More Sequestration Fall Out & Bee Exemption

More Sequestration Fall Out & Bee Exemption plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

People are losing their jobs. My son is one of them. It all has to do with the federal sequester that was really never meant to happen. Now GOP members are leveling a bit of a tongue in cheek ultimatum that the President give up golf during the sequester. The White House has cancelled public tours pending further notice. One Texas lawmaker noted that spring break is coming up and tourists of all political persuasions have already made plans for tours of D.C.

A 2008 Washington State bill that provides three temporary exemptions for beekeepers is set to expire in July. A proposed bill would extend those exemptions. Tom Davis, with the Washington Farm Bureau, explains why this should be considered an important bill.

DAVIS: The ag industry in Washington makes up 13% of the state economy, and a lot of that we could not do without a robust beekeeper industry that helps - especially when it comes to tree fruit, berries, seed crops, and other crops as well.

The bill would create a new sales and use tax exemption for the purchase of honey bee food by an eligible beekeeper, establish a honey bee workgroup to address challenges to the industry and provide a detailed report to the Legislature including information on the status of the colony collapse disorder.

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

“Abigail the calf” is the newest and brightest star of the IM networking stage. Two million people have been following Abigail’s struggle for survival, after being born in the midst of a bitter late February snow storm, through Facebook updates and articles on the Pioneer Woman website. The calf was rescued by author and rancher Ree Drummond. In her on-line posts Drummond describes her family’s efforts to help the calf recover from hypothermia by installing Abigail in the mudroom of their own home. An important note here is that this ranching family tried everything within their power to warm the calf enough so as to be able to rejoin it with its mother while in the pasture. Failing this, they did what numerous farmers and ranchers have done throughout the ages, they went “above and beyond” to provide for one of the animals in their care. It is only recently though that this type of above and beyond dedication can be followed and observed by millions through the power of the internet; giving millions of today’s consumers the chance to see first hand the “care” that has always been associated with agriculture, and the true story about farmers’ and ranchers’ relationship with their animals.

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