Beekeeper Demonstration & Sharing Information

Beekeeper Demonstration & Sharing Information plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Most of us were taught at a very young age that sharing was important. It appears that message has been taken up by scientists. the G-8 Open Ag. Data conference will deal with not just making relevant scientific data available to developing countries. Dr. Catherine Woteki, USDA Chief Scientist says they’l also figure out how to deliver it to farmers in a useful form.

WOTEKI: Our partners in Africa, the new Alliance partners will be participating. We have in that session an opportunity for them to talk about the kinds of applications they would like to see developed and then who’s going to do it. Many African countries are now - have people who are very skillful and are already developing applications for use within that country. And among the things that we’ll also be talking about are building that capacity further.

Parliament has seen many protests over the years. Beekeepers gathered to try and convince the government to back a ban on pesticides that have been blamed for a worrying drop in bee populations. Many were dressed in their beekeeping outfits or or bright bee-like stripes to underscore their point.The British government has previously abstained from votes on the EU proposal.

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

Remember when doctors made house calls? Not that long ago really, even into the late sixties, early seventies. I grew up in a small rural community fortunate enough to have not one, but three and often four doctors in town. Now rural communities are lucky to even have one doctor close by. Because of the need for primary care physicians in rural communities, rural medical education programs are cropping up around the country. The goal is to recruit students with rural backgrounds, as they can more easily relate to what it’s like growing up in a rural community. These medical students also take supplemental curriculum, focusing on issues more pertinent to rural doctors. Many newly graduated doctors will not even consider rural areas because the economy tends to be poor, creating a vicious circle; because in order to improve the local economy a community needs adequate medical services. Hopefully more young doctors will realize that while money is certainly nice, it isn’t everything. Rural physicians can make a good living, but perhaps the trust, prestige, sense of community, and the realization that a greater need is being met holds even greater value.

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