Neglected Horses & Vilsack Testifies
Neglected Horses & Vilsack Testifies plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
The battle for the Farm Bill is heating up as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testified before the House Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee, saying that he and his experts are already helping House and Senate Ag. Committee members on farm bill issues, such as what should replace direct payments.
VILSACK: We are working with members of the Ag Committee in terms of providing technical assistance and direction as they begin to think about what we would us in place of a direct payment system. Obviously crop insurance will be key and important to that. What will supplement the crop insurance if you are faced with a fairly significant disaster where crop insurance simply isn’e enough to take care of your loss.
15 starving and malnourished horses were recovered from near Sequim, Washington last week and officials need help in caring for the animals. The Clallam County Sheriff's Office says two of the horses were estimated to be 50 pounds underweight and the rest 100 to 200 pounds underweight. An investigative report will be forwarded to the prosecutor for complete review and consideration of charges. If the owner does not request the return of the horses within 15 days, the Sheriff's Department will place them with rescue organizations.
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
It’s an interesting trend and one we really need to be aware of here in the United States; investors from around the world purchasing US farmland as a “hedge commodity” for their portfolios. The Chinese government and Chinese businesses in recent years have purchased a large amount of agricultural land and facilities around the world to feed its growing population. According to international business consultant John Doggett, at the end of 2009 there were more than a million Chinese farmers in Africa, and the best farm land in Australia is now primarily owned by Chinese purchasers who want to use that land for the coal that is under that land. Earlier this year sixteen of the largest dairy farms in New Zealand were purchased by a state owned company from China in order to gain more control of milk imports - China imports the majority of their milk from New Zealand. Doggett predicts that before long Chinese investors will be bidding on American farmland. Interestingly, China is our biggest foreign creditor, which rather puts us between a rock and a hard place, or should that be between a rock and a “special economic zone”?
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
