04/08/08 Idaho Nuclear Site & Animal ID

Idaho Nuclear Site & Animal ID plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. The National Animal ID system will be created with the help and guidance of a comprehensive business plan. Under Secretary of Agriculture Bruce Knight, talks about some of the things the Animal ID system business plan does. KNIGHT: We've put together a comprehensive business plan for animal i.d.That business plan sets priorities on where we should make out investments. We've already made the first round of those. Data standards, I.T. investments. How do you overhaul what is done at the state vets office to speed up traceability? How do you get it out from a shoebox full of paper records underneath somebody's desk to a state of the art system that will let us move forward quickly in the event of a disease outbreak? A new location has been chosen for a proposed 1,600 megawatt nuclear power plant in Idaho. The location is a 1,400-acre hayfield in Elmore County near the shore of the Snake River. The new location affords the project more level ground, better access to a rail line and a lower elevation, all of which should ease construction. County officials will be hearing more about the proposed $4.5 billion dollar facility in the coming weeks. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Spring break began today and you just might be able to slow down from the hectic schedule of getting the kids back and forth to school. It should be a time to sit back and relax a bit, but will you? Can you? If you're like a lot of other people, myself included, we find ourselves just unable or should I say "unwilling" to distance ourselves from our electronic network of cell phones, pc's and Blackberries'. Part of my problem is I actually feel guilty if I'm not constantly "getting something done". I was into "git er done" way before Larry the Cable Guy! Sitting down to read that novel I bought way back when it was a new release a year ago, I find my mind wandering to thoughts of laundry that needs folded, bills that need paying and housecleaning that is way past due. My husband often tells me I just don't know how to relax. On the other hand, I often tell him "you don't need to check e-mail every five minutes"! How about it, why not try "unplugging" yourself at least one day this week. There are birds that need watching, a book that needs reading and a nap that needs taking. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.