Umpqua Edition 2007

UMPQUA EDITION 2007 / THE NEWS-REVIEW

RECOGNIZING DOUGLAS COUNTY AGRICULTURE

Land of Plenty

RoseburgRoseburg278 Garden Valley Blvd.

673-11061-800-291-1108

Roseburg AnnexRoseburg Annex316 NW Garden

Valley 673-1106

North East RoseburgNorth East Roseburg 2198 NE Stephens, Ste 102

673-55141-800-272-1214

www.allstaterealestate.com

Seventeen Oregon Offices To Serve You!

Leading the Way in Southern Oregon

“Helping Families Fulfill Their Dreams!”

Sage CenterSage Center940 Garden Valley

673-88881-800-330-8751

Myrtle CreekMyrtle Creek304 N. Main

863-3466

Tri CityTri City916 N. Pacific Hwy.

863-3900

SutherlinSutherlin123 E. Central

459-62801-800-459-6280

CanyonvilleCanyonville325 S Main St.

839-4445Coos BayCoos BayEugeneEugene

Cottage Grove Cottage Grove VenetaVeneta

SpringfieldSpringfield Harrisburg Harrisburg

BendBendNewportNewportWaldportWaldport

“We measure our success.... “We measure our success.... .....One home at a time.” .....One home at a time.”“We measure our success.... “We measure our success.... .....One home at a time.” .....One home at a time.”

Monday, August 27, 2007–The News-Review Umpqua Edition, Roseburg Oregon, Page 3

AGRICULTURE

JOHN SOWELLThe News-Review

ou’d probablynever guess look-ing around butDouglas County

was home to the state’sfirst filbert tree.

Yes, back before Franceimposed upon the state’snut industry to renametheir precious product ahazelnut because appar-ently the French didn’tunderstand what a filbertwas, Douglas Countyplayed an important rolein its development as acash crop.

Sam Strictland, a former Hud-son’s Bay Co. employee from FortUmpqua, planted the first filberttree near Scottsburg in 1858, a yearbefore Oregon became a state.

The tree remained healthy until1999, when the owner of the prop-erty the tree sat on cut it downbecause it was hanging over hishouse that he was trying to reno-vate. While the owner didn’t real-ize the importance of the tree, alocal master gardner did and wasable to recover some starts and

First filbert tree in Oregon was planted near Scottsburg in 1858; turkeys, prunes, sheep, much more has followed

Please turn to ROOTS, page 7

Courtesy photo

Douglas County once boasted a thriving turkey industry, but it has faded out. The first filbert tree, such as the one above,in the state was planted in 1858 near Scottsburg.

CountyRoots

THE BEGINNINGS OF GROWTH

Y

Page 4, The News-Review, Umpqua Edition Roseburg, Oregon–Monday, August 27, 2007

Your local tractor specialists!

0.0% Financing for 36 Months***23

Hard-working, versatile and affordable

For dependability and quality nothing beats a Deere!

0.0% Financing for 36 Months***23

www.JohnDeere.com B74CUBD0802-00197852 -

Stop in Today!

�� !��"��#�!�$��%��&��'��(��)��%��&��*�"��+�� "�� %�,-�&../.��0��&��1�'��

Come see the world class 990 Compact Tractor!

• High-torque 40.4-hp 4-cylinder Yanmar diesel engine

• 35 PTO hp

• Quick implement attachment without tools

PAUL CRAIGThe News-Review

hristmas trees andwine grapes. Cattleand blueberries. Woodand lambs.

It is all grown and producedin Douglas County. A mildclimate allows for a variety

of crops to grow, while ani-mals from alpacas to swineare also raised successfullythroughout the area.

“With all the different animals that wecan grow in the county, and the differentcrops, there’s something for everyone,”said Shelby Filley, livestock and forage

AGRICULTURE

Production

Optionsaplenty

ANDY BRONSON/The News-Review

Raising beef cattle, filberts and grass hay are all part of the agricultural scene inDouglas County. Farm sales for the county last year totaled $75.1 million.Please turn to OPTIONS, page 5

Climate, soil allows for a variety of crops, livestock

C

UMPQUA EDITION 2007Published by

The News-Review345 N.E. Winchester

Roseburg, Oregon 97470PHONE: 672-3321

Features EditorCraig Reed

Design Editor Cover PhotoDoug Harvey Andy Bronson

All contents copyrighted and may notbe reproduced without consent of TheNews-Review. The Umpqua Edition ispublished annually.

E-mail correspondence regarding thispublication [email protected] or via faxto (541) 957-4270.

PPaaggee 33 — Douglas County’s agriculturalhistory was first recorded in 1834 when “asmall patch of potatoes”was discoveredalongside the Umpqua River.

PPaaggee 44 — Mild climate and different soilsallow variety of agriculture in county.

PPaaggee 66 — Ag sales in Douglas County were$75.1 million last year.

PPaaggee 1100 — Douglas County has 5,071square miles, but only 54 square miles is con-sidered high value cropland.

PPaaggee 1122 — More and more consumers areopting to buy beef from local pastures.

PPaaggee 1166 — Grape production grows withsales hitting nearly $4 million in 2006.

PPaaggee 1177 — Boer goats have increased innumbers in county in the last five yearsbecause of steady price and market.

PPaaggee 1188 — Sheep numbers have declinedfrom 100,000 head 25 years ago to about44,000 today.

PPaaggee 2200 — Organic farmers grow for aniche market.

PPaaggee 2255 — Farmers Market offers freshproduce weekly.

PPaaggee 2266 — Outside jobs help families tomaintain farming or ranching lifestyles.

PPaaggee 2288 — Gleaners pick for themselvesand for food bank.

PPaaggee 3300 — Umpqua Dairy is a longtimefamily business.

PPaaggee 3311 — Water is key to agricultural pro-duction.

PPaaggee 3322 — Young farmers are rare.

Umpqua Edition Index


AGRICULTURE

A 100 Valleys Company

612 SE Jackson St., Suite 2

673-6499See 1000’s of Listings & Visual Tours at www.HawksCo.com

“The Heart of Roseburg Town Center”

Get on the Get on the MOVEMOVE with.... with....

Garage Doors Rain Gutters Roof Trusses Window Coverings Awnings & Canopies Closet Organization Workbenches & Garage Organization

11045 NE Alder Street RRoseburg, Oregon

((541) 673--44802 CCCB# 66181

specialist at the Oregon StateUniversity Extension Serviceoffice in Roseburg.

Cattle was the county’s topselling agricultural commodity in2006, followed closely by smallwoodlots. Cattle had nearly $21million in sales in 2006, repre-senting 28 percent of DouglasCounty’s total sales in the agricul-tural industry. Five other agricul-tural products had sales of morethan $3 million in 2006, includingnursery and greenhouse cropswhich had more than $11 millionin total sales.

In 2005, Douglas County had 53nursery and greenhouse operationsgrowing plants on 580 acres. Notbad, but nowhere near the state’stop grower in that industry.Clackamas County had 477 grow-ers on 13,500 acres for gross salesof $206.5 million.

“What we’ve really noticed ispeople are trying to find a nicheand grow crops that do well inWestern Oregon, but at the sametime provide an economicreturn,” said Steve Renquist,OSU Extension Service horticul-ture agent in Roseburg.

There are upsides and down-sides to the agricultural industry inDouglas County, Renquist said.The biggest selling point for thearea is its growing season.

The local growing season is210 days because Douglas Coun-ty has mild weather in both thesummer and winter. Most crops

take upward of 180 days tomature, Renquist said.

Agricultural land is also moreaffordable compared to biggerpopulation centers, making it easi-er for people to come to the coun-ty and start growing products thatare in demand to try and turn aprofit. It’s making that profitwhich can be difficult.

“The reason that some indus-tries started and haven’t flour-ished is that we are a long wayfrom the market, so our farmershave higher freight cost,” Ren-quist said.

It’s important, Renquist said, togrow a type of product that isunique to the region. Blueberriesgrown in California, Washingtonand the Willamette Valley allripen at different times. Growinga variety in Douglas County thatripens in-between those is key.

“So, at least you’ve got a peri-od of time when you can domi-nate, when demand will comerushing to you,” Renquist said,pointing to the success of NorrisFarms near Umpqua, which shipshundreds of thousands of poundsof blueberries around the worldevery year.

Renquist said the success ofsome of the local growers couldbe a blueprint for others. “There’sno questions there’s just hugepotential growth in high qualitythings like wine grapes or blue-berries or filberts and that sort ofthing,” he said. “We’re talkingthousands of acres that could stillsee growth in this area.”

A large number of different

animals also occupy a lot of Dou-glas County’s acreage. Historical-ly, Douglas County was thestate’s top sheep producer.

That is no longer the case, assheep and lambs represent only 3percent of Douglas County’s agri-cultural commodity sales.

Sheep numbers have declinedover the last 40 years, Filley said.In 2006, Linn County produced62,500 head of sheep, while Dou-glas County only had 44,000.

“The difference nowadays ispredators,” Filley said, addingthat years ago the market forsheep also dropped.

Douglas County remains an

optimum place for sheep, howev-er. Wet soils in the winter time arenot beneficial for horses or cattle,but sheep can continue grazingfor a longer period of time in suchconditions.

The hillside pastures prevalentin the area also work well forsheep, Filley said.

Douglas County ranchers bene-fit from the ability to grow nicepastures many months of theyear. That isn’t possible in East-ern Oregon due to colder weather,for example.

“Our biggest commodity, real-ly, is grass and we use our ani-mals to harvest grass and convert

that product into what humanscan use, like food and fiber,” shesaid.

The consumption of grass byanimals leads to products such asmeat, eggs, and fiber, wool andfleece that are used for clothing.Filley said if the grass and shrubsthat are so prevalent in DouglasCounty were not taken advantageof in that way, they wouldn’t benearly as beneficial.

“It’s nice to be able to integrateit all and I think that’s what we doin Douglas County,” she said.

• You can reach reporter PaulCraig at 957-4211 or by e-mail [email protected].

Officials say there’s potential for more

Continued from page 4

Options


The wide variety of products grown in Douglas County include cantaloupes, wine grapes andChristmas trees.

Page 6, The News-Review, Umpqua Edition Roseburg Oregon–Monday, August 27, 2007

Focus on hope ... hope is why we’re here

We Are Here To Help You!Independent • Non-profit • Radiation Therapy

Serving Douglas County Since 1980Accredited by the

prestigious American College of Radiology (ACR)

673-22671-866-836-4448

www.cccroseburg.org

Current Location 545 West Umpqua Street, Roseburg • New Facility Under ConstructionCurrent Location 545 West Umpqua Street, Roseburg • New Facility Under Construction

New Facility

AGRICULTURE

JOHN SOWELLThe News-Review

ouglas County ranksjust ahead of the mid-dle of the pack when it

comes to agricultural sales.The county ranks 16th

among Oregon’s 36 counties,with farm sales last year of$75.1 million.

Two counties that might notnecessarily be viewed at firstblush as farm counties —Marion and Clackamas —top the list.

Marion County, the seat of state gov-ernment and home to the state’s second-largest city, Salem, nonetheless had agri-

cultural sales last year of $585.3 million.Clackamas County, one of three urbancounties that make up the Portland met-ropolitan area, recorded $394.6 million infarm sales.

The bulk of Douglas County’s 39,272acres of active farmland is devoted to hayand other forage crops. A total of 35,000acres is devoted to that purpose.

Only one other county west of the Cas-cade Range — Linn County — tops Dou-glas County in acreage used for hay andforage crops. Linn County has 36,000acres of farmland in that category.

Both figures are dwarfed, however, bythose from 10 counties in central andeastern Oregon. Lake County in south-eastern Oregon has 128,500 acres of landused for hay and forage crops. HarneyCounty devotes nearly as many acres,127,400, for that use, while MalheurCounty next to the Idaho border has97,510 acres in hay.

Only a relatively small number ofacres in Douglas County, 1,635, are

devoted to tree fruits and nuts. Elevenother counties, including Hood RiverCounty with 13,787 acres, better DouglasCounty’s output.

Another 539 acres of farmland in Dou-

glas County is devoted to vegetablecrops, with 210 acres used for specialtycrops. A total of 1,850 acres goes to agri-cultural production that wasn’t specifiedin statistics reported to the Oregon Agri-cultural Information Network.

Crop sales totaled $49.3 million lastyear in Douglas County. Specialty cropsaccounted for the bulk of that figure,$35.5 million. Hay and other foragecrops totaled $5.8 million in sales, whiletree fruits and nuts raised $4.6 million.The sale of cattle and calves raised $20.9million, 10th among Oregon counties.Malheur County led the state with $80million in cattle sales, while KlamathCounty reported $71.3 million in sales ofcattle.

Douglas County also reported sales of$4.9 million worth of miscellaneous ani-mals, including sheep and pigs. Thatranked fifth in the state, behind Linn,Clackamas, Jackson and Marion coun-ties. Altogether, animal sales accountedfor $25.9 million of Douglas County’sfarm revenue. That placed the county17th in that category.

• You can reach reporter John Sowellat 957-4209 or by e-mail [email protected].

LACEY HOYER/The News-Review

Douglas County’s agriculturecommodity sales in 2006. Cropsaccounted for 65 percent of all sales,livestock for 35 percent.

Ag sales

All crops sales $49,256,000All livestock sales $25,863,000

Source: Extension EconomicInformation Office/OSU

15%Nursery andgreenhousecrops

2%Vegetableand othercrops

5%Other hay

5%Christmastrees

28%Cattle

5%Winegrapes

27%Smallwoodlots

6%Othercrops

5%Otheranimalproducts

3%Sheepand lambs

D

Ag sales roadCounty in the middle of the

Monday, August 27, 2007 – The News-Review Umpqua Edition, Roseburg, Oregon, Page 7

Northwest Farm Credit Services has unique loanprograms designed to meet the needs ofcountry home and rural property owners.

• No acreage restrictions • Income producing properties are eligible

We also provide financing for full time timberand agricultural producers.

541.464.6710 | farm.credit.com

CongratulationsBob Steffensen

Bob Steffensen has been working for Oregon Linen since January 2000. He

started out on swing shift rolling mats, and soon progressed to running the washroom. Bob is very conscientious about doing a good job and putting out quality products to our customers. He is always flexible with the amount of hours that are necessary to get the job done. He is a great asset to Oregon Linen and always has a positive attitude.

Bob, and his wife Abbie live in Roseburg with their two children, Benjamin and Katherine. He enjoys taking his kids to the park, and spending time with his family.

672-1663608 SE Lane • Roseburg

Bob SteffensenEmployee of the Year

AGRICULTURE

some suckers from the filbert and havethem planted in different parts of thestate.

Several other agricultural industries inDouglas County have also disappearedrather unceremoniously. The county usedto be the home of thriving commoditiessuch as turkey, hops, prunes, wheat, oatsand broccoli.

The first mention of cultivated agricul-ture in what would become DouglasCounty was found in the journal of JohnWork, a brigade leader for the Hudson’sBay Co. Work was a member of an expe-dition that came to the Umpqua Valley in1834.

The group traveled from Elk Creek to

the Umpqua River and con-tinued downstream about20 miles before finding thesite of the first house builtin the Umpqua Valley. Itbelonged to a man knownas “Joe,” described in some accounts as aNative American and in others as beingIndian and French-Canadian.

Work recorded that Joe, “the master ofthe only house that is here, has a smallpatch of potatoes, which appear in a mosthealthy and thriving condition,” accord-ing to an account in the research libraryat the Douglas County Museum.

Potatoes were first planted on an islandof the Columbia River in 1795 by thecrew of the ship Ruby. Subsequent plant-ings were made by the Astor party in

1811. Historical accounts speculate thatJoe’s starts may have come from one ofthose plantings.

The men of Fort Umpqua, a Hudson’sBay outpost established in 1836, plantedfruit trees, grain and vegetables. Theyalso kept livestock.

The first sheep were driven north fromCalifornia to the Willamette Valley in the1840s by the Hudson’s Bay Co. andAmerican settlers. The first permanentherds in the Umpqua Valley didn’t arriveuntil the early 1850s, possibly by Charles

Smith, who settledon a donation landclaim in Green.

When AlonzoBrown arrived inDouglas County in

fall 1859, he wrote that oats were sellingfor $1 for a dozen sheaves, or bundles.That year, he helped D.W. Stearns threshoats at a farm two miles below Elkton.Brown and his brother, Henry, also hand-sowed more than 100 acres of oats ontheir own farm.

The following year, so many otherfarmers planted oats that supply out-stripped demand. A dozen sheaves onlybrought a quarter that year.

Some ag products haven’t lastedContinued from page 3

Harold Kruse,son of EdwardKruse and LucyBrock Kruse,with a crate ofstrawberriespicked at KruseFarms locatedon RobertsCreek, circa1913.

CountyRoots

Courtesy photo

Please turn to ROOTS, page 34


I have...I have...What you Want!∆ Experience∆ Knowledge∆ Confidence∆ Commitment∆ Dedication

Getting it Done... ....Since ‘81!

JOE MARTIN

784-8323

673-8888

Realtor CAROL BLOCK

Knowledge... is Power!Knowledge... is Power!

The more that I know,the more valuable I can be

to my clients.I am a member of the National Association of Realtors, Oregon Association of Realtors, Douglas County Board of Realtors, Million Dollar Club and am on the Realtors in Action

Community Service Committee and am the Relocation Specialist for Windermere in our area.

WINDERMERE DOUGLAS COUNTY OFFICE2365 NW Kline St., Suite 101 ∙ Roseburg, OR 97470

Office (541) 672-2008 ∙ Cell (541) 643-8852

www.LindasListings.com

Buying or selling your home is going to be a

wonderful experience!

Colliding Rivers RealtyColliding Rivers Realty

Trust Me.

Having a strong financial and legal background, I also offer real estate counseling. First time buyers are my passion and I strongly believe that everyone who wants to own a home should have the opportunity to do so. Formerly, I was a member of the Northern California Housing Coalition (Nor-Cal) and served as Chairperson for the Central Valley Association of Realtors’ Housing Opportunity Task Force. I was awarded Oakdale’s “Realtor of the Year” for 2005. Let my experience from California work for you here in Douglas county!

Linda Tipton 541-817-5893

541-496-0850

Since 1989

Our vision has always been that the client’s needs are paramount, and service above and beyond your expectations.

Valynn Currie

Creating memoriesand making your dreams come true.

Let’s work together to make your wishes come true

Office (541) 679-4232Office (541) 784-2284Mobile (541) 680-1060

Real peopleyou can trustfor yourreal estateneeds

Gina BraackCell: 580-0474Classic Country Realty

I love the excitement in people when they are excited about buying their new home, just the right one, I take my time with them and make sure they are going to be happy with their purchase.

Kelley is a high energy broker with a successful marketing plan

and great knowledge of all aspects of real estate.

She is an expert in land division/land use planning;

she has designed and administrated

several large subdivisions.

The Kelley Jarvis TEAM“In pursuit of Excellence”

All State Real Estate673-1106

ExcellenceWhy should you expect anything less?

Kelly Jarvis580-2274

Sage Center940 NW Garden Valley • 673-8888

www.allstaterealestate.com

Since 2004

Ava Elliott580-3594

Ava Elliott580-3594

Your Dream... ... My Goal.

Finding the right home can be a tough task. Finding the right home in the right location at the right price can be nearly impossible,

unless you’re working with Ava Elliott.

Ava has been finding homes for families likeyours. Homes that meet your needs and extras. Homes in great neighborhoods.

Homes that are priced right.

Douglas Douglas County County Realtors Realtors

Douglas Douglas County County Realtors Realtors



AGRICULTURE

CHRIS GRAYThe News-Review

ohn James has run anorchard outside Winstonfor 34 years, fulltime forthe past 10.

He planted all his fruittrees after he bought the 26acres; he has 3,000 treestoday.

James’ orchard had abumper crop this year, and

different variety of peacheswill be ripe until mid-Sep-tember.

But this will be the lastyear to buy fruit at theorchard. James is getting ridof most of his trees, and clos-ing down his at-the-orchardsales.

“We’re doing OK, but we’re going tocut back a lot,” James said. “This isgoing to be our last year on a retaillevel.”

James said he plans to keep 500 cher-ry trees for the wholesale market, and afew peach trees for his own use and forfarmer’s markets, but most of them willbe pushed out, and the land put intogrowing rye grass.

“The life of a farmer is not normal,”James said.

Douglas County has 5,071 squaremiles, a little smaller than the state ofConnecticut. But only about 1 percent ofthat land, 54 square miles is consideredto be high value cropland by the Dou-glas County Planning Department.

Most of this land lies on the bottom-lands, along the Umpqua and South

Umpqua rivers and Calapooya Creek.Don Kruse, the patriarch of the Kruse

Farms family, said there are only a hand-ful of full-time produce farmers left inDouglas County. With James cuttingback his work with the pruning shears,that will be one less.

“I’m concerned about some youngpeople taking our place,” said the 76-year-old Kruse.

Kruse Farms owns about 500 acresand leases another 100. About half of thatis devoted to row crops: melons, can-taloupe and sweet corn. The Kruses also


An aerial view shows the division of farm land to the left and subdivisions on the right of Garden Valley Road outside the city limits of Roseburg.

After 34 yearsJohn James is closing his orchardbusiness, JamesOrchard, in Winston.He will be taking allof his trees out,except for 500 cherry trees for thewholesale market,and putting in acover crop, such asgrass, on that land.

Please turn to CROPLANDS, page 11

MICHELLE ALAIMO/The News-ReviewLand use laws should protect prime ag land

Small but productive

Croplands

J


RV ResortRV Resort• 139 Full-Service Sites• River & Marina Views• FREE Wi-FI• 9-Hole Putting Green• Bikes & Walking Paths• Access to Moorage

Cable TV • Showers • Laundry • PlaygroundLaunching • Crabbing Pier •Bait • Tackle

winchesterbayrvresort.comwinchesterbayrvresort.com

Reservations

(541)271-0287Moorage

(541)271-3407Hwy 101 25 Mi N. OF COOS BAY 3 Mi S. OF REEDSPORT

Wildlife Safari is a 600-acre drive-thru animal park, just south of Roseburg, fi lled with hundreds of animals from Africa, Asia & the Americas. Many of the species at Wildlife Safari are threatened or endangered.

Animal Exhibits • Over 500 Exotic & Native Animals • Children’s Petting Zoo Seasonal Safari Village Activities • Close Encounters of the Wild Kind: wash an elephant, feed a giraffe, or experience the “Feast of Kings” with our Lions!

Directions: I-5 exit 119 follow the signs.Hours: 9am – 5pm10am – 4pm (winter hours) *Please call for event times

WILDLIFESAFARI Winston, Oregon

EXPERIENCE WILDLIFE Like Nowhere Else!

For More Information call or write us at:

Voted #1Linus Oakes Retirement Center

Thank you for voting LinusOakes Retirement Center asyour #1 choice for senior living.

Our residents enjoy retirement living at its best,thanks to a world class staff!

If you’d like to experience Linus Oakes first hand,please call (541) 677-4800 or 1-800-237-9294to schedule a tour of our community.

20052005

AGRICULTURE

Croplands

have 60 acres in orchards, with peaches,plums and cherry trees.

And they grow hay on much of therest.

“We have some real low bottomlandthat we don’t irrigate,” Kruse said. “Wecan get four cuttings of alfalfa withoutirrigation.”

He said agriculture has changed dra-matically with the times in this county.Large farms in the Midwest make Ore-gon unprofitable for many crops likefield corn and wheat.

The county used to be known for itsturkeys, its prune plums and its cauli-flower.

Today, there is not one turkey at thecounty fair. The market for prunes disap-peared as diets changed and too manycold winters proved fatal to the local

cauliflower industry.Kruse doesn’t see a lot

of prime agriculture landgetting paved over asreal estate.

The rich soils are inthe floodplains, and inthe uplands the topsoilusually supports onlygrazing or rye grass.

“That same groundwould not raise alfalfa,”said Kruse. Alfalfa is the main source ofhay.

Much of the county’s rural land thathas been subdivided for housing devel-opments in recent years has been on theoak-covered hillsides that have thin soil.

The state has strict land use laws thatprotect prime agricultural land fromdevelopment to better assure an availablefood supply.

Without a zone change or possibleMeasure 37 request, land zoned exclu-sive farming use can only have one non-farm structure for every 80 acres.

But if a landowner wanted to developproperty, the county planning departmentwill work with the landowner to developanything, regardless of the sustainabilityof the development or how well-suitedthe land is for growing crops.

County planner Chuck Perino said theapplication will just be harder to processif it doesn’t conform to state land rules orcurrent zoning patterns.

“We’re very property-rights-orientedhere,” Perino said. “We do what we canto say, ‘Yes.’”

• You can reach reporter Chris Gray at957-4218 or by e-mail at [email protected].

After choosingand cutting itfrom the vine,Jeff Krusethrows a watermelonover his shoulder toone of theworkers atKruse Farms ina bottomlandfield along CurryRoad and nearthe SouthUmpqua River.


Prime agricultural land protected


AGRICULTURE

ADAM PEARSONThe News-Review

LIDE — Insteadof rummagingthrough the binsin the meat

department of a localstore for that perfectsteak, imagine having afreezer full of fine cutsand specially orderedtenderloins.

Instead of wonderingabout hormone injec-tions, antibiotics or arti-ficial coloring, imaginethe comfort in knowingyour beef is all-naturaland wasn’t fattened in afeed lot for optimalweight.

Imagine being able to picture thepasture where your beef was raisedand knowing what it was fed.

Imagine cutting out the middleman for homegrown beef.

“It’s a grade above whatever youcan buy at the grocery store,” saidRick Champion, a Portland residentof about six years and formerly ofRoseburg, who has purchased beef fromthe Shrum-Wright Ranch in Glide for aslong as he can remember. “It’s usuallysuperior. We know what they’re fed,and lean beef is what we want.”

Champion and his wife, Cindy, pur-chase a side of beef from the Shrum-Wright Ranch about once a year. Itsometimes lasts them the duration, butfrom time to time they also buy beeffrom the grocery store. However, they’dprefer to eat only homegrown beef, sincethey’re picky about what they eat andenjoy having it prepared to their liking.

“And we’re glad to pay for it,” he said.

On a recent late July morning at theShrum-Wright Ranch, five speciallyordered beef cattle were humanely putdown at the crack of dawn and slaugh-tered on site. The beef was prepared for“hanging,” a curing process of abouttwo weeks, and then butchered and cutto order.

“We’ve had customers that have beenwith us for probably 20 years,” saidRandy Shrum, co-owner of the Shrum-Wright Ranch and manager of the fami-ly business for about five years.

Vern Shrum, Randy Shrum’s grandfa-ther, began raising and selling home-grown beef more than 30 years ago. In

keeping with the all-natural beef busi-ness and tradition, Randy — a sixth-gen-eration Glide resident and also a fourth-grade teacher at Glide Elementary —has seen to it that nothing is imported tothe ranch, not calves or even hay. Hesold about 20 whole beef last year.

“They are strictly born here, bred hereand marketed here,” Shrum said of hisherd of cattle.

On his 360-acre spread, Shrum looksafter about 60 cows, 50 yearlings and 50calves. He leases another 100 acres ofthe ranch nearby.

Since the cattle are not given additivesor antibiotics to maintain an all-natural

label, Shrum checks their health withannual blood checks. If tests show anydeficiencies, he adds specially-blendedminerals or salts to the animals’ food.

To be considered organic, Shrum’s cat-tle would have to go through a number ofstringent tests, including verification ofeach animals’ breed, feed, veterinary careand other criteria — including no fertiliz-ers or pesticides used on the ranch —according to the U.S. Department ofAgriculture.

“We still worm our cows,” he said. After so many years of business,

There’s a market for backyard beef

JON AUSTRIA/News-Review photos

At right, butcher Josh Witten and butcher’s assistant Victor Henry of Oakland Lockers work at the Shrum-Wright ranch inGlide recently. Randy Shrum sells 15 to 20 ‘whole beef’ each summer to customers in Oregon in conjunction with OaklandLockers.

Oakland Locker’s Josh Witten, right, and Victor Henry butcher cat-tle on Shrum-Wright Ranch in Glide Monday.

Please turn to BEEF, page 19

Grown &Cut to order

G


~SINCE 1867~

Providing Douglas County with Award Winning News Coverage for 140 Years

O F D O U G L A S C O U N T Y672-3321 • 345 NE Winchester St

-SINCE 1903-

Serving you for over one hundred years!Different Name • Different Color

Same Family

-SINCE 1921-

Old Hwy. 99 South1st Nursery South of Winston, Next to the River

679-4006 • 1-800-606-4006Mon.-Sat. 9-5:30 • Sun. 9-4:30

Carl & Paula Riggs, Owners

HISTORIC WILDWOOD NURSERY

FormerlyC.E. Moyer Nurseries

DouglasCounty’s First,

Largest and Most Beautiful

-SINCE 1923-

TheContractor’s

Choice

TheContractor’s

Choice

1900 N.E. Airport Rd., Roseburg • (541) 672-2636Store Hours: Mon.-Fri. 6:00-5:30, Closed Sat. & Sun.

®

~SINCE 1929~

672-1663608 SE Lane Roseburg

For all your uniform needs

-SINCE 1936-

283 SW WESTERN, MYRTLE CREEK800-422-0536

Hank Shirtcliff

John D. Shirtcliff

-SINCE 1947-

353 Old Garden Valley Rd • 672-6768www.roens.com

• Calculators• Computers• Copiers• Typewriters

• CashRegisters

• Printers• Time Clocks

Machines • Supplies • Service

~SINCE 1954~

Riddle Pharmacy(541) 874-2406

142 Main Street, Riddle

Caring For You and About You

A Celebration of Business Anniversaries in Douglas County

CelebratingBusinesses

from 1867-1954


~SINCE 1965~

State Farm Insurance Products• Auto • Life • Fire • Health • Financial Services

Ken Clark, Agent1021 SE WashingtonRoseburg

672-3301fax 673-2159

-SINCE 1969-

Home Of The Sudden Service Gang4 Locations To Serve You In Douglas County

2460 NEStephensRoseburg672-6616

3825 N.Umpqua Hwy.,

Roseburg672-6745

133 S. OldPacific Hwy.,

Tri City863-5251

785 E.Central,

Sutherlin459-2270

LAUREN YOUNG TIRE CENTER

Lauren and Dena Young

-SINCE 1973-It’s been our

pleasure to serve Douglas County for

34 years!

Voted Readers Choice 5 years in a row!#1 Landscaping Co. • #2 Garden Shop

www.wintergreennursery.com

Across the bridge in Winston.Look for the big green roof.

Make Gardening Your Hobby

-SINCE 1977-

672-03062583 W. Harvard, Roseburg

Innovations in heating that will save you money!

-SINCE 1978-

Harrison’s Hardware124 SW Douglas • Winston • 679-8380

We’re the family to trust ...

for all your

hardware needs!

~SINCE 1982~Hearing Health Care Provider

672-0868

Best For Hearing527 NE Stephens

Cindy Vicky

Sales, Service & RepairsOn All Major Brands

~SINCE 1983~“We Guarantee What We Sell”

OREGON TOOL & SUPPLY

Tool rentals available

276 SE Stephens672-1935

Mon–Sat. 8am–6pm • Sunday 10am–3pm Also in Coos Bay!

Milo and the tool girls Andrea & Danielle with

Sadie the tool dog!

GOODCHECKS

CASHLAY-

A-WAYS

-SINCE 1984-

Improving the Quality of Communication Since 1984!Sales, Service & Installation

Phone: 672-3198 • Fax: 672-76611951 NW Mulholland, Ste. 4 • Roseburg



from 1965-1984


Locally owned by John Weaver

440-1078 Lic. #7328

Residential & Commercial

~SINCE 1984~

Landscape Design • IrrigationMaintenance

Your Premium Choice For~SINCE 1988~

OCCUPATIONALMEDICINEDouglas County’s First

DRUG TEST ING8–11:30 am & 1–4:30 pm

Call Sue Rifenbark for questions

WALK- INS WELCOMENo Unnecessary Waiting

541-677-74771951 NW Mulholland Dr. Suite 2AMonday–Friday 8:00–12:00 and 1:00–5:00

~SINCE 1996~

2405 Diamond Lake Boulevard • 957-9136

-SINCE 1997-

Doru Totoian MDBoard Certified Internal Medicine

Accepting New Patients673-6166

Edward J. Ottenheimer, III MDBoard Certified

Hematology/Medical Oncology673-0496

~SINCE 1998~

Douglas Home Care and Hospice500 SE Cass St, Suite 260Roseburg, OR (541) 440-2583

Integrity doesn’t need an introduction...We Provide:Skilled Nursing • Hospice ServicesPhysical/Speech/Occupational TherapistsBereavement and Chaplain Support MSW • Volunteer Services

~SINCE 2003~

Scott & Carla RutterFor all your Catering needs

5 4 1 - 6 4 3 - 5 9 9 6www.carlascreativecatering.com


from 1984-2003



AGRICULTURE

PAUL CRAIGThe News-Review

ouglas County hadnearly twice asmany acres of

pinot noir grapes growingin 2006 than it had of allwine grapes combinedjust 25 years earlier.

The growth of theUmpqua Valley’s wineindustry isn’t as stagger-ing as that in YamhillCounty — the undisputedquantity king of grapegrowing in Oregon — butit’s still substantial.

In 1982, there were 15vineyards growing 175acres of grapes, accord-ing to information provid-ed by the Oregon State Uni-versity Extension Serviceoffice in Roseburg.

In 2006, those numbers reached 36vineyards and 618 acres. Of those, 470acres were harvested which produced1,316 tons of grapes.

It all added up to nearly $4 millionworth of wine grape sales in 2006,which accounts for five percent of Dou-glas County’s total agricultural com-modity sales for the years.

“The mild climate in our countyallows the grape growers to come hereand grow both varieties from NorthernCalifornia and the Willamette Valley,”said Steve Renquist, OSU ExtensionService horticulture agent in Roseburg.

“On top of that, they come here

because our agricultural land is a littlecheaper,” he added.

There are 15 open tasting rooms inDouglas County. At least two more arescheduled to open in 2008.

People who grow grapes in theUmpqua Valley started doing so for avariety of reasons.

Terry and Sue Brandborg own Brand-borg Winery in Elkton. They moved toElkton from the San Francisco area hop-ing to find the perfect place to growpinot noir.

Good wine and a serious approach tomarketing has paid off for the Brand-borgs. Their first bottling produced2,500 cases in 2002. Productionincreased to 15,000 cases by 2006.

It all started with a trip to Elkton. “As soon as we drove into the area, it

had the right feel and looked right,” saidTerry Brandborg.

Stephen Reustle of Reustle-PrayerRock Vineyards got a similar feeling onhis first trip to Douglas County.

Reustle had owned a direct marketingcompany in New York for 17 years. Heand wife Gloria were looking to pur-chase a vineyard in Sonoma, when hefound a site listed in Douglas Countythat looked interesting.

Reustle traveled to the property nearUmpqua and was drawn to the shapeand grade of the land, along with thevegetation of the grounds.

“I felt like I was in Burgundy,France,” he said.

Steve Simmons, who started plantingMisty Oaks Vineyards in 2000, has dis-covered that this area can produce quali-ty Bordeaux varietals.

Simmons and wife Christy are caber-net fans and the cabernet grapes theygrew in their vineyards turned out well.

They tried growing other varieties thatrequire extra heat and succeeding ingrowing pinot gris, cabernet sauvignonand malbec.

The standout, Simmons said, is pinotblanc. It’s not a grape that the area isnecessarily known for, but it can begrown well. “It’s one of those that is yetto be, not necessarily discovered, but atleast commercialized,” he said.

John Bradley has been growing grapesat Bradley Vineyards in Elkton since1983. While pinot noir gets the mostattention locally and in the state, he saidriesling is another grape that theUmpqua Valley, and specifically Elkton,grows well.

It also shows the variety of grapes thatcan grow locally.

County wine grape production expands as sales hit nearly $4 million in 2006

MICHELLE ALAIMO/ News-Review file photos

Abacela Winery vineyard. Owner Earl Jones says the county has yet to fully tap its grape-growing potential.

Please turn to GRAPES, page 21

Growthof Grapes

D

Monday, August 27, 2007–The News-Review, Umpqua Edition Roseburg Oregon, Page 17

673-0601 • 1-800-452-0981

Hours: Monday-Saturday 8am-6pm Sunday 10am-6pm

3171 NE Stephens

• Feed

• Agriculture Products

• Livestock Supplies

• Landscape Items

• Fertilizer

• Irrigation

• Fencing

• Pet Supplies

• Housewares

• Clothing

www.douglascountyfarmerscoop.com

“Serving the Agricultural Community “Serving the Agricultural Community of Douglas County since 1921”of Douglas County since 1921”

Pre-Blast

2007

DOUGLAS COUNTY’S SOURCE FOR AFFORDABLE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS

Local Doctors

ATRIO Health Plans is a Coordinated Care Plan (CCP) with a Medicare Advantage contract.All Medicare beneficiaries with Medicare Parts A & B and who reside in the plan’s servicearea may apply. Enrolled members must use ATRIO Health Plans’ contracting providersfor routine care. Beneficiaries must continue to pay Part B premiums.

• Owned by Douglas County Physicians

• Committed to Douglas County Seniors andall Medicare Beneficiaries

• Dedicated to meeting your healthcare needswith high-quality, affordable plans thatextend your Medicare benefits

For information, call:672-8620

Working for

Your Local Medicare Advantage Plan

500 SE Cass, Ste. 230, Roseburg(541) 672-8620, TTY (800) 735-2900

www.atriohp.com

Local Seniors

AGRICULTURE

AKLAND — It took aprecipitous drop inthe price of sheep tolead Oakland ranch-

ers Cliff and Marilyn Burketo explore the market in Boermeat goats.

Sheep prices slipped tobetween 50 and 55 cents perpound in the 1990s, thoughthey’ve since recovered to

between 90 and 95 centsper pound, said MarilynBurke. Boer goats, pri-marily used for breedingstock when they were firstbrought to North Americafrom South Africa in themid ‘90s, now fetch around$1.10 per pound, she said.

Boer goats are a large, sturdy breed,and the Burkes have found “there’s agreat demand for the meat, not necessari-ly in this county, but in the bigger cities,”said Marilyn.

Oregon Meat Goat Producers, a region-

al consortium of goat ranchers currentlyled by Marilyn Burke, reports that 80 per-cent of the world’s population eats goatmeat, with the U.S. importing more than20 million pounds of goat meat per year.

The high demand helps account for thestability of goat prices, which have beenon the rise recently. The high meat con-tent is also a good selling point for poten-tial buyers.

“You get quite a bit more meat out of a

Boer goat thanyou do a dairygoat,” Marilynsaid, explain-ing that 55 to57 percent of aBoer goat isconverted intomeat versus

48 to 49 percent of a dairy goat.Aside from being president of OMGP,

a group comprised of about 400 mem-bers from four states that was started inDouglas County in 2003 to promote themeat goat industry, Marilyn and CliffBurke work full time at their 140-acreElkhead Road ranch, Ewetopia Farms.

The Boerthe Merrier

A Boer goatbuckling,props him-self on afence atEwetopiaFarms nearOakland.

Please turn to GOATS, page 21

Goat breed gains popularity as meat source

O JON AUSTRIA/The News-Review

CHRISTIAN BRINGHURSTThe News-Review


AGRICULTURE

ERIK SKOOGThe News-Review

here just isn’t asmuch of a future insheep as there usedto be.

Sheep production inDouglas County hasdropped drastically dur-ing the past 26 yearswhile market fluctuationshave led to changes inlivestock production.

Generally, livestockproduction is down insheep, cattle, hogs andchickens, according to theNational AgriculturalStatistics Service Website. The decline is espe-cially sharp for sheep,however. Since there were98,000 head in 1983,numbers have steadilydropped to the current2006 estimate of about44,000 sheep (ewes, andlambs that go to market by6 months old).

The trend is a national one, saidJanet Shea, an agricultural statisticianwith the Oregon Agricultural StatisticsService. “People just aren’t eating asmuch lamb as they used to and they’re(farmers and ranchers) moving on toother things and prices just aren’t asgood,” she said.

A significant price reductionoccurred from 2005 to 2006, when 100pounds of lamb could be purchased for$101. In 2006, the same weight began

fetching $89.60. The expense of maintaining a flock

of sheep is also outstripped by the rel-atively lower cost of maintaining aherd of cattle, said longtime sheeprancher LaVerne Murphy of Umpqua.

At 93 years old, Murphy may wellknow everything there is to knowabout the business of raising sheep. Hetook over his family’s 220-acre farm in1937, when rose bushes seemed to bethe main crop, he said. About 30 yearslater, Douglas County was the mainsheep producer in Oregon, until thepopularity of cattle took hold.

“In the 1970s, the price of lambsweren’t exceeding what could be donewith cattle,” Murphy said.

Although he doesn’t actively raise

lambs now, Murphy said the declinecan also be attributed to predators, dis-eases like footrot and the labor-inten-sive lambing and feeding process.

“They will tell you today that ittakes more sheep than cattle to make agood living,” Murphy said.

Feeding cattle is also easier thanfeeding sheep, and can be done withlarge round bales. Sheep, a grazinganimal, can also be fed with hay but ithas to be flaked off, he said.

Competing markets can also take atoll on local ranchers as the importa-tion of lamb from places like NewZealand and Australia has increased.

“Sometimes it seems like you’vealmost got as good a chance in LasVegas at a casino as you do farming,”

Murphy said.Kathy Panner, a partner in Cedar

Park Grazing in Riddle, said manylamb growers have switched to cattlebecause they are less difficult totend.

Predators such as coyotes, dogs andcougars are also more of a threat tosheep than cattle because the cattle arebigger and more likely to hold theirground and take a stand against a pred-ator.

“It’s not uncommon to lose 50 headin a few days because of predators,”Panner said of sheep.

• You can reach reporter Erik Skoogat 957-4202 or by e-mail [email protected].

Sheep numbers slump

JON AUSTRIA/The News-Review

LaVerne Murphy, a retired Umpqua area sheep rancher, remembers when there was 100,000 sheep in DouglasCounty. Murphy said declining lamb prices, predator problems and disease were factors in sheep numbers declining.

Production of lamb in county has decreased due to price, people’s taste, market, predators

T


KEEP UP THEGOOD WORK!

835 Sheridan • 673-7122

Thank you for your cooperation in helping to conserve our landfill resources. By changing our throw away habits, we promote a healthier pollution free environment.Here’s how we did in 2006

Newspaper ........................ 259.48 tonsCardboard ..................... 1,534.24 tonsPlastic Bottles .................... 43.40 tons Scrap Metal ....................... 20.75 tonsUsed Motor Oil .................... 912 gals.Aluminum ........................... 1,309 lbs.

AGRICULTURE

Shrum said his all-natural beef is marketedmainly by word-of-mouth. He sells beef— a minimum of a half — to customersfrom Redmond to Eugene and Portland.

“They end up calling me,” he said. One side of beef can weigh as much as

200 to 225 pounds. Hanging weight is$1.80 a pound, a considerable increasefrom $1.20 a pound Shrum charged aboutsix years ago. The price increase hascaused Shrum to slaughter fewer cattlefor market each year.

The drive behind the price increase,Shrum said, is largely related to the priceincrease in fuel, which also causes the costof grain and other food to spike. The fed-eral government’s embargo on beef fromCanada the past few years has also causedthe price of homegrown beef to increase.

Customers are charged a $60 “kill fee,”including a $10 rendering fee for animalwaste, for every whole beef purchased.

But those fees are paid to OaklandLockers, a mobile slaughtering unit.

Josh Witten, a fifth-year owner of Oak-land Lockers, prepares each animal at the

Shrum-Wright Ranch for hanging. It’s aservice he provides about 700 times ayear to ranchers throughout DouglasCounty. His on-site butchery is at itsbusiest during spring and summer, beforecattle lose any weight.

“People try and get them butcheredbefore the grass dries,” said Witten, a tallman in his early 30s who bought OaklandLockers from his mentor, Jerry Harris,nearly six years ago.

Oakland Lockers has processed beeffor the customers of the Shrum-WrightRanch for about 30 years.

“They’re just purchasing the animaldirect from Randy Shrum,” said Witten,who also charges $0.41 per pound to cutand wrap the meat to order.

Though it takes a considerable up-frontinvestment, Witten said it pays off to buy aside of beef and have it butchered to order.

“If you were to buy the same amount inthe store, I think you’d spend more in thelong run,” he said.

• You can reach reporter Adam Pear-son at 957-4213 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Beef: Fuel costs linked to meatContinued from page 12


• Tasting Room Open Daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.• Free Tasting of Award Winning Wines• Henry Goes Wine Festival held the 3rd Saturday in August

• Facility Rentals for Weddings & Private Parties

• Boutique Gift Shop• Children, Dog & RV Friendly• Flower Gardens• Tours By Appointment

&687 Hubbard Creek RoadPO Box 26 • Umpqua, OR 97486

Winery: 541.459.5120Toll free: 1.800.782.2686Fax: 541.459.5146Website: [email protected]: www.henryestate.com

AmenitiesEvents

For the Best Qualityand Service for

Over 27 yearsCars, Trucks,

Motorhomes, RVs

C A R S • T R U C K S • M O T O R H O M E S • R V s

• Alignments• Brakes• Shocks & Struts• Suspension

• Wheel Balance• Custom Exhaust• Custom U-Bolts

Monday-Friday8:00 to 6:00

Saturday 8:00 to Noon

1540 NE Diamond Lake Blvd, Roseburg • 672-9491

We put you back where you belong...

On the On the road.road.

Jay & Jan TaylorOwners

AGRICULTURE

JOHN GIVOTThe News-Review

he market for organicfoods is thriving allover the nation, andDouglas County is no

exception.The trend is fed by both

consumer demand andfarmers wanting to makethe shift.

There are 11 certifiedorganic farms in DouglasCounty and numerous smallfarms that grow their pro-duce without herbicides andpesticides, but do not havecertification.

“I think organic is reallykeeping agriculture alive,there is no doubt in mymind,” said Richard Wilen,owner of the 83-acre Hay-hurst Organic Farm andNursery in Yoncalla. “Interms of recruiting new peo-ple, I think it’s great forrural Oregon.”

Organic food is loosely defined ashaving been grown “naturally,” notusing herbicides and pesticides, and it isdefined by the federal regulators fromthe U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We just made up that name andgave it a definition,” Wilen said. “But,it’s just a word, and kind of a stupidword, everything’s organic.”

He has been farming for about 30

years and was certified organic for 15years. Last year he stopped dealingwith the “busy work” required to keephis certification, but said he still farmsthe same.

“There is a ‘natural’ move rightnow,” he said. “It is essentially organicby another name.”

Organic farming is also a benefit forpeople who want to buy fresh, local,

natural produce. The main outlets forsmall-scale growers are farm standsand farmers markets.

The markets, which are usually out-door and seasonal, happen once or twicea week. Farmers have booths fromwhich they sell their wares directly toconsumers.

Organic alternative booms


Dede Burning, left, Cheryl Richards and Jimi O'Hare sort orange slice tomatoes at The Berry Patch, in Roseburg.

Please turn to ORGANIC, page 24

‘Natural’ farmersfinding their niche

T


oregonfirstccu.org

At Oregon First, you'll talk to a friendly decision-maker, who is an expert in commercial lending and understands local business. They will get to know your business and personalize your loan to fit your needs.

After 50 years of helping people realize their dreams, now we can help your business too.

● United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Loan Programs

● Agriculture Loans● Operating Loans● Operating Lines-of-Credit● Equipment Loans● Commercial Real Estate Loans● Residential Tract Development Loans● Letters of Credit

John GodinesSr. Commercial Loan Officer

150 E. Johnson Ave. Coos Bay, OR 97420541.267.5115 Ext 229

Lucette LovellCommercial Loan Officer150 E. Johnson Ave. Coos Bay, OR 97420541.267.5115 Ext 242

We're a local commercial We're a local commerciallender celebrating 50 years.lender celebrating 50 years.

We're a local commercial lender celebrating 50 years.

Lending you more to work with.

AGRICULTUREMarilyn Burkewatches over

her goats at herranch near

Oakland.Marilyn and her

husband CliffBurke raise

Boer goats, aparticular breed

of goats fromAfrica, that have

been gainingpopularity overthe last several

years.

They own about 130 full-blood Boernannies — or female goats — four bucksand some 120 ewes.

Most of the Boer goat ranchers inDouglas County own far fewer than that.

Cheryl and Jerry Bendle of MyrtleCreek also raise Boer goats, with a smallherd of 28 goats. They have a ranch onFrozen Creek Road off of North MyrtleRoad.

“They’re fairly easy to raise,” saidCheryl of the goats. “They eat things thatcows won’t. They’ll clean up your pasturebetter, they love berries and poison oak.”

The Bendles used to raise sheep exclu-sively, but, like the Burkes, started rais-ing Boer goats when the sheep marketwent south.

They still have a couple dozen sheep,as well as alpacas and llamas, on their155-acre spread. Most of that is trees,with only 15 acres of actual pasture land.

Cheryl Bendle said Boer goats tend togain weight quickly and there is a goodmarket for them.

“It’s ethnic, mostly, right now,” shesaid of the market. “We’re trying tochange that to get more people to try andenjoy goat meat ... you can use it inrecipes as much as beef.”

Goat meat is leaner and lower in cho-lesterol than beef, however.

“We like ‘em, they’re nice gentle crea-tures,” Cheryl said.

• You can reach Web Editor/AssistantCity Editor Christian Bringhurst at 957-4216 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Goats: Some people haveswitched from sheep to goats


“I could sell three times as much ries-ling as I have,” Bradley said.

Douglas County had 347 acres of pinotnoir grapes growing in 2006, accordingto a National Agricultural Statistics Ser-vice report. That was the most of anyindividual grape by far, with pinot grisaccounting for 60 acres, chardonnay for58 and merlot for 54.

In 1982, there were 38.5 acres of pinotnoir — both bearing and not bearing fruit— in Douglas County. White riesling wasactually the most planted wine grape 25years ago with 48 acres locally.

There were no merlot and no pinot grisplants accounted for in the 1982 study.

Earl Jones, owner of the Umpqua Val-ley’s Abacela Winery, said there is noreason to believe growth won’t continuein the Umpqua Valley.

He compared it to the growth of Cali-fornia’s wine industry, saying there isn’tmuch more room to plant in that state,while the Umpqua Valley hasn’t eventapped into 1 percent of its potential.

“We can look at the rate in which newvineyards and new wineries are comingonline. We've doubled since the mid orlate 90s,” Jones said. “If we keep grow-ing at that rate, I mean, think what it'sgoing to be in 50 years.”

• You can reach reporter Paul Craig at957-4211 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Grapes: Pinot noir most popularContinued from page 16



Birthday Review

Douglas County2007

1978North

County Realty1392 W. Central

Sutherlin, Oregon 97479

(541)459-2232www.northcountyrealty.net

• Richard F. Shorey,

Principal Broker

• Norman N. Nelson, Broker

• Bob Pruitt,Broker

• Kathy Farley,Office Manager

“We know the Territory”

P

1959“You list them,I’ll sell them”

Let me put my 43 years of experience to work

for you!

(541) 863-52641-800-676-2409304 N. Main, Myrtle

Creek

1972

HOME Insulation

Services, Inc.

QUICK, COURTEOUS FREE ESTIMATES

…Don’t Forget to

Call Home!

7387 Hwy 99N between Winchester/Wilbur

PO Box 804, Winchester

(541) 672-6388

1976GLEN IVYKENNELS

“Where Pets Are Treated Like Royalty”

ı Boarding ıˆTraining ˆ

2938 Hwy 42, Winston

(541) 679-6288

1982

1985MR. E

EnterprisesExhaust/Auto Sales

éForeign & Domestic

Auto-Light Trucks-RV’sCustom Pipe BendingPerformance Exhaust

1550 S. Comstock, Sutherlin459-5399

1985DISCOUNT

TRANSMISSIONS

Your Transmission is our

#1 Concern.Guaranteed Work

177 W. Everett in Sutherlin~ 459-2207 ~

1987Green Valley Diesel

vLight, Medium,

Heavy Duty Diesel Repair

Cummins•Cat•DetroitMobile Service Available

1473 Austin Rd. Roseburg(Green Dist.) 679-7402

Owners Gary & Juli Yates

1992Steelhead Run Bed & Breakfast & Fine Art

GalleryA County Resort

On the North Umpqua

ÙSpecializing in

groups,family reunions

& weddings.

23049 N. Umpqua Hwy 138 Glide(541)496-0563•800-348-0563

www.steelheadrun.com

1996Serafinos

Open daily at 11 am224 N. Main, Canyonville

839-6122

Auto Body Inc.Professional Repairs

“All Repairs Guaranteed”Domestic • Import

Cars & Trucks2675 NE Diamond Lk

(541)673-1006Mon - Fri, 8 am - 5pm

SHOP DOUGLAS COUNTY

Everyone Benefits

It MakesSense.

IT CREATESDOLLARS!

Douglas County is a great place to live

and work!

1956Ken’s Dry Cleaning

672-1891470 NE Garden Valley Blvd

Roseburg, OR 97470


Birthday Review

Douglas County2007

Kruse’s Farm

MarketFRESH

PRODUCEIn store bakery & gift room

U-Pick avail. in season.Melrose at

Garden Valley Rd.

541-672-5697Toll free 1-888-575-4268

www.krusefarms.com

1923

KNUDTSON’SJEWELERS

Serving Douglas County

Since 1884

Custom & Designer Jewelry, Platinum & White Gold, Estate

& Consignment Jewelry, Giftware, Watches, Clocks,

Watchmaker, Goldsmiths,

Engraver, Certified Gemologist Appraisers.

535 N.E. Stephens 672-2617

1884

1931Ireland

Trucking

361 N. Old Pacific Hwy

Myrtle Creek, OR 97457

1946

(541) 863-5241

1947Johnwell

UpholsteryBoats • RV’s

• Boat tops & Interior• Repair & Recoveries• Carpets

1427 SE Stephens 673-5448

1947Roseburg Glass CO.

LARGEST & Most Complete Glass Company

in Douglas County

237 SE MILLER ST. 672-2685

1950

Great People, Great Products,

Great CustomersWe are a family owned company that enjoys working with people in pursuit of fi nding logs for our

special products. We purchase the following species:

• Port Orford Cedar• Incense Cedar

• Douglas FirWe buy logs from 6” on the small

end to 60” on the big end.Please call us at Riddle, OR(541) 874-2281

Ask for:Rodney Evens, Gary Schroeder,

or Darin McMichael

For more information see our web sites at

www.cdlumber.com

HUNTS CHAINSAW SALES & SERVICE

Finest Quality Clothing, Boots & Supplies for

the Outdoors!

1387 NE Stephens672-1272

1945

TIM’SAPPLIANCE

541-672-1661

Harvard Ave. & W. Fairhaven

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9-5:30 Sat. 9-3

1950

1867Umpqua

Dairy

Since 1953 we have been serving up the best dairy products in Douglas County.

2007 Quality Chek’dIrving B. Weber Award

Winner for Total Quality Excellence

Umpteen Flavors...So Little Time!

¨∂¨∂

TheNews-Review

Publishing Company

¨∂¨∂The One Daily

Newspaper In The World That Cares Most About

Douglas County.

Your award winning

community newspaper.

345 NE Winchester

(541) 672-3321


Bunyard’s Barnyard

1201 Harlan St., Roseburg 672-9380 [email protected]

Janice & Michael BunyardThursday thru Sunday 10 am - 5 pm Other days & times by

• Culinary Herbs• Native Plants• Small Trees & More...

“We Come to You”

AGRICULTURE

Because there is no distributor, or mid-dle man, the farmers earn more for thelimited amount of goods they grow andsell, allowing small operations to be moreeconomically feasible.

“If anything it is the growth of thefarmers markets that has helped the smallfarmer, and probably the big ones too,”Wilen said.

Only one farm sells at the Umpqua Val-ley Farmer’s Market in Roseburg is certi-fied organic, but all vendors farm withoutherbicides or pesticides, according toKeri Pratt, the market manager.

For a farm to get the organic label, itmust be certified by a third-party organi-zation, such as Oregon Tilth.

Regulations stipulate that no herbicidesor pesticides be used, and it takes threeyears after their use is stopped for a farmto be able to be certified. It must alsomaintain or encourage biological diversi-ty, and it must have “buffers” between itand other farms that use chemicals. Ani-mals, to be certified organic, must not begiven antibiotics or growth hormones,and their feed must also be organic.

The organic approach is healthier forboth the land and people, Wilen said. Itkeeps the herbicides, pesticides andchemical fertilizers out of the soil, watersources, streams and rivers.

“There are studies that show that somethings like winter squash, their flesh willaccumulate pesticide residues and theirflesh will have 10 times the level of PPM(parts per million) of pesticide residue,”he said. “The seeds will have 100 to one.So they will accumulate it in their tissues.Plants will be able to absorb pesticidesfrom way back. They stay in the environ-ment like that, they don’t go away. That’swhy they are so bad. And they probablystay in the body too.”

Janis Bunyard, former president of thefarmers market and current customer,said she doesn’t think she gets as muchnutrition from conventional foods, andattributes it in part to the irradiation thatfruits and vegetables get so they will lasta long time.

She said that fresh is more important toher than organic.

“A lot of the conventional foods that gothrough the supermarket have to last along time, so they treat them,” she said.“Local is my preference. I’ll do local andfresh and then organic.”

Wilen agrees with and emphasizes theimportance of local, and expounds on itlike a connoisseur.

“The fresh local thing is the biggestthing. It’s huge,” he said. “It’s really adifferent food experience. When you goto the Farmers Market, it (produce) is oneday old. When you go the store, nothingis that fresh.”

Chris Schreiner from Oregon Tilth saidthere is a growing body of studies thatshow that the nutritional quality of foodand the level of antioxidants is higher fororganic food than conventional. Go to

organiccenter.org/science.html to see thestudies he references.

Harmon and Noreane Walker own theBerry Patch with farms outside ofCanyonville, Myrtle Creek, and Rose-burg. They are the largest organic tomatogrower in the Pacific Northwest, accord-ing to Harmon. They are currently pro-ducing about 5,000 pounds or about15,000 tomatoes a day, which get shippedall along Interstate 5 from California toCanada, plus another 1,000 pounds of



From left, Devin Mecham, Noreane Walker, Rex Eddings, Betty Rust and Alisha Hatton sort cherry tomatoes at The BerryPatch in Roseburg recently.

Organic chemicals can’t be used in production

Please turn to ORGANIC, page 33


Flury SupplyFlury Supply3021 NE Stephens 672-3371

Complete Line of Fresh Produce Local Produce in Season

Our Bakery Features: Homemade Pies, Cinnamon Rolls & Carrot CakesOregon Products • Gift Baskets (custom made) • Fresh Berries In Season

Locally Grown Umpqua Valley Lamb • Emerald Hills Ground Beef Monte’s “The Dog House” (open daily)

Garden Valley & Melrose Rd.Toll Free 1-888-575-4268 • 672-5697

www.krusefarms.com

84 years and still growing!

Delivery & Shipping Available

Visit Our

GreenhouseApril-June

OPEN DAILY thru January

AGRICULTURE

CHELSEA DUNCANThe News-Review

earing closingtime at theUmpqua Valley

Farmers Market inRoseburg one recentSaturday, the O’Neillshad almost sold out ofthe melons and otherproduce they’d broughtfrom Happy ValleyFarm.

Picking the melonsthe night before, Den-

nis O’Neill has becomeadept at the smellingand thumping it takesto know when the fruitson his wife’s farm inGreen are ripe.

“It’s grower grown, growerpicked and grower sold,” saidO’Neill about the produce soldat the market in the parking lotof the Mercy Medical CenterInstitute of Rehabilitation.

Still, the wares brought to thelocal market on Saturdays aresmall-time compared to whatRobin O’Neill sells each timeshe takes a trip to the Coos BayFarmers Market. That’s when

the flatbed truck gets loaded upfor a quick-paced market thatmakes the drive worthwhile.

“She sells it fast,” DennisO’Neill said of his wife, addingthat people on the coast greatlyappreciate the fresh produce.

When the O’Neills helpedstart the local market more thana dozen years ago, it wasbecause their garden had growntoo large. And even though thatgarden has turned into acres offarmland, they still only selltheir excess there.

As the market has movedabout Roseburg, it has seen vari-ous levels of success in terms ofdrawing in both vendors and

Farmers’ market fresh

Please turn to MARKET, page 29


Beans such as these are picked in the 24 hours prior to theSaturday Farmers Market to keep them fresh for the customer.

Umpqua Valley farmers work for Saturday customers

N


AGRICULTURE

anching is afamily affair forDan and Bre-

anne Dawson.Both of them grew up

on local ranches, andthe Dixonville-areacouple wasted no timecontinuing their familytraditions by buyingtheir first piece ofranch land three yearsinto their marriage.

However, like manylocal families involvedin the agricultureindustry, they need anextra source of incometo supplement theranching operation.

While Dan is running sheepand cattle on the couple’s Tem-ple Brown Road place or theirother property in Glide, Bre-anne teaches second grade at SunnyslopeIntermediate.

“We’re just starting out, and it’s hard,”said Dan. “To make it I shear sheep onthe side, too.”

Dan, 29, also guides hunting parties inthe fall to further supplement theirincome. Though Breanne works outsideof the home, she helps Dan out on theranch too.

During her summers off, Breanne, 28,helps tend the 1,000 breeding ewes and100 cattle the couple own. Summer taskson the ranch include changing irrigationlines, building fences, getting hay in thebarn and feeding animals.

She often does double-duty during theschool year. During lambing season, fromapproximately January to April, it’s notunusual for Breanne to come home fromschool and help with lambing duties until

the wee hours the next morning beforegoing to bed to rest for the next school day.

“She’s real busy too,” Dan said.Marcia Santos, Breanne’s aunt, also

supplements her family’s income with ateacher’s salary. She teaches history atGlide Middle School, while her husband,Don Santos, focuses on their 800-acreGlide ranch.

“There’s very few ranches that are ableto sustain themselves anymore because ofthe markets,” said Marcia. “By us work-ing it has continued to allow our hus-bands to do the things they like to do.”

An added bonus of having a spousework outside the home is the insurancebenefits offered by employers. “It’s ahuge benefit,” Marcia Santos said.

Don and Marcia also involved theirthree children, now grown, in the dailyranch routine.

“They did it all. They made hay, they

worked animals, they rode roundup ...any part of the ranch work they havedone, and that includes my two girls,”Marcia said. “I think it personally was thebest way to raise a family ... they have avery good work ethic, all three of them.”

Don and his father, Gilbert Santos, andhis brother, Paul Santos, grow hay on 45acres of irrigated pasture, tend between 90and 100 mother cows — mostly blackAngus — and care for 200 ewes. Marciaand Paul’s wife, Rexene — who is BreanneDawson’s mother — help out when needed.

Rexene also works outside the home, atCaddock Electronics.

Marcia says one of her favorite aspectsof their lifestyle is getting to help outagain once school is over for the year.

“Having the time in the evening tocheck calves or irrigation ... to me that’sjust the ultimate breath of fresh air, justcause I’m not geared 100 percent toward

school and gradingpapers.”

On Gary andChristi Helbling’s450-acre spread atthe south end ofRoseburg, she isthe primary ranch-er. Gary currentlyworks for MercyMedical Centerdoing remodeling,and before that heowned Gary’s Pre-hung Doors andCabinets.

“We run abouttwo hundred headof ewes,” saidChristi, adding thatthey used to raisecattle and horses ontheir Mistletoe HillLane property, too.

At the age of 60,Christi still handlesfeeding, wormingand lambing,though she getshelp from Gary, 61,and her grandchil-dren with thingslike shearing andgetting hay.

She said her twogrown daughters help out when necessary,though they’ve lost their taste for it aftergrowing up doing such chores. “They stillgrumble about it. They don’t like to helpanymore; they remember how traumatic itwas. They make their kids help instead,”she said, wryly.

Though the sheep operation pays foritself, it doesn’t provide enough incometo support the couple without Gary’s job.Still, it’s the lifestyle that attracts peoplelike the Helblings to ranching.

“It’s hard to give up the farming, it’skind of a way of life,” said Christi, whoseancestors secured the property through theDonation Land Act three generations ago.“I’ve lived on this place my whole life.”

• You can reach Web Editor/Assistant CityEditor Christian Bringhurst at 957-4216 orby e-mail at [email protected].

Outside jobs help beef up the bottom line for some ranching families

MICHELLE ALAIMO/The News-Review

Breanne Dawson, left, gets a shot ready for a sheep as her husband Dan preps the animal to shear while thecouple work sheep on their ranch near Dixonville recently. While Dan runs sheep and cattle, Breanne teachessecond grade at Sunnyslope Intermediate School in Green for another source of income. But during the sum-mer, Breanne helps Dan with the ranch work.

Moonlightin’on theRanch

CHRISTIAN BRINGHURSTThe News-Review

R


HEALSHEALSTHE HEARTTHE HEART

CanyonvilleChristian Academy

• Beautiful campus• Caring staff• Award-winning academics and sports• “College Now” Mathematics• Cultural field trips & fun-filled

activities• Fully accredited by NAAS

Transportation available

Quality Education for Day & Boarding Students Grades 9-12

For more information, call (888) CCA-6379 • (541) 839-4401www.canyonville.net

P.O. Box 1100, Canyonville, OR 97417

Living Hope Books PlusServing Christ in Our Community!

Family Video Rentals

Music Gifts Books

Bibles & More!Monday-Friday . . 9:30 am-6:00 pmSaturday . . . . . . . 10:00 am-4:00 pm

1350 NE Stephens #43 (Next to Big Lots)

464-0704livinghopebooksonline.com

St. George’s Episcopal Church“Faith working through love”

Sunday: 8:00 & 9:30* AM(Christian education for all at 11:05 AM)

*Child care providedWednesdays: 10:00 AMEstablished 1860

1024 SE Cass(541) 673-4048

Oak

Kane

Mai

n

Cass

A Church of the Nazarene“Making Christlike disciplesin Douglas County& throughout the world”

Sunday Worship: 10:30 am and 6:00 pmWednesday Services for all ages: 7:00 pm

3500 NE Diamond Lake Blvd., Roseburg(541) 672-4806

Church on the Rise

Come enjoy our services and ministry of our church and school.

Sunday Services: 7:45 AM (May - September),and 10:00 AM (year around)

Christian Education for all ages Sunday 8:45 AMFor more information call 673-7212

St. Paul Lutheran Church and School750 W. Keady Ct. Roseburg

FAITFAITH…


UMPQUA VALLEYFARMERS MARKETEVERY SATURDAY

Mid April thru October 9AM - 1PMAcross the street from Offi ce Depot at 2400 Stewart Parkway

SEASONAL LOCAL PRODUCE , SEASONAL LOCAL PRODUCE , PLANTS AND CRAFTSPLANTS AND CRAFTSAN EVER CHANGING SELECTION OF PRODUCTS AN EVER CHANGING SELECTION OF PRODUCTS

FOR INFO CALL KERI (541) 673-7579 or (541) [email protected]

AGRICULTURE

ADAM PEARSONThe News-Review

MPQUA — Ripe forthe picking, a widevariety of fruit abound

in Douglas County. Lest itrot on the vine, en masse, theUmpqua Gleaners will har-vest it for a good cause. Andalso take home some of it forbaked goods.

When the blueberry seasoncame to a close in late Julyat Haven Blueberry Farm inUmpqua, and not enoughfruit remained on the vine toopen the “you-pick” busi-ness, but enough to make amess, Susan Haven knewwho to call.

“(The Gleaners) do a goodjob of getting berries out ofthe field,” Haven said.

With half of each pick going to theUmpqua Community Action Network,the Gleaners split the other half of eachharvest between themselves and“adoptee” families. They recently spent afew hours each morning for a couple ofweeks harvesting blueberries from rowsof shrubs near the Umpqua River.

“It’s something we can share,” Havensaid.

One overcast morning, Jackie Ingalls,

who’s been a Gleaner for 14 years, sat ona pail, her usual mode of operation sinceshe recently had reconstructive anklesurgery, and picked blueberries plumperthan marbles from the 4-foot trees. Avolunteer coordinator for the organiza-tion, Ingalls doesn’t allow her bother-some ankle or the long drive from herhome in Camas Valley to deter her frompicking 20 pounds of blueberries a day.

“I’m determined to help the needy,”Ingalls said. “I know what it is to bedown-and-out.”

Moving down rows of shrubs adjacentto her, a half-dozen other Gleanersstripped blueberry bunches and dropped

them in pails to a “plunk, plunk, plunk”sound.

‘”Hey Pam, where ya at?’” Ingallshollered out. “’I see you missed some,’”and pointed to a bunch of fat blueberrieshanging barely above the ground.

Usually working during the weekbecause UCAN doesn’t open its doorsfor donations on the weekend, the Glean-ers begin their day around 9 a.m. and fin-ish picking by noon; before the day heatsup.

Fred Smith, a longtime-Gleaner andpresident of the organization, said 16 to17 years ago, there were about 30 Glean-ers ready to pick. They even had a full-

time, paid coordinator then. But now the Gleaners are

short of hands. With manyvolunteers well past retire-ment age, and getting older,they have a hard enough timebringing together a full crew.Sometimes Smith has to bringin ‘retired’ members.

“I re-upped,” explains 76-year-old Hugh Fretwell, whosays he was urged to gleanagain by Smith. “The reason Iglean — I hate waste.”

“In biblical times, theGleaners went in after the har-vest and salvaged what wasleft,” Fretwell furtherexplained.

“We do it all,, from cuttingfirewood too picking nec-tarines, beets, beans andapples. “You name it.”

Jeanine Caffey, food chairsprogram coordinator atUCAN, said the Gleaners’adoptee families are usuallylow-income seniors or otherswho are disabled and unable

to glean. This past fiscal year, 2006 through

2007, over 11,000 pounds of gleanedproduce was brought to UCAN.

First-year Gleaners, the Jutsons kepttheir fingers busy this summer. In twohours, they could sometimes pick nearly60 pounds of blueberries.

Geri Jutson, of Roseburg, said she andher three kids first gleaned for strawber-ries at Deer Creek Farms. “It soundedlike a good opportunity to help with thelocal food bank and at the same time,enjoy some good local produce,” shesaid.

Glean & Cleanfor a worthy cause, aiding county’s less fortunate


Sarah Jutson, 17, and brother Jacob, 14, behind bushes, pick blueberries while their moth-er Geri holds a full bucket of the fruit they gleaned recently at Haven Blueberry Farm inUmpqua.The family volunteers with the Umpqua Gleaners.

U

So you know ...For more informa-

tion on gleaning, con-tact Jackie Ingalls at445-2424.


Where can I find equipment thatworks hard but isn’t

hard on me?

Who has Performance-Matched implements?

Kubota tractors/mowers/excavators

THE ANSWER ISKUBOTA

MONTEITHEQUIPMENT COMPANY

2165 N.E. STEPHENS ST. • ROSEBURG, OR

541-672-3369541-672-3369

Which dealer can I rely onfor knowledge and service?

Who has the right equipmentfor the job?

EVERYTHING YOU VALUE IS

RIGHT HERE

AGRICULTURE


Rob Horn of Roseburg looks at some chain saw wood carvings at Ed Rosemey-er’s booth at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market in the Mercy Medical CenterInstitute of Rehabilitation parking lot in Roseburg recently.

customers. “At first we did it mostly forthe fun because we’d only make $30,”said Janice Bunyard of Bunyard’s Barn-yard of Roseburg, who started out as acustomer in the beginning and then wenton to sell for seven years. “… When thecommunity grasped the idea of healthy,local produce, we saw that we could actu-ally make some money.”

What was up until this year called theDouglas County Farmers Market startedout at the old Gove’s Market on DiamondLake Boulevard. Bunyard said it thenmoved to the parking lot of the old BonMarche at the Roseburg Valley Mall, a sitethat brought good exposure.

When plans to put in a Red Robin restau-rant started up in 2005, the market moved tothe Rite-Aid lot on the other side of themall. Hidden behind the trees and shrubberythat surrounds the mall, the market was hardto spot for passers-by and customers andvendors alike dwindled, vendors say.

A stint in the Home Depot lot failed dueto cramped quarters, said Bunyard, also apast president of the market’s board ofdirectors and board member since last year.This year’s new spot in the Mercy parkinglot, highly visible to drivers on StewartParkway, seems just right.

“We’re just now starting to come backagain,” said Keri Pratt, the market’s man-ager and a vendor of handmade jewelry.

She said the number of members, at 55now, has remained about the same in recentyears. But the amount of those who partici-pate has risen since the recent move.

In recent years, more craft vendors havejoined in. Pratt thinks that adds variety tothe market, though others miss the pro-duce focus of the old days.

Up until last year, Pratt had traveled tothe Eugene Saturday Market, but then

realized the local market included morethan produce.

“They come to support the market,”Pratt said of the vendors in general. “And,it’s just fun.”

In return, though, vendors say they needthe support of the community.

Karen Wagner, project manager with theU.S. Department of Agriculture’sStatewide Farmers’ Market Promotionprogram, said markets in rural areas facethe most stress and instability, financiallyspeaking.

Market representatives must work toraise awareness about the importance ofsupporting such businesses for customersused to cheaper and more easily accessiblefood, said Wagner, who visited the localmarket recently. One benefit, for example,is that money made at farmers marketschanges hands in the community seventimes more than if the money were spentat a corporate store.

Not to mention the healthy eating bene-fits associated with fresh, local food thatrequires fewer, if any, pesticides. Wagnerbelieves urban populations are more keen-ly aware of the risks of toxins.

“I don’t think (rural residents) feel thatsame sort of threat,” she said.

At least one visitor on a recent Saturdaydid understand the value of making a tripto the market. Bob Conrad of theDixonville area enjoys the fresh produceand figures it’s worth paying a bit extra forit since prices in mainstream grocerystores are so high anyway.

“The money stays right here,” he added.But for more vendors to make the com-

mitment to hauling produce into town,said O’Neill of Happy Valley Farm, theyneed to know there will be more peoplelike Conrad there to buy it.

“In order for us to sell more,” he said,“there’s got to be the potential for us tosell more.”

Market: Offers local food, craftsContinued from page 25

Page 30, The News-Review, Umpqua Edition Roseburg, Oregon – Monday, August 27, 2007

AGRICULTURE

TERESAWILLIAMSThe News-Review

mpqua Dairy process-es 600,000 pounds ofmilk every day.

Though the compa-ny has eight distributiondepots across the state, all ofits products are still manufac-tured in Roseburg, just likethey were when OrmondFeldkamp and Herb Sullivanfirst started selling milk, but-ter and ice cream to railroadpassengers in 1931.

The business has stayed inthe Feldkamp family.Ormond’s grandsons, Dougand Steve Feldkamp, are thedairy’s major stockholders.Doug serves as president,and Steve is the chief operat-ing officer.

“The joys of a family business are thatyou make your own decisions and yourun the company the way that you seefit,” Steve said. “We think in terms oflong-term viability, not necessarily short-term profits.

“As the owner, both my brother and Iwork in the business every day,” he said.“If there’s something on anybody’s mind,they can come and talk to us. You run itkind of like a family.”

The dairy has grown to 229 full-timeemployees. About 120 of them work inRoseburg.

For the last two years, Quality ChekdDairies Inc. has named Umpqua Dairythe top dairy in the nation, and it’s earnedfive national awards in the last 11 years.It’s graded on leadership, customer satis-faction, marketing communications, staffdevelopment and business ethics, as wellas production quality.

“It’s a real testament to our employees

that we’re all going in the same direc-tion,” Steve said. “... It’s really theemployees that go out and grow the sales.They grow the production end of things. Ithink it’s our role to make sure that we’reoperating as a team.”

The business has grown. TodayUmpqua Dairy makes the ice cream mixfor Dairy Queen restaurants throughoutthe Northwest. Dutch Brothers drinks aremade with Umpqua Dairy milk, too. Andstudents across southern Oregon andsome in Lane County will open cartonsof Umpqua Dairy milk at school this fall.

The company makes about 60 prod-ucts, including seasonal items like eggnog, and has about 100 ice cream-relatedflavors.

“We keep a lot of cows busy,” market-ing coordinator Tamara Osborne said.

None of those cows live in DouglasCounty. Umpqua Dairy has never ownedcows. In the early years, it bought milkfrom local dairy farms, but small dairy

farms are hard to find now. So the dairybuys 70 to 80 percent of its milk fromthree farms, one in Albany and two inKlamath County. The remaining milkcomes from a cooperative.

When the milk arrives in tanker trucks,it’s put into one of four silos. Every loadof milk is tested for antibiotics, growthhormones, bacteria, temperature andquality. Cattle on antibiotics must be keptseparate, according to state law, andUmpqua Dairy won’t use milk from cowsgiven growth hormones. It’s one of threetimes during the production process thatthe milk and products will be tested.

The dairy pays farmers according tothe quality of the milk, including safetyand the percentage of fat in the milk.

“We think that it’s vitally important toour business that we reward farmers forgiving us good quality milk,” Steve said.

Most of the cream separated from themilk is used to make ice cream. In thewinter, when the demand for ice cream

isn’t as high, the dairy also churns butter,which is cut, wrapped and packaged inPortland.

For ice cream, sugar and stabilizers areadded to the raw milk before it is pasteur-ized. The ice cream mix travels throughstainless steel pipes into a machine whereflavors are added. It comes out through asort of giant soft-serve machine that candish up to 600 half-gallons an hour.

After the ice cream is pumped into thecontainers, it rides a conveyor belt into afreezer with a wind chill factor of 60degrees below zero. It will harden athree-gallon tub in four hours. The fasterthe ice cream freezes, the creamier it is.

The ice cream is then moved to a sec-ond slightly warmer freezer. Employeeswear heavy clothes and can only workinside for an hour.

Milk is put in cartons or jugs and

Traditionof Quality


Sean Fargher, a filler technician at Umpqua Dairy, monitors Vitamin D milk at the Roseburg plant recently.

Roseburg-based UmpquaDairy has been selling milk

products since 1931

U

Please turn to DAIRY, page 32


Call 672-2500 for a VIP Lunch and Tour1970 W. Harvard Ave., Roseburg

www.riverviewterrace.com

Retire to

Enjoy the bounty of Douglas County

Elegant resort-style living Your Hometown Directory!

Going Fishing?Going Camping?Want to Blaze a Trail?Enjoy a Flavorful Winery Tour?

You can also find: Maps • Reverse DirectoryCoupons • Menu Guide • Photos • History Pages • Tips

Douglas County Bridges • Recipes • Quotes

229-2706

Second Edition

You’ll find all theinformation you needin the green section of

AGRICULTURE

ERIK SKOOGThe News-Review

n times of a water short-age, owners of the oldestrights to water get to keep

their flow.That’s because Oregon’s water

laws are based on the priorappropriation principle, saidDave Williams, the OregonWater Resources DepartmentWatermaster in Douglas County.

Prior appropriation favorsthe oldest water right andgrants its holder first accessto water when the supplyruns short, according to“Water Rights in Oregon,”published by the waterresources department inAugust 2006.

“Each water right has a priority date toensure that they receive their water,”Williams said. “At this point in time, allwater rights have been allocated in theUmpqua Basin for the summer months.”

Attached to property and not transferredfrom one person to another, water rights areissued by the state Water ResourcesDepartment and apply to surface water andinclude springs, creeks and rivers, andwater drawn from wells and ground water.

The water right is transferred with the prop-erty, Williams said.

“Not only do you need to watch the pri-ority date, but also if the source is good,”he said. “Lots of little tributaries dry upduring the summer, so you need to watchfor that.”

“In all but a couple instances, you need awater right issued by the State of Oregon touse water from streams or rivers,” Williamssaid.

Some exempt practices that wouldrequire a water right for the use of surfacewater include livestock watering, fire con-trol, and collection of rainwater from animpervious surface. Natural springs locatedon private property and whose waterremains on that property is also exempt.

Water rights to access ground water are notrequired for single or group domestic pur-poses that do not exceed 15,000 gallons perday, single industrial or commercial pur-poses that do not exceed 5,000 gallons perday, lawn or noncommercial watering ofhalf an acre or less, and watering 10 acresor less of school grounds located in a criti-cal ground water area.

Simply having a water right isn’t enough,however.

Water right holders need to exercise theirright once every five consecutive years, or itbecomes subject to forfeiture. It is possibleto collect and store water, but to do sorequires a permit unless the water is collect-ed from an impermeable source, like rain-water that drips from a roof.

Even though all the waterrights in the Umpqua Basinhave been allocated for thesummer months, there is storedwater available in Galesvilleand Ben Irving reservoirs thatcan be purchased by landown-ers if they’re able to access thewater, Williams said.

To access water from theGalesville Reservoir, a personhas to live below the reservoiron Cow Creek, below the con-fluence of Cow Creek with theSouth Umpqua River, or on themain stem of the Umpqua.Using water requires a contractwith Douglas County for thepurchase of the stored waterand a state issued water right toallow the water withdrawal.

“In other words, the waterhas to be able to get to youfrom Galesville Reservoir,”Williams said.

Water can be accessed fromBen Irving Reservoir by peoplenear Olalla Creek or Looking-glass Creek. The process to usewater from Ben Irving Reser-voir is similar to the process

involved in using water from the GalesvilleReservoir.

Although water rights are not requiredfor domestic household purposes and half-acre irrigation, finding a reliable groundwater source can be difficult in DouglasCounty, where both quantity and qualityare limited. Wells also typically go dry dur-ing the summer, Williams said.

“If a person had a five gallon per minutewell on their property, they would have apretty decent well. Lots of people are get-ting by on a gallon or two per minute,”Williams said.

• You can reach reporter Erik Skoog at957-4202 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Water rights a valuable commodity

ANDY BRONSON/The News-Review file photo

Water can be purchased from Galesville Reservoir in south Douglas County when there isa water shortage during the summer months.

Oldest rights havepriority when

there’s a shortage

I

TERESAWILLIAMSThe News-Review

n a list of the top 20issues facing Oregon’sagricultural industry, the

Oregon Department of Agri-culture lists the aging offarmers and pending landturnovers as No. 14.

In 2002, Douglas Countyhad just 66 principal farmoperators who were 34 oryounger, according to theU.S. Department of Agricul-ture’s Census of Agriculture.The county had 2,110 princi-pal farm operators total, and377 of them were 70 or older.The average age of a farmerin Douglas County was 57.3.

Principal operators don’t tell the wholestory.

Shelby Filley is the regional livestockand forages specialist for the OregonState University Extension Service, andshe works with farmers and ranchersthroughout southern Oregon.

“Almost all of the farms are family-owned, so they range from newborn untilgrandpa,” she said. “ ... The successfulones are the ones that are able to keep thefamily together, and I see a lot of those.”

Justin Henderson is a manager at KruseFarms. His family has a farm in the Port-land, which is run by his parents and histwo brothers. At 34, Henderson is consid-ered a young farmer, and he’s involvedwith the Oregon Farm Bureau’s YoungFarmers and Ranchers Program.

When he and his wife, Margaret, firstjoined the program, there were a fewmore farmers involved, but they weregetting close to the upper end of the agebracket, 35.

“Just all at once, there wasn’t anybodythere, and there weren’t very many to

start with,” he said.The program is reaching out to college

campuses, trying to get younger farmersconnected with each other.

While Filley sees generations workingon family farms, she doesn’t see manyyoung people who are new to farming.

“You have to either be independentlywealthy or borrow money,” she said.

And in order to borrow money, youhave to convince a bank that you areknowledgeable, skilled and able to farm.In a business where income isn’t stable,it’s a tough sell.

“There are a few ranchersthat are willing to take peo-ple on and help them,” Fil-ley said. “I think that’simportant for the agricultur-al community to embracenewcomers.”

Despite the instability, thefarming lifestyle is attrac-tive for Henderson.

“It’s a whole industry andbusiness in itself,” he said.“You’ve got to be involved,you’ve got to have a lot ofdifferent skills. It’s a lot ofwork, and the reward is notalways monetary. ... It canbe a good living, but you’regoing to earn it.”

The Young Farmers and Ranchers Pro-gram holds conferences, as well as funevents, to give young people informationand get them involved.

“There’s not a lot of folks our age thatare staying around and getting involvedin something like this,” Henderson said.

Soon, he’ll “age out” of the group, too.He’s hoping there will be others to takehis place.

• You can reach reporter TeresaWilliams at 957-4230 or via e-mail [email protected].


AGRICULTURE

Young Farmers a modern-day rarity

So you know ...To find out about the

Oregon Farm Bureau’sYoung Farmers andRanchers Program forages 16 to 35, contactAmber McKinney (503)399-1701, ext. 314, orJustin Henderson at 673-2011.


Justin Henderson, 34, picks cabbages at Kruse Farms Friday. Henderson is a manager atKruse Farms and is also involved with the Oregon Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and Ranch-ers Program.

Program hopes to luremore into the fields

I

labeled. Some of the milk is produced forstore brands, like Market of Choice,Sherm’s Thunderbird and Great Value.Others, in white jugs which protect themilk from lights in store cases, have theUmpqua Dairy label.

Umpqua Dairy’s gallon filler has thelargest capacity in the United States. Itcan fill 6,000 gallons per hour, though thedairy doesn’t run it that fast.

After the products are made, they rideconveyor belts into a giant cooled ware-house, where employees make surethey’re stacked properly until they areloaded onto trucks for delivery to distribu-tion centers.

On any given day, 90 vehicles takeUmpqua Dairy products throughout thePacific Northwest.

• You can reach reporter TeresaWilliams at 957-4230 or via e-mail [email protected].

Dairy: Machine can fill 6,000 milk gallons in an hour, largest in the U.S.


Coming October 29th...

Our Town20072007A Guide To Living

In Douglas County

This yearly supplement will tell you everything you need to know about the county and communities within Douglas

County. Information on county and local governments, medical facilities, schools, utilities, disposal sites, cemeteries,

etc. will literally be at your fi ngertips. Look for it this fall!


your Personal Journey

Enrollment NOW for Fall Classes

DDiscoveriscover

Start your adventure with UCC

Registration (541) 440-4604www.umpqua.edu.

UCC is an equal Opportunity Educator & Employer

AGRICULTURE

—Complimentary Gift Wrapping For Your Convenience—Full Service Pharmacy since 1959 - Insurance Billing

1175 W. Harvard • 672-1961www.harvardavedrugs.com

Visit Our Drive-Up Prescription Window or order refills online!

“It’s our 48th year ofbusiness & success”

Locally owned pharmacy where you can get your prescriptions filled without ever leaving your car. Just drive to the window and pick them up.

For the collector we carry...

“The Ultimate Gift Store in Roseburg Since 1959”

• Llardo - figurines• Franz Porcelain• Fenton• Hummel• Ty• Mill Creek• Brio• Vanmark• & Much More!

• Kitchen• Wedding• Anniversary• Birthday• Bath• Garden• Library• Fairy Collection

We have what you need for your...

Books & Stationery for all ages.

20052005

20042004

cherry tomatoes and 1,100 pounds of zuc-chinis.

“We have so much fun doing what wedo,” Harmon said.

The Walkers have been farming for 30years, and made the switch to organic nineor 10 years ago.

“When we started (growing organical-ly), I really hadn’t thought that muchabout it. After I got going I thought, ‘yeah,it made sense,’” Noreane said. “I feelgood about this stuff knowing what I’mgiving the people is good for them.”

Harmon said that the runoff of chemi-cals is a big problem as well.

“When I was a kid, I used to go down tothe creek to fish,” he said. “There used tobe bullfrogs. You’ll never find bullfrogsnow. The old-timers will tell you.”

“The crux of organics is that it is a bio-logical approach,” Wilen said. “Mostly weare concerned with the soil and themicroorganisms. You feed the soil organ-ic, natural fertilizers/material, and let themprocess and let it feed the plants.”

Walker also gets excited about microor-ganisms.

“One teaspoon of healthy soil has 15million critters in it,” he said, beaming.

“To keep it healthy,” Noreaneexplained.

“And the spraying and all that depletesthat and then they have to put more chem-icals into it because there is nothing alivein the soil,” Harmon continued. “Thenyou have to feed the plants with some-thing else.”

He said the reason other farmers don’tgrow organically is because they don’tknow better.

“The less chemicals your food has, thehealthier it will be,” Noreane said. “I thinkall the cancer has something to do with thedemand (for organic food).”

The link between cancer and chemicalsis something which she says everyoneknows. Harmon agreed, but said there isno way for doctors to prove it.

“When I was a kid, you never heard of a20-year-old kid having cancer,” Harmansaid.

“It’s a purer product,” Noreane said. “Allthe people that have been through cancerare looking for organics, because that iswhat their doctors are telling them. So I’mnot giving anything to my body that itdoesn’t know what to do with. (People) justhave to hear it enough that they will say‘maybe there is something to this.’”

Different doctors have wildly differentviews on the subject.

“I think organic foods are pretty muchnonsense,” said retired pediatrician LarryHall of Glide. “I think it is a gimmick andpretty silly and not with the mainstream. Iknow of no science to support (organics).”

Dr. Gene Lienert, from the CommunityCancer Center in Roseburg, is moreaccepting of the idea that organic foods

may be beneficial.“I think people do better if they pay

attention to their nutrition, less fatty foods,more fruits and vegetables. It may havesome value in keeping them from gettingcancer later,” he said. “As far as organicgoes, there may be some merit to it, but Idon’t know. I think (herbicides and pesti-cides) have been suspect, to my knowl-edge, nothing is proven, but some cancerslike lymphoma, some pesticides increasethe risk for that.”

Big supermarkets are also buying intothe organics wave. Safeway started its OLine of 150 organic products in 2005. Thedemand was so high that the line hasincreased to 250 items, and it is expectedto be at 299 by the end of the year.

Dan Floyd, who is in public relationsfor Safeway, said the changes were madebecause of consumer demand.

Safeway buys most of its productsnationally, and does not buy from farms inDouglas County.

The benefit of organics is debated, butmore and more people are buying naturalfoods, and the supply is increasing withthe demand.

• You can reach reporting intern JohnGivot at 957-4208 or by e-mail [email protected].

Organic: Doctors have different opinions on benefits of organic foodsContinued from page 24

“The less chemicals yourfood has, the healthier it

will be. I think all thecancer has something todo with the demand (for

organic food).

Noreane WalkerOrganic farmer

”


Full Hook-up Sites •River Sites Pull-Thrus • Groups Welcome Pavilion •Fire Ring Drift Boat Slide • Fish year-round Walk to Restaurants, Wineries, Gardens

Reservations accepted.

Beautiful Umpqua River SettingBeautiful Umpqua River Setting

(541) 584-2832(866) 226-0246

elktonrvpark.com

AGRICULTURE

Turkey production began in 1840. By1929, Douglas County raised the sixth-highest number of turkeys in the nation.Most were sent fresh by rail to SanFrancisco and other points.

In 1945, 350,000 turkeys wereshipped out of Douglas County, an all-time local record. The following year,when grain prices soared after becom-ing scarce, only a third as many turkeyswere raised in the county.

Government deregulation of theindustry also fueled price reductionsand eventually turkeys sold for less thanthey cost to produce. Later, in the1950s, western production moved toUtah following a trend of havingturkeys raised closer to processingplants.

The first area prune orchard wasplanted about 1878. John Hill and JakeChadwick of Myrtle Creek, along withCarl Kimball of Canyonville and theWinston & Agee Orchard in Dillardwere some of the early growers. Later,prune trees were found in many parts ofthe county and the Umpqua area

became a large producer.Until prunes came along, wheat had

been the dominant crop. Farmersswitched to prunes after wheat pricestook a beating.

Hundreds of acres of new trees wereplanted between 1910 and 1915. Thelast new plantings took place about1920. After that, prices for plums,which were dried in warehouses byhuge fans, fell. Still, average crops of15 million pounds of dried prunes wereproduced in the county for many years.

The Stearns family of Oakland plant-ed some of the first hops, with the ini-tial crop in the county planted about1896. They maintained a hop yard and awood-fired dryer on the south side ofCalapooya Creek, just west of the rail-road station.

By 1910, Oregon was the nation’slargest producer of hops, an ingredientin beer. Douglas County and MarionCounty, which still produces hops, weretwo of the largest growers.

Douglas County once had a thrivingdairy industry, with dozens of dairiesspread throughout the county. When thenumber of dairy farms dwindled as

farmers turned to other means of pro-duction, nearly all of the dairies shutdown. Today, only Umpqua Dairy,founded in 1931, buys the bulk of itsmilk from farms located outside thelocal area.

Dillard became a prime producer ofmelons and cantaloupe beginning in the1890s. Alabama Sweets, Thunderbolt,Georgia Rattlesnake and Holbert’sHoney were some of the most popular

varieties, melons that were much largerthan those found today.

Happily, though, Dillard’s melons arestill sweet and delicious and still avail-able, unlike the early local filberts,turkeys and other crops.

• You can reach reporter John Sowellat 957-4209 or by e-mail [email protected].


CountyRoots

Courtesy photo

The J.E. Evans fruit stand, north of Dillard on old Highway 99, is shown around 1920.

350,000 turkeys were shippedout of Douglas County in 1945

�� Want to keep your trees healthy, your garden growing, your lawn green?

�� Looking for positive, skill-building activities for your children?

�� Need advice on food preservation, preparation or safety?

�� Want to become a more effective manager of your farm, orchard, vineyard, ranch or forest?

�� Have a question no one else can answer?

Research-based knowledge and education to strengthen communities and economies, sustain natural resources, and

promote healthy families and individuals.

Bringing the university to you since 1917

You need OSU Extension Service!

Douglas County OSU Extension Service 1134 SE Douglas Ave. PO Box 1165

Roseburg OR 97470 Phone: 541-672-4461

Web: Extension.oregonstate.edu/Douglas

Cow Creek Band of Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of IndiansUmpqua Tribe of Indians

Canyonville Cubbyholes • ciMedia Group • K-Bar Ranches • Rio Communications, Inc. • Riverside Lodge Motel Rivers West RV Park • Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort • Seven Feathers RV Resort

Seven Feathers Truck & Travel Center • Umpqua Indian Foods • Valley View Motel

Developing business diversity to support economic growth is important to the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. The Tribe also works to improve educational opportunities

and family health. Community involvement is vital to the Cow Creek Tribe.

To fi nd out about employment opportunities with Cow Creek Tribal Governmentcall the Tribal Jobs Line at • 1.800.676.0854

Cow Creek Government Offi ces 672.9405

Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation677.5578

We’ve been part of the Northwest for over 50 years. Why shop at a huge store when you can get everything you want—right in your neighborhood? Easy to park... easy to fi nd what you’re looking for— it’s time to stop by and size-up your local Bi-Mart. It’s a good fi t.

• Everyday Low Prices• Easy Parking• Convenient Locations• Not Too Big— Easy to Find What You Want• Automotive to Hardware— Over 40,000 items

ROSEBURG: 1381 N.W. GARDEN VALLEY BLVD. • SUTHERLIN: 833 E. CENTRAL AVE. • COOS BAY: 550 S. 4TH ST. • NORTH BEND: 2131 NEWMARK • VISIT US AT: WWW.BIMART.COM

JUST RIGHTFor the Northwest Watch for

Our Winston Grand Opening

Later in2007

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians purchased K-Bar Ranches from the Bare family of Round Prairie in July, 2000. The purchase of K-Bar Ranches, when combined with ranch lands already owned by the Tribe, resulted in cattle and alfalfa being raised on approximately 4000 acres between Roseburg and Canyonville, Oregon.

Known as a “stocker operation,” K-Bar Ranches utilizes feed they grow in the spring and summer months to sustain cattle from October through the end of June. K-Bar Ranches runs about 1600 head of cattle per year. Approximately 1500 are trucked to one of the feed lots in the Pacifi c Northwest in the early summer. Once there, the cattle dine on a high grade grain concentrate in preparation for the beef market. The 100 head remaining at K-Bar Ranches consist of cow/calf pairs. They are able to feed off limited pasture land at the Douglas County operation during the summer months.

The largest hay operation in western Oregon is at K-Bar Ranches. About 1000 irrigated acres are dedicated to the production of alfalfa and orchard grass. With a harvest that has doubled every year since 2004, K-Bar Ranches will cut and bale

between 4500 and 5000 tons of hay this season with the yield per acre approximately ten tons for alfalfa and eight tons for orchard grass.

Though the ranching business is always a 24 hour, seven days a week occupation, summer is a frenzy because of the growing season. From May 1 through October 1, the 1000 acres that K-Bar Ranches has set aside for its feed crop will produce four to fi ve cuttings. This is equal to harvesting 4000 to 5000 acres worth of alfalfa and orchard grass. In order to process that quantity, fi fty to sixty acres are cut every day, seven days a week. Drying time is from three to fi ve days, depending on the weather. When the cut is deemed dry enough, the grass is raked and made ready for a baling process that occurs between 11:30 PM to 1:30 AM. Processing during these two hours yields premium moisture content and gets the hay off the ground before the morning dew. The crop is then trucked to a general warehouse and ready for purchase.

Local customers from Grants Pass to Eugene, Oregon travel to the ranch to purchase hay and baling equipment. As a side business, K-Bar

Ranches is also a distributor of Anderson Equipment’s “Nutri WrapTM System.” With over thirty years of product education and practical application, K-Bar Ranches can direct fellow ranchers towards the Anderson products that best suit their needs. They also teach ranchers how to use the equipment for optimum performance.

K-Bar Ranches General Manager Tim Bare, one of the previous owners, knows it takes a special breed of person to ranch and be productive at it. Today’s rancher must be a soil scientist, a veterinarian, mechanically inclined, computer literate, well versed in weed control, and able to operate on very little sleep. It’s not a glamorous occupation and it’s rarely lucrative. For those few who take pride in the care of and cultivation of land, however, ranching is a most rewarding career.

As early caretakers of our local lands, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians is equipped to continue the tradition of stewardship and productivity the Bare family began in the 1950’s.

K-BAR RANCHES

541.863.3928

Documents

Umpqua Edition 2007