous
Vehicles
Wanted
United Kennel Certified. American Black and
Tan. Purple Ribbon Bred Stud. Excellent Bred.
Great Hounds. Preston, ID 208-427-6237.
Rear tine rototiller, 5.5 hp. Bliss, Id 208490-1300.
1963 Dodge 500 Power Wagon 4x4. Double
ram hoist, 10’ Meyers plow, plus more
accessories. Low miles. Clean title $6,000.
Chubbuck, Id. 208-221-6544.
Paying cash for old cork top bottles and
some telephone insulators. Call Randy.
Payette, Id. 208-740-0178.
Registered UKC American Black and Tan
coonhound stud service. Preston, Id 208427-6237.
Farm Equipment
Massey Harris tractor Model 44 Partly
restored, $1000 OBO; 1959 Ford F 600
truck with steel flat bed and hoist, $1000
OBO. Call Gerald in Bancroft at 208-6487837.
Late 1940’s or early 1950’s Coop Tractor
and sickle bar mower. One owner in
American Falls, Id. Make offer. 208-681-8212.
New Squeeze Chute - green, hand pull.
$1,300. Midvale, Id 83645. 208-355-3780.
1952 Model #60 John Deere tractor. Runs
good. $3,400. American Falls, Id 208-4794464.
488 New Holland hay bine 9’ 3”. Cut less
than 75 acres. List $22,000. Asking $18,600.
Moyie Springs, Id 208-267-8992.
Balewagons: New Holland self-propelled or
pull-type models. Also interested in buying
balewagons. Will consider any model. Call
Jim Wilhite at 208-880-2889 anytime.
Household
Gently used carpet for sale. (2) Room Sizes:
17’x17’ and 13’x13’. Color: Blue/Grey. Very
Good Condition. $225. Shelley area. Call 5285337.
WP Haines Piano. 59” long x 36” high x
23 1/2” side. Good condition, $425; Vintage
salad bowl, thick green glass with lotus
flower scalloped top. 11” diameterx4 5/6”
high. Wendell, Id. Please leave message. 208536-6724.
Stair-lift. Used very little, fits up to 14 stairs.
King Hill, Id 208-366-2354.
1000’s of recycled nursery pots, 1 - 7
gallons priced very economically. Call for
more information, Rathdrum, ID 208-6996262.
Antique Railroad Caboose coal burning stove;
Bearcraft roof top cargo pod. 7 ft long and
locks up. Fits round or oval bars. $150.00.
Pocatello, Id 208-234-2612.
4” Shopsmith jointer – excellent condition;
Shopsmith band saw – excellent condition
– spare new bladed and cool blocks;
Shopsmith strip sander like new – spare
sander strips. Soda Springs, Idaho. Call Paul
Carver 208-251-2469
Real Estate/Acreage
680 Acres. 400 acres of producing timber
and 275 acres in timothy hay . Benewah
County 3 miles off I95. For details call
Barbara Yeager, RE/MAX Infinity Group,
(208)819-1973.
Commercial/Industrial buildings with office
and land. 23,500 sq ft on 5.25 acres with
more land available. Exit 41 in American
Falls, Id. 208-221-6544.
10.5 acres- loafing sheds, shop, grainery, 2
story rock house-5 bdrms, one bath, pasture
and water shares. $279,000. Jerome, Id 208308-3804.
Mobile home lot for rent - 14x70 or smaller
- 2005 or newer. $175.00 monthly, includes
water/sewer Only. Shelley, ID. More Info Call
528-5337.
22 acres on the Lemhi River, Salmon, Id.
Dream property, shop, 3 bedroom home, 2
bedroom guest apartment. For sale by owner
Salmon website. 540-742-2532.
1983 Nassau Mobile Home, 14X66, 2 BR,
2 Bath, two outbuildings, small fenced
back yard area. CDA park on Seltice Way,
application/contract required with landlord.
Asking $12k. Message phone only, Will reply
as schedule allows. 208-704-4282.
1989 Dodge Dakota. Runs good, tires good.
$1,000. Pocatello, Id. 208-512-2845.
1992 dodge Dakota Sport pickup. With Shell
$2,700. V6, low miles, auto, AC, cruise, good
tires. Boise, Id 208-344-1898.
1974 Jeep CJ5, 1975 Corvette, 1986 Pontiac
Fierro. Preston, Id 208-427-6237.
Paying cash for German & Japanese war
relics/souvenirs! Pistols, rifles, swords,
daggers, flags, scopes, optical equipment,
uniforms, helmets, machine guns (ATF
rules apply) medals, flags, etc. 549-3841
(evenings) or 208-405-9338.
Help Wanted
Buying U.S. gold coins, proof and mint
sets, silver dollars, rolls and bags. PCGS/
NGC certified coins, estates, accumulations,
large collections, investment portfolios,
bullion, platinum. Will travel, all
transactions confidential. Please call 208859-7168.
Agricultural Appraiser. Our top part-time
livestock and Equipment appraisers earn
60,000/year. Agricultural Background
Required. Call 800-488-7570 www.
amagappraisers.com.
Old License Plates Wanted: Also key chain
license plates, old signs, light fixtures. Will
pay cash. Please email, call or write. Gary
Peterson, 130 E Pecan, Genesee, Id 83832.
[email protected]. 208-285-1258
1994 Jeep, runs, sold as is $1000.00, OBO
See at 215 Taylor St. American Falls 208226-5411.
FREE CLASSIFIEDS
Non commercial classified ads are free to Idaho Farm Bureau members.
Must include membership number for free ad. Forty (40) words maximum.
Non-member cost- 50 cents per word. You may advertise your own crops,
livestock, used machinery, household items, vehicles, etc. Ads will not be
accepted by phone. Ads run one time only and must be re-submitted in each
subsequent issue. We reserve the right to refuse to run any ad. Please type or
print clearly. Proof-read your ad.
Mail ad copy to:
P.O. Box 4848, Pocatello, ID 83205-4848
or email Dixie at
[email protected]
Name: __________________________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________________
City / State / Zip: __________________________________________________________________
Phone: _____________________________________ Membership No. ___________________
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS
FOR FARM BUREAU MEMBERS
42
Ad Copy: ________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

- Idaho Farm Bureau

Transcription

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