Cutting the Excess & Farmland the Movie

Cutting the Excess & Farmland the Movie

Cutting the Excess & Farmland the Movie plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Many politicians are good at cutting through all the excess and trimming off the fat so to speak. One Washington State lawmaker has been literally trimming the fat. Some 150 pounds! Everett Rep. Marko Liias has struggled with weight issues all his life and topped the scales at over 350 pounds but due to high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and a family history of diabetes and heart disease he has been working hard over the last 3 years to trim that down to about 209 pounds. Now let's see how he does on the Washington State budget problem.

The world of the farmer is about to be shown on the big screen. Filmmaker James Moll has just released the trailer for his upcoming documentary called, Farmland which is being made with the generous support of U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. USFRA's Lisa Cassady.

CASSADY: USFRA hopes the documentary will spark a conversation about modern agriculture. The film gives a first hand glimpse into the lives of young farmers and ranchers; their high risk, high reward jobs and their passion for a way of life that is passed down from generation to generation.

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

On Friday a U.S. district judge in Albuquerque dismissed a lawsuit by animal welfare groups that sought to prevent the processing of horses, thereby clearing the way for horse slaughter to resume here in the states. The Valley Meat Company in New Mexico and Rain Natural Meats in Missouri say they plan to start operations again, perhaps as early as this week. Both companies plan to export the horse meat for animal or human consumption. Of course the HSUS is not happy and has promised to appeal the ruling, touting it was just the latest legal battle over the treatment of horses in the American West. The debate over reinstating horse slaughter here in the U.S. has been an emotional one to say the least, focusing mainly on peoples' perception of horses as companion animals instead of livestock, and not focusing on what should be done about the country's overpopulation of horses, many neglected and starving, especially in drought stricken parts of the West and Southwest. Supporters of horse slaughter stress that it's far better to slaughter unwanted horses humanely in regulated stateside plants than to ship them to often inhumane slaughter plants in Mexico.

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

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