Fruit Tree Damage & Stocking Salmon

Fruit Tree Damage & Stocking Salmon plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The huge storm hitting the east coast could have some very detrimental effects on the 2012 fruit crop. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey gives us an idea of how the storm could affect tree fruit orchards.

RIPPEY: There will be some of the higher orchards that will pick up snow. That could be devastating to the orchards in terms of breakage of limbs or trees and on top of that as soils become saturated and the winds blow at gale force for a few days that will tend to cause that root upheaval so the trees will just pull up rootball and all and then be pushed over.

If the storm does damage the fruit crop it would be the second year in a row that eastern tree fruit producers would not have much of a crop.

The Boise River will be getting some residents come Thursday this week. Some 250 steelhead will be stocked in the river as part of a two-phase plan over the next few weeks. The fish range in size from six to 12 pounds and of course many anglers will be eager to hit the water in hope of hooking one. Besides a fishing license, you will also need a $12.75 steelhead permit, good for 20 fish. Barbless hooks are not required for Boise River steelhead angling. Be sure and contact the local Fish and Game office in Nampa, Idaho for more details.

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

The 85th National FFA Convention and Expo ended Saturday and, contrary to popular misconception, the future of agriculture is not dead. In fact, in looking at the faces of the nearly 55 thousand young people that gathered at the convention to learn about careers in the ag industry, the future of agriculture looks quite bright indeed. These young men and women are passionate about agriculture, and they understand that as times change so too must the way farmers and ranchers run their operations. They’re also very much aware of the uphill battle faced by many in the agricultural community as animal rights activists attack production agriculture operations on a daily basis. While extremist groups make it their mission to slander agriculture in the viral video arena, groups such as the FFA are equally passionate about getting the real story of agriculture out to the general public. And thank goodness for that. The theme of this year’s convention was “Grow”, which was appropriate on so many levels. The more than 500 thousand members of the FFA understand that they themselves have to “grow” in order to be successful in growing the nation’s and the worlds’s food supply.

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