Bio-Based Products & Taxing Vehicles
Bio-Based Products & Taxing Vehicles plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan last week unveiled the first 60 products that consumers will soon see in stores throughout the country bearing the new USDA BioPreferred product label for certified biobased products.
MERRIGAN: Auto lubricants to cleansers to hand sanitizers, seeing the kind of materials you would put salad in, in the USDA cafeteria, carpeting. This is a growth opportunity for American farmers and also for American foresters. We see that there are forestry products as well.Oregon lawmakers are looking at charging electric-vehicle owners for every mile they drive to replace the gas tax payments they won't be making. The bill would charge owners of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles up to 1.43 cents per mile they drive beginning with 2014 model year cars. The Oregon Department of Transportation would be responsible for finding a way for vehicles to electronically report the distance they've traveled. Supporters say electric vehicle owners shouldn't get a free ride on Oregon roadways. Opponents say it's too early to tax electric vehicle use because the state should be doing everything it can to make non-polluting vehicles attractive to buyers.
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
The other day I handed my hubby a bucket and a glass of water with the instructions “ get to work, our garden needs you”. Liquid fertilizers purchased at a gardening center can often be quite costly, which is frustrating because they’re highly effective as a nutrient booster for young plants and seedlings, or bringing mature plants back to their former glory. My grandfather beat this conundrum using liquid mixed from grass clippings, there was always a large pile at the back of his garden, fish guts, he was an avid fisherman, sawdust, he was also a woodworker, and various other natural ingredients. Those “other natural ingredients” are where my husband can help with our garden. Healthy human urine is rich in potassium, nitrogen, and phosphates and when mixed with wood shavings it’s been reported to work remarkably well as a fertilizer, with plants producing four times the normal rate. I don’t know if Grandpa ever used urine in his liquid fertilizer recipe but his garden was the envy of all the other gardeners in our small rural community, and I wouldn’t put it past him, he was definitely what would be considered a colorful character.
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
