Jobless Rate & GIPSA Rule

Jobless Rate & GIPSA Rule

Jobless Rate & GIPSA Rule plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

What is happening with GIPSA? It’s a question a lot of ag producers have been asking. GIPSA stands for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and it facilitates the marketing of many ag products. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says they will keep working on it until Congress tells them to stop.

VILSACK: The level of opposition to what we’ve proposed has been extraordinary. We are working on these rules, we got 66-thousand comments. We took them quite seriously and my hope is that sometime this fall we will advance our response to the comments and our response to the concerns that have been raised about the rule.

Oregon’s weak economy is being reflected in high unemployment numbers, well above 9%. The State Employment Department reported that the unemployment rate was 9.6 percent for August. Statistically, that's essentially unchanged from the month before. But the agency says it's revised July employment numbers to show a drop of 3,300 jobs instead of a gain of 300. The July figures were a result of government job cuts and one expert says a drop in the index of economic indicators doesn't reflect a recession, but it does show fragility.

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

Did you know that September is National Whole Grains Month? Me neither. But I’m all for celebrating the occasion by eating as many delectable whole grain goodies as I can. Since my husband is a bread making aficionado that shouldn’t be too hard to do, plus this is a food choice I can feel good about indulging in. It’s hard to believe that there are any real food lovers who don’t know about the nutritious and delectable properties of whole grain products. Whole grain breads, pastas, and rice don’t just add interesting and appealing texture and color to our plates, they are chock full of nutrients that include B-vitamins, iron, and fiber. Hey, whole grains are included in most well rounded weight loss plans due to the fact that their fiber helps us to feel more satisfied and full after eating. Perhaps in the past you may have had trouble figuring out which products at the local grocery store qualified as whole grain. If that’s the case The Whole Grains Council has come to the rescue with the Whole Grain Stamp, a packaging symbol that identifies products as 100% whole grain. Now days it’s easier than ever to include whole grains in your diet!

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

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