05/17/05 Regional symposium; Low runs still

The focus will not necessarily be on the proposed National Animal Identification System for livestock. But it will be one of many topics covered during today's regional animal I.D. symposium in Boise. Rick Stott represents the Northwest Pilot Project, the sponsor of today's symposium. STOTT: We've got people coming from all over the nation interested in our project and hearing about the results we are finding in the animal I.D. arena, so it's looks really promising. But Stott adds primarily, the symposium will allow the seven member states in the Northwest Pilot Project to share how they are coming along with establishing premise I.D.'s and other components that will be part of a regional, and potentially national, animal I.D. system. Reports say both Oregon and Washington's Fish and Wildlife Departments could reduce by two-thirds, their preliminary estimates on the Spring Chinook run entering into the Columbia River system. That would mean only about 80,000 of the projected 254,000 would come into the Columbia from the Pacific Ocean. Last week, numbers at Bonneville Dam had only 50,000 fish counted. If current trends hold up, this would be one of the lowest returns of Spring Chinook in years. But the bigger mystery to biologists and others working the problem at this time is what is causing the reduced runs. Now with today's "Food Forethought", here's Susan Allen. ALLEN: I vividly recall learning in grade school about Christopher Columbus's discovery that the earth was round. I was always was able to visualize how ecstatic the crew must have been when they came to the realization that there was no edge to fall off, that the horizon just kept moving them forward. For American Agriculture the horizon is moving at a fast clip as well, on a globe that according to author Thomas L. Friedman is once again, perceived to be "flat. In his book, "How the Earth Got Flat", he writes that barriers to technology and commerce have been "flattened" due in part to outsourcing, telecommunications and education. No longer "developing countries", baby behemoths, like Brazil and China, are poised to be new agricultural power brokers. Those of us who care about the sanctity of American Agriculture must more "Columbus-like" , looking towards the horizon for new opportunities to create brand loyalty and premium labels while working to establish equivalent governmental standards for our imports (whether that be ethical labor practices or pesticide residue). It is critical that we begin to export more than just our technology to insure the American farmer doesn't topple off the edge of this new flat earth. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought