Clancy Strand

Just ask Phil Hassinger, an environmentally conscious Union County farmer.

Hassinger is using American kestrels to help him grow 200 acres of mint and peppermint, thanks to a major assist from La Grande Boy Scout Clancy Strand.

Swine raisers await their turn at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show’s junior auction Saturday in Union.

The total amount earned was up over last year, though it did not set a record, said John Leithner, co-chairman of the auction.

BREED NEW TO REGION: Kristy McKee of Imbler poses with her St. Croix sheep. Photo/ANTHONY WILLIAMS

In fact, their hair is more like that of a goat. And you don’t have to cut it at all.

They’re St. Croix sheep, a breed new to the area that McKee said is like a mix between a Wiltshire and Katahdin sheep.

A photo of the sun showing an absence of sunspot activity during August captured the attention of about 350 ranchers in La Grande Saturday when Gary Sides, cattle nutritionist for Pfizer Animal Health, argued that changes in sunspot activity, not greenhouse gases, are primarily responsible for global climate change.

Based on recent sunspot activity, Sides told ranchers attending the fifth-annual Cattleman’s Workshop, global warming appears to be giving way to a period of global cooling that could signal the next mini ice age.

A panel of nationally renowned speakers drew a record crowd of 350 ranchers from across Oregon, Idaho and Washington to the fifth-annual Cattleman’s Workshop last Saturday in La Grande.

“This workshop has grown every year, but this is by far the largest crowd we’ve ever had,” said Ron Rowan, an organizer of the Cattleman’s Workshop who works as the marketing manager at Beef Northwest Feeders headquartered in North Powder.

A JOB WELL DONE: 2008 EOLS President Ray McDaniel awards Queen Kymee Braseth a plaque commending her outstanding commitment. The Observer/AMBER GLAZE

Kymee, 18, won the title Queen of the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, 2008. She sold $28,312 worth of tickets — that’s 2,476 tickets. She sold more than any other queen in the 101 years of Stock Show.

With two competitors, Kymee won all three court competitions: speech/performance, horsemanship and ticket sales.

Back when I was a college student and stayed up at all odd hours of the night, I caught part of a short, small budget documentary following a longtime family in the Appalachians.

Five new, officially-certified OSU Master Gardeners joined an elite group of five other official Master Gardeners residing in Union County during a graduation ceremony and celebration dinner at Stange Manor in La Grande Nov. 7.

To officially be recognized by Oregon State University as Master Gardeners, Union County students attended classes at the OSU Extension Office in Island City, completed a final exam and performed 40 hours of community service. Previous graduates who chose to continue in the program were re-certified as Master Gardeners through their attendance at a minimum of two classes this past year and performing 10 hours of community service.

TREE FARMERS OF THE YEAR: Ted and Mary Brown and their family, who run Wisdom Creek Tree Farm near Union, won the 2008 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, presented by the Oregon Tree Farm System at a ceremony in Portland Monday. From left to right: U.S. Forest Service Deputy Regional Forester Cal Joyner, State Forester Marvin Brown, Ted Brown, Sandy Brown and Mary Brown. Submitted photo

The Oregon Tree Farm System on Monday recognized Ted and Mary Brown during a ceremony at the World Forestry Center in Portland.

Ted and Mary Brown purchased the Wisdom Creek Tree Farm in 1957 and expanded in 1978 to the farm’s current size of 756 acres.

BRAINSTORMING: Lisa Mahon, manager of the Union Soil and Water Conservation District, discusses a current landowner project with the district’s engineer, Layne Lindley. Mahon began her position last April. The Observer/ETHAN SCHOWALTER-HAY

That background comes in handy today, as she interfaces daily with Northeast Oregon landowners concerned about the productivity and health of their spreads.

And Mahon’s in a good position to assist them. In  April, she became manager of the Union Soil and Water Conservation District.