Oregon Wine Grapes & Farm Bill Extension

Oregon Wine Grapes & Farm Bill Extension. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

There are usually two ways to look at things. Quality and quantity. More is not always better but when the quality is good...so much the better. That is the case with the Oregon wine grape crop this season. Winemakers are very excited about getting their hands on this crop since the quality, not quantity, of this crop is being described as “perfect.” Mother Nature has been kind so the sugars and the acids are exceptional. Harvest is moving along and should be done in the next few weeks.

Congress will only have a short amount of time after the election to get some important things done like the tax issue and the farm bill. One option is simply an extension on the current farm bill but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says not to rule out Congress yet.

GRASSLEY: When you are dealing with a 1.2 trillion dollar sequestration, maybe people would look at the 23 or 33 billion dollars that the two bills of Congress would save - maybe they’d say that ought to be saved and then go ahead and pass a bill. But the very least that’s going to have to happen to a farm bill if everything is pushed into next year is get a one-year extension.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

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