Red Meat Sagging & Bee Losses Down

Red Meat Sagging & Bee Losses Down plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

So far this year U.S. red meat exports are trailing behind last year's pace. Ag Department Livestock Analyst Shayle Shagam says the number show a mixed bag. Beef exports:

SHAGAM: They are up about 7%. Now a lot of that is tied to the fact that we’ve reopened the Korean market. That to a large extent is offsetting weakness in other markets.

If you take away the Korean market it appears that beef exports are 5% below a year ago. Pork exports are down 11% and Shagam says certain factors are affecting both.

SHAGAM: We’re being hit by a couple of factors one of which is the relatively high value of the dollar. We also have obviously a weak economy and credit tightness.

A government bee expert says beekeepers are still reporting cases of colony collapse disorder, but it seems to be less severe and less prevalent than last year. Nathan Rice, with USDA's Agricultural Research Service:

RICE: Beekeepers are becoming more aware of the problem; they’re becoming more aware of the extra input they need to give to the bee colonies to sort of help them out and beyond that they’re actually seeing a little bit less loss because of that. So it’s getting a little bit better. The problems not gone but the beekeepers are able to deal with it a little more expertly than they were before.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

Green fever is sweeping across the nation. No, it’s not yet another type of contaminated food illness; it’s the enthusiasm behind the pursuit for renewable energy. President Obama’s stimulus package seems to have given the alternative energy snowball the push it needed to turn into an all out avalanche. With the funding released by the stimulus bill several states are creating new laws offering incentives for using renewables and attracting alternative energy manufacturers, which in turn creates jobs in the “green” market. States like Kansas, Nebraska, Washington and Oregon are prime locations for wind power farms. The southern states are seeing the installation of solar powered systems on residential and commercial properties faster than a tornado can change course! All these alternative energy developments could be very beneficial for rural areas that have been hit the hardest by the recession.  If President Obama’s vision of doubling renewable energy production and creating thousands of “green jobs” over the next three years is truly the goal to strive for, and I would tend to believe it is, then we as a country are definitely getting a jump out of the starting gate in the race towards a more secure and sustainable energy future for America.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.