Help Make A Difference & Consumer Prices

Help Make A Difference & Consumer Prices plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

America’s Farmers Grow Communities has invested more than 13-million dollars in rural America over the past four years because of the help of local farmers. More than 52-hundred nonprofit organizations have used the funding to purchase vital equipment, supplies and resources for the betterment of their community. In its fourth consecutive year - the program will give farmers the opportunity to win a 25-hundred dollar donation for their favorite local nonprofit organizations. Winning farmers have the chance to make a difference in their own community by enrolling and nominating a nonprofit organization of their choice.

The latest USDA crop forecast shows a much larger corn crop among other things but will this mean that we will see a drop in consumer prices? USDA chief economist Joe Glauber doesn’t think so.

GLAUBER: I don’t think there will be much influence actually on consumer prices. We frankly didn’t see much this year even though we had such a strong drought and some of that is we didn’t see quite the liquidation many people were anticipating in the livestock industries. In fact the Economic Research Service lowered its inflation outlook for this year down to, I think, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 percent range and for next year still in the 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 percent range.

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

The other day I had a few minutes to kill and decided to peruse the internet for some light and entertaining reading. One article’s title caught my attention and peeked my curiosity. It was “The Joys of Using An Outhouse”. Of course my first reaction was that this had to be a facetious title. I mean come on, anyone who has ever had to use an outhouse knows that it is not generally one of those experiences that rates a ten on the fun meter. In reading further I began to understand the seemingly paradoxical title. The author hit on the obvious “green” reasons for rural property owners to have an outhouse - it’s a portable, energy free, long lasting, water saving device that once it is moved and the hole is filled in allows Mother Nature to do her thing chemical free. But that’s not the “joy” part she was referring to. To her the joy of an outhouse is the ability it gives the user to “escape” for awhile to somewhere where there are no interruptions from ringing phones or other annoying electrical devices - just the sound of birds chirping, squirrels skittering in the tree tops, and perhaps leaves fluttering in the breeze. I have to agree it sounds idyllic, but I don’t think I’ll be opting for an outhouse anytime soon.

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