Cutting the Cable & Unstable Dairy Market

Cutting the Cable & Unstable Dairy Market plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's new Dairy Industry Advisory Committee is having its first meetings this week and they got their marching orders Tuesday morning. Vilsack talks about the increasingly unstable dairy market situation. VILSACK: The bandwidth if you will between the good times and the bad times which used to be relatively stable has over the course of over the last several years become quite dramatic. The dips are very significant. The increases are not as high and there's not as much time for operators to recover and the result is it becomes harder and harder for operators to stay in business. Quite a few years ago the Martin household pulled the plug on both cable and satellite TV. We are not alone. A new report from the Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group says nearly 800,000 households in the U.S. have "cut the cord," dumping their cable, satellite, or other TV providers and turned instead to Web-based videos, downloadable shows, by-mail subscription services, or even over-the-air antennas for their favorite shows. While that number represents only about 1% of the 100-million TV subscribers, it is a start. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. You wouldn't think a tractor, haybine, or skid steer loader would be easy pickings for any thief; getting it off the property unnoticed would seem to be a feat of giant proportions. Apparently that's not the case. The National Equipment Register reported an increase in ag equipment thefts in 2009. Authorities report the chances of thieves getting away with farm equipment theft is greater than in other crimes. Once they get away with it they become more brazen and daring; the rewards far outweighing the risks. When you consider that even the smallest piece of farm equipment can have a resale value of ten to fifteen thousand dollars I guess the incentive is blaringly obvious. So just how are farmers supposed to protect their investments? First off they should take extra care in securing their farm equipment, leaving that tractor beside a busy roadway may not be the deterrent you think it is, in fact it probably makes it just that much more tempting and easier to steal. Make sure all equipment and machinery is permanently marked with an identification number, and lock it up whenever possible. And most importantly, know your neighbors and keep your eyes open. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.