Trans Fat Ruling & Huge Harvests

Trans Fat Ruling & Huge Harvests plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

So last week the FDA made the announcement that trans fats are not healthy and need to be phased out. This will have a profound effect on many food manufacturers and will have them scrambling to make adjustments to products. Hardest hit will be some of the fast food chains and dessert makers. Some businesses had seen the writing on the wall and made adjustments to recipes some time back. The next question will be how this may affect things like sugar and salt. Will they be next on the regulation chopping block?

USDA's Chief Economist Joe Glauber says for crop producers the projected huge harvests will bring prices down to lower levels, but not disastrously low levels.

GLAUBER: What was striking to me in today's briefing was how many global crops are seeing record production. You're talking about a global wheat crop, a global corn crop, a global rice crop, a record soy crop as well. You're still at levels that are considerably over twice the level they were in 98 to 2002 in that period when you were looking at corn prices in the $2 - $2.10 range.

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

I have to admit that there have been times in my life where I have cursed technology, but generally that was due to my inability to use or understand whatever device I happened to be struggling with at the time. Bottom line, I'm quite thankful for the advancements technology has made in even the most mundane of tasks, such as washing clothes - do any of us really want to go back to using a washboard and large tubs of water set over an open flame, or how about microwaves, vacuums, or even cell phones . Technology has made most of our lives easier by saving time and energy. This is true when it comes to technology in the ag industry as well. Thanks to technological advancements the vast majority of the world's population eats abundantly, eats affordably, and eats safely. Anti-ag activists would have us believe that advancements in biotechnology equate to all of us growing a second head from eating too many "Frankenfoods". Interestingly, the United States has safely and successfully used biotechnology for almost three decades. We're told that global food production must increase 70% by the year 2050. That isn't going to happen unless we embrace the science and technology of food production.

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