12/24/08 Sign Up Begins & Carbon Monoxide

Sign Up Begins & Carbon Monoxide plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Just in-case you haven't heard, late Friday USDA announced that signup for the Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program are now underway. The DCP program signup period ends June 1, 2009 -- while signup for the Milk Income Loss Contract Program runs through September 30th of 2012. Signup can be accomplished at your local Farm Service Center or on line. Cold temperatures have a lot of people doing whatever they can to try and stay warm. But unfortunately that can sometime turn deadly. A Gresham, Oregon couple was found dead inside a truck parked inside an enclosed garage. Local police believe the couple were either just trying to stay warm or heating the vehicle up inside the garage when they were overcome with carbon monoxide. Before running any kind of space heaters, be sure and read the warning labels as many are for use only in well ventilated areas. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Christmas has been around officially for only a little over 100 years. Most states did not actually celebrate Christmas until the late 19th century. Back then Christmas was celebrated on a much simpler scale than we do today. Families enjoyed the holiday, but there were still cows to milk, livestock to feed, and firewood to chop. Small gifts were occasionally exchanged and often were domestically inclined; fabric for making clothing, churns, crockery, brooms or tools. Ornaments were displayed but usually reflected an agricultural theme consisting of painted pinecones, nuts and clove studded fruit. Trees were often small tabletop size with strands of cranberries and dried apples. Children were thrilled to find their stockings filled with raisins, nuts or hopefully an orange, an exotic and rare treat for 1870. One thing that remains constant though is the gathering of friends and family, if not in body than in heart. And isn't that truly what the Christmas spirit is all about. Merry Christmas to you and your family as you celebrate this year and may God bless. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.