Cell Phone Study & Safety Net Sign Up

Cell Phone Study & Safety Net Sign Up plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Next month farmers can begin signing up for two major safety net programs according to FSA’s Juan Garcia.

GARCIA: A couple of those programs are the direct and counter-cyclical program and the average crop revenue election program better known as ACRE which will begin February the 19th for both DCP and the ACRE program. Those producers that had been enrolled in ACRE through September of 2012 will have the option to enroll in the regular DCP or reenroll in the ACRE program for this one year of 2013.

A new AAA study finds that 88% of Idahoans "would support legislative action to ban talking and texting on electronic devices for drivers 18 and younger." Last year, Idaho's legislature took steps to ban texting and driving but this study suggests that lawmakers may be ready to take that even further, banning teens from using a cell phone behind the wheel. According to AAA, Idaho crash data supports the contention that teens are overrepresented in fatal and injury crashes. Drivers 15-19 were 2.6 times as likely as all other drivers to be involved in a fatal or injury crash.

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

General Mills and Marriott International have joined the growing list of food companies calling for the elimination of gestation stalls. All in all, there are now over fifty companies that have announced such a decision. Pork producers however are not yet ready to cave to the pressure. The National Pork Producers Council has put forth a strong effort over the last several months to communicate with retailers, and explain to them that there are several good systems out there for raising pigs, all which produce high quality pork. These efforts have met with some success, and there is hope that modifications will be made to at least some retailers’ prior announcements calling for the elimination of gestation stalls. The National Pork Producers Council continues to be active in Washington D.C. monitoring legislation that targets livestock housing; holding firm with the belief that producers should have the freedom to operate their farms in the best way that they see fit. It goes without saying that livestock producers should be accountable for what happens on their farm, but should that really be in the form of on farm third party audits and heavily mandated federal legislation?

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