CRP in the Spotlight & Saying Goodbye to Teddy
CRP in the Spotlight & Saying Goodbye to Teddy plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
A series of cross country public meetings will focus not on the Conservation Reserve Program but on its environmental impact statement. Ben Horter of USDA's Farm Service Agency explains some of the topics of discussion in upcoming public meetings.
HORTER: Some of the changes that happen in the 2008 Farm Bill that we will be talking about in these meetings include some of the crop rotation practices have changed, contract initiatives, some of the program enrollment terms have changed so they can give us their input on how they would like to see these changes adopted for them. The National Environmental Policy Act requires us to solicit public comments on changes we have for our programs. Just about any federal agency action that has a chance to significantly effect the human environment.
Whether you are fan or not of Ted Kennedy, you have to admire his tenacity and dedication. After 47 years in the U.S. Senate, the last of the Kennedy men has died of cancer at the age of 77. Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, served alongside 10 presidents compiling legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education, immigration and more. President Barack Obama called Kennedy one of the "most accomplished Americans" in history — and a man whose work in Congress helped give new opportunities to millions. This is the first time since 1946 that
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
There have always been doomsayers. You know the kind, “the sky is always falling and disaster lurks around every corner”. They seem to get an abnormal glee from predicting doom and gloom. Every generation has their fair share of problems. Foreign conflicts, economic unrest and disease are factors that remain a constant down through history; only the players and names have changed. But seeing the glass half empty is a bad habit to get into. New technologies and innovations offer us a bright and promising future. While disease still exists, our ability to identify, treat, and prevent disease has improved a hundred fold. Solar and wind power has the promise and possibility to unleash us from the dependency on carbon fuels. Farmers can and will step up to the challenge as they always have and meet the ever growing demand for affordable food. The future isn’t anything to be afraid of, on the contrary, as more and more countries work together to realize their full potential in the areas of science, technology, and agriculture the world promises to be a much better place indeed.
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
