01/21/09 New Ag Secretary & Jobless Rate

New Ag Secretary & Jobless Rate plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Secretary of Agriculture. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley returned from the inauguration of President Barack Obama and was first to take the Senate floor and spoke in support of Vilsack. GRASSLEY: It is fitting that we once again have a Secretary from one of our leading agricultural states in the country. Governor Vilsack will do an outstanding job  I've said many times, I say it again. He's learned first hand in the 1980's from his law practice and being the mayor of a small town that a farm crisis is not just affecting farmers, it happens to be a rural crisis that impacts all of the economy. Jobs were mentioned as part of newly sworn in President Obama's inaugural speech and at the same time Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit a 23-year high of 9 percent in December, up from 8.0 percent in November. December's rate is the highest since April of 1985 when it reached 9.1 percent. It was the fifth consecutive monthly loss of more than 4,000 jobs. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Not necessarily, and in this instance, it would be a "cow and bull" story. While small producers had accused mega farms of wrongful interpretation and application of federal organic law and sought changes, the recent USDA proposed regulations to clamp down on large factory farms has several smaller organic dairies now feeling that the "blanket regulations" will leave them out in the cold. As written, the USDA proposals do not take into account different farming regions or state and federal regulations for water, soil and animal welfare already in place. It becomes very obvious upon reviewing the proposed regulations that a thorough amount of research and consideration did not go into their creation. The number of proposed changes that come into debate are too numerous to list here, but simply put reflect on animal husbandry. As they stand now the USDA proposed regulations would violate good and careful management of livestock and resources. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.