01/26/09 Agriculture and a stimulus package

Farm and Ranch January 26, 2009 Agriculture is hoping to get its piece of the economic stimulus package working its way through Congress. Pat Wolff, American Farm Bureau Budget Specialist, says farmers and ranchers have been hurt by the ailing economy just like every other business. Wolff: "Agriculture needs the supplies to operate their business that factories produce and people who live in cities need the products that farmers grow: food, fiber, fuel. Our job is to call attention to programs that help rural American and help the farmers and ranchers who live there." Wolff says money for infrastructure improvements are one way to do that. Wolff: "At the end of the day we want to see something for the money that Congress is spending. When they spend it on roads and bridges, locks and dams, something will be there at the end of the day that farmers and ranchers can benefit from and along the way it will create jobs and stimulate the economy." Wolff says new tax provisions could also give the economy a boost. Wolff: "We're looking for incentives that will spur new renewable energy projects. We want to see money spent on tax incentives for broadband so that rural hospitals and healthcare centers can take advantage of health information technology." The USDA itself could benefit from the House stimulus package which has 209 million dollars for deferred maintenance at Agriculture Research Service facilities and 245 million dollars for information technology improvements at the Farm Service Agency. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.