Hops Crop & Pigford Settlement

Hops Crop & Pigford Settlement plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

A few years back beer drinkers were concerned over the lack of hops available. Well the 2011 hop harvest looks good according to hop farmer and Director of the Washington Department of Ag, Dan Newhouse.

NEWHOUSE: Some of the more susceptible varieties didn’t do that well but some of the aroma varieties that like that more Western Washington climate did ok. Overall I think the yields were down. We’re sitting on a pretty big surplus in the hop industry so we didn’t need a big bumper crop really.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has approved the Pigford II settlement. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says this approval is another important step to ensure some level of justice for black farmers and ranchers who faced discrimination when trying to obtain services from USDA. According to Attorney General Eric Holder - the settlement allows USDA and African-American farmers to focus on the future - and brings these farmers one step closer to having their claims heard. The bill approved by the House and Senate included strong protections against waste, fraud and abuse to ensure the integrity of the claims process.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

One of the most controversial issues right now relating to agriculture is the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed revisions to child farm labor laws that would restrict farm work by youth under the age of sixteen. The DOL is basing the need for the revisions partly on recommendations made from the National Farm Medicine Center which reports that young people under sixteen and often even eighteen have not yet developed the cognitive ability to work with electric or motorized farm equipment, or deal with animals who may be ill or injured. While there are exemptions in the proposal for children working on family farms, most family farm advocates claim the exemptions are deceptive. No one in ag dismisses the need for farm safety. Farming and ranching are dangerous occupations, but the key to reducing youth injuries and tragic accidents on family farms does not lie in oppressive rules and regulations imposed by the government; even to the extent of disqualifying farm safety training for youth through 4-H or farm extension services. Unless of course the overlying goal is to completely destroy the concept of the family farm.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.