Rail Improvements & Beef Takes It On The Chin

Rail Improvements & Beef Takes It On The Chin. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

If I were a cattle rancher right now I’d be worried. Beef has been the target of two stories in the news including the lean finely textured beef fiasco and now the BSE case in California. Members of several groups all agree that the bovine spongiform encephalopathy case has nothing to do with food safety and also should not hinder trade in any fashion. As for the LFTB situation...Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is trying to reassure consumers.

VILSACK: We’re not going to be able mandate nor should we mandate what people eat. People obviously have choices but what we can say is make the choice based information that’s accurate and correct.

Union Pacific railroad has broken ground on an $11 million, 95-mile improvement project in northern Idaho that is expected to reduce traffic congestion and help improve the environment. Many rail advocates say that a return to rail is an answer to travel and freight problems. Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt says the project will boost the regional economy, though the railroad has not done an economic study to determine just how much. Union Pacific hopes the project is complete by late June.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

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