Old Man Winter Still Here & Renewing A Tax Credit

Old Man Winter Still Here & Renewing A Tax Credit plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The Pacific Northwest has sure been a mixed bag of weather as of late. 70 plus degrees last weekend in eastern Washington has the jonquils in bloom and now snow and power outages along the coast and into Portland. Mountain passes are a white knuckle drive at best. High winds have knocked down trees and power lines as well closing some coastal highways. Mother Nature can sure be a bit fickle.

The Senate is expected to vote on two separate amendments this week to extend the biodiesel tax credit for one year. It would also be retroactive to Jan. 1 when it expired. But the industry concedes that competitions could complicate things. Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow and Top Ag Republican Pat Roberts both want to extend the so-called biodiesel blender’s credit. The National Biodiesel Board Spokesman Ben Evans says the Stabenow and Roberts amendments have political elements.

EVANS: The Democratic amendment from Senator Stabenow, it has more of a renewable focus and includes some solar incentives and things like that...that could run into trouble and then the Republican amendment from Senator Roberts includes more conventional drilling and pipeline and stuff such as the Keystone Pipeline.

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

The Commodity Classic, held in Nashville earlier this month, is and I quote “America’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused convention and trade show”. Soybean, corn, wheat and sorghum farmers and ag leaders from around the nation get together for this once a year event to discuss the past, present, and most importantly the future of agriculture. This was a record year with more than six thousand attending. Sustainability was the predominant topic of discussion this year, with several companies touting teams of people who were there solely to share their findings on innovative ways to do more with less. That could mean anything from increasing recycling programs, using less fossil fuels or natural resources, to initiating more wildlife friendly programs. Nick Hamon, Head of Sustainability for Bayer CropScience shared that a classic definition of sustainability is “Living and doing business in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the abilities of future generations to meet their own needs.” We could all stand to follow that bit of advice, whether or not we’re involved in the agriculture industry.

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