Restarting Doha & Flavored Milk Ban

 Restarting Doha & Flavored Milk Ban plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

One question leading up to next week’s G20 ag ministers meeting in Paris is if the Doha round of global ag trade negotiations will restart if the United States and European Union agree to reduce ag subsidies. Would that encourage other countries - like China and India - to restart Doha? Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the challenge with Doha is not America’s willingness to consider reductions to the support structure and system…

VILSACK: The problem is that there is not a corresponding willingness on the part of China and India to be definite and concrete about how open their markets will be.

Chef Jamie Oliver is on a mission to get every school in the United States to ban flavored milk - but David Pelzer of Dairy Management Incorporated says the dairy industry can’t let that happen. Pelzer says milk contains a variety of nutrients - including calcium, vitamin D and potassium - that kids who will only drink flavored milk will miss out on if it isn’t available. He says it’s hard to replace the lost nutrients - especially when the majority of milk consumed in schools is flavored. Pelzer encourages dairy farmers to know the current situation with flavored milk in their schools so they can educate the school officials on the truth about flavored milk.

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

Rather like the “Cookie Monster”, America’s voracious appetite for gasoline has brought the country to the tight spot it’s in today, gas prices $4 plus a gallon, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon. That’s why backing away from developing biofuels, including ethanol production isn’t even plausible; what it would be is suicidal. Representatives of the Renewable Fuels Association say that “at present ethanol is the only alternative having any impact on America’s huge oil appetite”. So why even consider stopping its production. Contrary to popular belief, the American farmer can and will meet the high demand for food, livestock feed, and ethanol if given the chance. While the inference by some world leaders of a major oil shortage is more psychological marketing to the masses than it is physical fact, (what better way to jack up the price of gasoline?), why continue to chain ourselves to the one type of fuel source primarily controlled by leaders with large egos in small third world countries? Wouldn’t it make much more sense to pursue fuel alternatives that would result in our oil independence and OPEC’s demise?

Thanks Lacy. Just a reminder checkout BigIron.com as an option to sell farm equipment. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.