Peppers Recalled & Developing Manure Power

Peppers Recalled & Developing Manure Power plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Idaho Power and the New Energy Company and working with Idaho Public Utilities on a plan to develop methane produced electricity. The New Energy Companies co-founder Leslie White says they are working to place small bio-digesters in livestock operations. WHITE: What we have done is targeted some of the largest dairies. Our dairies are between 3 and 10-thousand head and therefore we can put one digester on a dairy that's -let's say 3-thousand cows. You can actually couple several dairies together and feed the animal waste into a common digester. New Energy operates two anaerobic digesters in Twin Falls County and a third in Cassia County. The digesters use cow manure or other livestock waste, specifically the methane byproduct, to produce electricity. Sweet dehydrated peppers sold to independent stores in Oregon and Idaho are being recalled over fears of salmonella contamination. The peppers are grown in California and are labeled Miravalle Chile California & Miravalle Chile Nuevo Mexico peppers are used to flavor soups and stews. They are sold to stores that sell Hispanic products. So far there have been no reports of any illnesses. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. It is said that every cloud has its silver lining. Look's like the major labor cloud hanging over China right now will turn out to have a silver lining for American workers. Over the last few months Chinese workers have been demonstrating for better work conditions and better pay causing a mass exodus of foreign companies who have used cheap Chinese labor for years. One main foreign presence in China has of course been the U.S. Add the current labor issues with the recent string of product recalls for items produced in China and American companies such as Mattel, Apple, and Wham-o have more than enough incentive to bring their product production back to the U.S. Biotech, pharmaceutical, and ag related companies are also finding that in a lot of instances U.S. production costs are becoming a less expensive alternative to the "made in China" label. For the Chinese workers it is way past due for fair pay and decent working conditions. And perhaps this is the opportunity for the United States to reclaim the pride and passion that went along with the product labeling "Made in the USA". Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.