02/25/05 No burn hearing; Cuba conflict

North Idaho field burners call it a victory. Those opposed to the practice are disappointed. Those are the reactions from the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to decline hearing a review of Idaho's field burning law. The law was subject to a suit filed by several clean air groups in attempts to have the 2003 measure declared unconstitutional. The rule protects grass seed growers in ten North Idaho counties from liability if they follow state guidelines for field burning. A lawyer involved in a class action suit connected to the field burning controversy says the practice of burning violates property rights due to smoke blowing onto people's homes and property and causing potential health risks. A showdown in the U.S. Senate now seems likely over the issue of trade of Cuba, now that the U.S. Treasury Department will force the island nation make cash payments before U.S. ag and medical products can be shipped to Cuba. You might remember Idaho Senator Larry Craig was among a bi-partisan group of Senators authoring a bill that would clarify Cuba's payment rules and allow more commodities from the U.S. to be sold to Cuba. And that bill's consideration, coupled with Montana Senator Max Baucus's previous threats to block Bush Administration nominees to the Treasury Department, seems to be more eminent. The American Farm Bureau Federation has come out against the rules, with A.F.B.F. President Bob Stallman calling the rules unwarranted. Some Northwest wheat growers are among those eligible for a second round of partial counter-cyclical payments for the 2004 crop year. Sort of. U.S.D.A.'s Farm Service Agency announced the payments as part of the 2002 Farm Bill's Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment program. But wheat producers who receive first partial payment back in October are not eligible for the second partial counter-cyclical payment due to increased wheat prices since that time. Details on the payment program are available through local F.S.A. offices. Groups in the Northwest states are among the recipients of U.S.D.A. funding designed to aid business development in rural America. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns said thirteen organizations in ten states are eligible for $6.9 million dollars in revolving loans through the Rural Development Intermediary Relending Program. Funding awards include a $400,000 dollar loan for the Clearwater Economic Development Association in Nez Perce County Idaho, and a similar loan for the Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District comprised of counties in along the coasts of Southwest Washington and Northern Oregon.