Bell Ringers Go Digital & Vilsack Optimistic

Bell Ringers Go Digital & Vilsack Optimistic. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilasck is traveling through Vietnam and China this week and says his meetings with Vietnamese officials this week dealt with many issues between the two nations.

VILSACK: A very fruitful set of conversations. Began the process of clarifying and honing in on how we might be able to open up the beef market more fully and the white offal market both in beef, poultry and pork; the discussion of fruits and vegetables access. We made some progress in their ag minister acknowledging in principal that there is an opportunity for us to expand the offal trade which would potentially be several million dollars of additional trade.

The familiar sound of coins clicking into the red kettle may soon disappear. Fewer people are carrying loose change and small bills as credit and debit cards have taken over top spot in the wallet. So the Salvation Army is shifting gears and going digital. They are testing out a way for you to donate using those debit cards. Other non-profit groups like the Girl Scouts are looking into the use of electronic payments for their cookies since people just aren’t carrying much cash these days. The Salvation Army plans to test it at 10 locations each in Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

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