Good Year for Idaho Farmers & New Enrollment Begins

Good Year for Idaho Farmers & New Enrollment Begins

Good Year for Idaho Farmers & New Enrollment Begins plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The ag industry has been one of the high point in an otherwise lackluster economy and to prove the point a study just released by the University of Idaho shows 2011 cash receipts for Idaho's farmers and ranchers rose 29 percent from the previous year. The report called The Financial Condition of Idaho Agriculture: 2011 Projections was backed by state agricultural research and extension service funding, and shows net farm income rose to $2.6 billion in 2011.

Enrollment for the Direct and Counter Cyclical Payment and Average Crop Revenue Election Programs for FY 2012 began yesterday according to Farm Service Agency Deputy Assistant Administrator Craig Trimm.

TRIMM: Advanced payments were authorized according to the Farm Bill from 2008 through 2011. Advanced direct payments in which you could have a direct payment under DCP, you could also have a reduced direct payment under ACRE. For 2012 advanced direct payments are not authorized by the Farm Bill.

Sign up runs through June 1st at local FSA offices.

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

The newest anti-cheese billboards featuring an overweight man and woman that the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine erected in upstate New York are not getting quite the response that was hoped for. And what did this non-profit group with less than ten percent of their members actually being medical professionals really expect to happen in a state that has a large number of dairy producers and dairy lovers? Contrary to what PCRM would like the average consumer, parents, and school officials to believe, eliminating a food group, such as dairy, from school lunch programs would not be conducive to a healthy, balanced diet. What it would be conducive with, however, is the vegan diet and anti-animal agriculture agenda that this PETA offshoot group supports. Interestingly, the PCRM has been denounced by both the American Medical Association and the National Osteoporosis Organization. Dean Norton, with the New York Farm Bureau has a rather brilliant idea - PCRM should be required to have ad disclaimers much like actors in commercials, “I’m not a dietitian, but I pretend to be one on TV.”

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

Previous ReportNew USDA Energy Website and Poultry Inspections
Next ReportPower Credits, New Tree Disease & Looking At New Varieties