10/28/08 Youth Develop Alternatives & Gas Prices Drop

Youth Develop Alternatives & Gas Prices Drop plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. The Secretary of Agriculture addressed students last week at the National FFA Convention and explained that they have an important role to play in the future of agriculture. SCHAFER: We're on the way to making fuels from bio-feed stocks like new growth trees and alfalfa and switchgrass; waste products too instead of ears of corn, the corn stalks. But we've got to pick up the pace. We need the new kind of innovation that has really always pushed the frontiers of American agriculture and it's going to be your generation that will fully develop this area. Oil prices fell to their lowest level in more than a year Monday before rebounding to just above $63 a barrel as growing evidence of a global economic slowdown had investors betting on a further drop in energy demand. In turn that has caused gasoline prices keep falling, settling to the lowest prices in nearly 19 months, a survey for AAA showed Monday. The national average price for a gallon of regular gas fell to $2.668, The last time the prices were this low was March 31, 2007 at $2.6591 a gallon. Gas is down 35.15%, or $1.446, from the record-high price of $4.114 that AAA reported in mid-July. Gas is down 27.24% from the month ago average. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. A friend of mine recently stated that she informed her doctor she could afford to die, but she couldn't afford to live. Her statement caused a chuckle, but then the hard line reality of what she said sunk in. In her case, she'd already covered the cost of her funeral and interment, but she didn't have the health insurance coverage necessary for a much needed but costly medical procedure. Sadly, she's not alone. Roughly 25 million Americans are underinsured and even more are not insured at all. The people included in this number come from all walks of life, from factory and retail workers to farm and ranch families. And while many families have a limited health care coverage, nearly ninety percent of them will deplete savings, incur debt, and delay care due to steep health care costs and insurance premiums. Middle America, family farms and ranches, and small business are the backbone of our economy. Policymakers must find solutions that will ease the burden of health care costs for rural families and businesses. Skyrocketing insurance costs cannot be the straw that broke this camel's back. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.