Mary Jane More Popular & MyFarmBill

Mary Jane More Popular & MyFarmBill plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. With the feds recent proclamation that they would leave states alone that have legalized the use of recreational marijuana it appears more people are taking advantage. A new survey out last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows that the use of marijuana is up 25% from 6 years ago. What will be interesting to see is how the ag industry will take to the new cash crop. USDA is getting into the swing of things. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says they are using social media to help emphasis the importance of the farm bill and its programs to the country. VILSACK: MyFarmBill social media campaign is just one more way for folks to share their stories about the importance of a farm bill. Time is running out for the passage of a Food, Farms and Jobs bill and it's important that every American understand the real life impacts of this important legislation and one way to do that is by encouraging people to share their stories about how the farm bill in the past has impacted them. We're asking everyone to use the hashtag MyFarmBill to tell their story on social media. That could be Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook to focus on farm bill programs that have helped them and helped their families. This will highlight the importance of the Food, Farms and Jobs bill. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. You would think that Ag Secretary Vilsack would be getting the idea that he's beating a dead horse when it comes to calling on Congress to pass the Farm Bill. He has been rallying the same battle cry now for the last several months and so far it has fallen on deaf ears. Now with the President's call for U.S. military action against Syria, the Farm Bill was pushed even further down on the list of priorities. What's likely now is yet another Farm Bill extension, since the current extension of the 2008 Farm Bill expires the end of this month. Vilsack says that Congress should add more working days to their calendar in order to get the Farm Bill done, and he is right. But coulda, shoulda is probably more than likely what will happen on that front. So again, extending current programs through the end of November is more than likely the route that Congress will take. Interestingly, according to a Congressional Research Service report, over the last forty years only the 1973 and 1977 farm bills were enacted before the September 30 deadline, with the last three farm bills being enacted later each year. Perhaps Congress is looking to break their own record. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.