Anti-Ethanol Push & Dairy Needs Help

Anti-Ethanol Push & Dairy Needs Help plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

It’s no secret the dairy industry is in trouble. California Farmers Union President Joaquin Contente testified on behalf of National Farmers Union to explain just how bad the financial crisis is on dairy farms across the country.

CONTENTE: Most of these dairy farmers are experiencing financial problems like they’ve never seen before. I would say at least 25% of these people I know in my area are at the end of their credit. They are not even able to purchase any feed to feed their animals. They’ve already been cut off by their banks. They’re just looking for a solution of how to get out so the can exit the industry.

Anti-ethanol groups are pushing to keep in place the emissions rules for biofuels that Congress enacted in 2007. A House-passed climate bill would delay implementation of the land-use analysis for five years and give the U.S. Department of Agriculture a veto against the final ratings. In letters to the Senate appropriations and environment committees, the groups say delaying implementation – would undermine the existing climate, consumer and environmental protections in the Clean Air act.

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

No pain, no gain, generally refers to an exercise regime. Now days it can be applied to the state of the economy and how Americans are learning to deal with it and move on. There have been a lot of clichés over the years about hard times; when the going gets tough, the tough get going, we only learn through our mistakes, and when things get bad, people get better. Corny? Sure. Mushy? Maybe. But true? Definitely. Over the last several months we have all learned that we can make do with a lot less, but contrary to what some would have us believe, the sky is not really falling. Yes, we as a nation have several serious issues to address, the cap and trade bill, illegal immigrants, health care reform, state and local budget cuts, and a housing market that is still in ICU. A former U.S. senator once described us as a nation of whiners, and while we have all had our moments of thumb sucking, we are more a nation of survivors, hailing from a very long lineage of survivors from all around the globe. As Gloria Gaynor once sang, we won’t lie down and die, we will survive. Hey if we survived disco, we can survive anything!

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