Tire Season Extended & Brazil Imposing Sanctions

Tire Season Extended & Brazil Imposing Sanctions plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the U.S. is still hoping to negotiate with Brazil to head off announced sanctions on several U.S. products. Brazil has announced that they will be imposing stiff tariffs on wheat and dry milk as well as cars and cotton. These sanctions are allowed due to a ruling by the World Trade Organization. VILSACK: We would prefer to have a negotiated resolution than the imposition of sanctions. We have taken steps at USDA to minimize the impact on agricultural products in terms of our export guarantee program. We've pointed out to our Brazilian friends the steps that have been taken in recent legislation to correct some of the difficulties that gave rise to the case to begin with. Well it's spring and of course that means more snow in the mountains and because of that both Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation have extended the deadline to remove studded tires through April 10. There has not been a lot of snow in the mountains this year which may create water problems later but for now the additional snow is a welcome sight for skiers. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. With names like "Whitewhiskered", "Threebanded", "Redshanked" and "Spottedwinged" you'd think the grasshoppers soon to devestate millions of acres of land came right out of a "Wind In the Willow" book, but they're very real and very destructive, eating nearly half their body weight in foliage in a day. Western ranchers and farmers are gearing up for grasshopper infestations this year of biblical proportions. Last year grasshoppers did millions of dollars in damage to crops, grasses and other plant life in their path, and their numbers are expected to increase this year. Disturbingly, the USDA spent their entire grasshopper budget this past fall in counting the insects, leaving them without the funds to now spray federally owned grasslands against grasshopper invasion. Farmers and ranchers are preparing for the impending "green swarm" the best they can, and are gearing up to spray lands they feel will be the most vulnerable. They are also praying that Mother Nature steps in and takes pity on them, sending a cold spell in late May or early June, a natural form of insecticide that would very likely rid the countryside of the majority of grasshopper nymphs. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.