Bad Year & Pushing to Open Cuba

Bad Year & Pushing to Open Cuba plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. 2009 was not a good year for ag producers and now there is proof. The final 2009 income and return figures are in for the nation's livestock, poultry and dairy sectors and they confirm what was generally known. USDA Analyst Shayle Shagam SHAGAM: Livestock, poultry and dairy producers had a pretty rough year. Decline and demand, that really pushed those prices lower. The signs of improved prices for producers is obviously quite favorable. During a hearing conducted by the House Trade Subcommittee, Representative Earl Pomeroy blasted U.S. rules that restrict agricultural sales to Cuba. He said the policies unfairly penalize American family farmers and actually help the Castro regime by allowing the dictator to blame American policy for economic troubles on the island. Pomeroy said - it's about time we got rid of these failed policies that restrict agricultural sales to Cuba. The federal government has accomplished nothing other than keeping our family farmers from accessing a promising market for their products. Pomeroy says - that's got to change. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Okay, I'll admit it, I am a tree hugger. Not in the sense that I would climb to the top of a two hundred foot Douglas fir and camp out for months on end but in the simple and pure fact that I love trees. I always have. From the time I was a little girl I have held trees in high esteem and awe; what else on this great planet of ours withstands so much and can prevail for so long. This Arbor Day, last Friday for those of you that aren't as into trees, was a chance to celebrate something that many of us take for granted but couldn't do without, trees. I know it sounds sappy, no pun intended, but trees, as the Arbor Day proclamation states, are truly "a source of joy and renewal wherever they are planted". When you consider that trees supply us with life giving oxygen, offer us and nature's other critters refuge, provide shade and protection from the elements, and aide farmers in reducing erosion of topsoil by wind or water, just to name a few, then it's not hard to understand the value of trees. Arbor Day was started due to one man's love of trees back in 1874. And as Mr. Morton himself said at that first Arbor Day celebration, "to celebrate trees results in good for all". I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.