Health Care Debate & Paper Batteries

Health Care Debate & Paper Batteries plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The National Farmers' Union recently endorsed the health care reform bill under debate in the Senate. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the N-F-U - the second largest general farm organization in the U.S. - is in an easier situation to make a stance on the issue than the country’s largest farm organization - the American Farm Bureau.

VILSACK: Well I have all the respect in the world for the Farm Bureau but they also have a dual interest in many parts of the country they are also the seller of insurance products which is one of the ways they increase their membership and so I think that puts them in a more difficult circumstance and situation as it relates to health care reform than the National Farm Union that is strictly a farm advocacy; farm group.

Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news. Scientists at Stanford University in California reported on Monday they have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a "paper battery" that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage. This type of battery could be useful in powering electric or hybrid vehicles, would make electronics lighter weight and longer lasting, and might even lead someday to paper electronics.

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

Ohio farmers seem to have won the battle; let’s hope they don’t lose the war. Voter’s in Ohio passed the Issue 2 ballot initiative last month by a large margin, enabling the formation of a state livestock board to oversee animal welfare policy while limiting the influence of radical animal rights groups like HSUS and PETA. It was actually a rather quiet and strangely easy win, making a person wonder what the animal rights activists have up their sleeve. Rather like it can be with kids, when they’re too quiet is when you need to worry. As the HSUS president has stated, “Ohio is still very much top of mind for us”, meaning they will soon be gearing up for round two. The smell of victory is still all too fresh for them after California’s Proposition 2, which accomplished nothing other than to drive egg farmers out of state and/or out of business. Farmers in all 50 states need to be on the offensive as well as defensive because there is no getting away from it, like a bad “B” movie, animal rights activists will all too soon be coming to a town near you.

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