New Organic Administrator & Energy Bill Delay

New Organic Administrator & Energy Bill Delay plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Newly named Senate Ag Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln says she was pleased to hear Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledge it would be tough to finish climate change - or cap and trade - legislation this year. Lincoln doesn’t think we’ll see the measure in the Senate this year and says there is an excellent energy bill produced out of the Senate Energy Committee that would move the country in the right direction.

LINCOLN: Couple that with what Chairman Baucus could do and has said he will do when that energy bill moves with incentives – tax incentives. We could an awful lot in a way that I think is much more productive.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says Miles McEvoy has been hired to serve as Deputy Administrator of the National Organic Program. For more than 20 years, McEvoy led the Washington State Department of Agriculture's Organic Food Program and in 1998 he helped establish the National Association of State Organic Programs and currently serves as its President. Vilsack also says the program will become an independent program area within the Agricultural Marketing Service because of the increased visibility and emphasis on organic agriculture throughout the farming community and the enhanced need for governmental oversight of this widely expanded program. NOP will receive increased funding and staffing in the new fiscal year.

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

Yes Virginia, it is possible to enjoy a “good” bottle of wine for under twenty dollars a bottle. There’s no denying that America’s baby boomers have been the driving force behind the ever growing and prosperous U.S. wine industry. And while the baby boomers have tightened their belts when it comes to spending, they haven’t stopped enjoying their wine. What they have done is to branch out and try wines that are lower in price but not low on taste. American consumers have discovered that they no longer have to wait to have that “special” bottle of wine served only at holiday time; they can enjoy wine at the dinner table any day of the week, whether having meatloaf or prime rib.  Children of baby boomers who have been fortunate enough to grow up having wine served at the dinner table are carrying on the tradition as well, and while their spending budgets tend to be on the lean side they’ve still been able to enjoy and appreciate wine at an affordable price. So it’s safe to say that wines priced for under $20 a bottle are doing okay holding their own in the market; in fact they’re doing better than okay, they’re doing great!

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