Dealing with the National Debt & Debt Downgrade

Dealing with the National Debt & Debt Downgrade

Dealing with the National Debt & Debt Downgrade plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

My wife and I often have deep philosophical discussions where we frequently solve the worlds problems. One idea was for each American to donate one dollar a month for one year to help retire the national debt. Now a La Conner man has stepped up to the plate with actions. He has set up a nonprofit called the No National Debt Foundation where you can make a donation to pay the national debt. He has raised over $1000 in the first week. Hmmmm.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has downgraded its credit ratings for the Farm Credit System, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other agencies linked to long-term U.S. debt.
All the downgrades were from Triple A to Double A Plus - reflecting the same downgrade S and P made of long-term U.S. government debt last week. But Craig Kinnison - CFO of Omaha-based Farm Credit Services of America - says the downgrade shouldn’t have much impact on his organization.

KINNISON: From a market perception point of view the difference between a AA and a AAA is not that significant. It hasn’t really impacted us at all with regard to our ability to issue debt to meet our customers need.

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

In today’s world fences are a necessity; as much to keep things out as to keep things in, and are as much a part of the rural landscape as they are the urban landscape. Some of the most controversial disputes going on right now over fencing revolve around the fencing of stream side pastures to help improve water quality. There are many farmers who dig in their heels at the thought of fencing their stream side pastures, but there are many others who have accepted the practice and have already fenced their farms. Claims about manure polluting streams and rivers have been flying back and forth now for quite some time. Surprisingly, what many farmers are finding out though is this plan for fencing stream side pastures has actually worked out to their cattle’s advantage. In fact there’s been a lot of positive feedback from farmers who have gone ahead and fenced their farms. Several have stated that in fact, they feel the cattle are better off when they are not standing in the water, and that another benefit included better grass management. In short, it seems it’s good for the cows, good for the land, and good for the stream.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
 

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