Disaster Assistance Coming & Organic Insurance

Disaster Assistance Coming & Organic Insurance plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Some livestock producers suffering loss from natural disaster will be able to sign up for Farm Bill programs soon. USDA Under Secretary Michael Scuse discusses implementation of the Farm Bill livestock disaster programs.

SCUSE: President Obama directed Secretary Vilsack to have these programs up and running within the next 60 days and we will be open for business for sign up within the next 60-day period. We're are going to ask the producers to go to the local Farm Service Agency office with the appropriate documentation so that we can start making the payments soon after sign up begins. They'll be more information provided as we develop these programs over the next 30 days so that we can give them better information on the type of documentation we're going to be requiring.

The USDA's Risk Management Agency is reminding producers of the expanded crop insurance options for insurable organic crops. In its support for the continued growth of organic agriculture, RMA expanded the coverage options for producers through Federal crop insurance.  Through efforts to better collect and evaluate price and yield data, RMA has worked with other USDA agencies over the past several years to enhance the coverage options for organic producers. RMA also reminds all producers, including organic producers of the March 17, 2014 spring sales closing date for multiple peril crop insurance programs.

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

Amid all the Olympic games "hype and circumstance", circumstances that find many Olympic hopefuls caught in awkward and nefarious situations, it's nice to read about an Olympic contender that is not posing in racy photographs, having a temper tantrum on the course, or just behaving badly in general. Enter Kaitlyn Farrington, Olympic gold medalist who competed in women's half pipe snowboarding. Farrington's story is the type of Olympic story we should be hearing about. She grew up on a cattle ranch in Sun Valley, Idaho. Known to be upbeat and optimistic, Farrington danced as she stood in the leader's box waiting to hear how she did. She credits her success in the Olympic games and life in general to her parents, Gary and Suz, and the fact that she was raised to "cowgirl up". In other words, you do what you have to do to get the job done. Farrington isn't the only Olympic athlete with a farming or ranching background. And most of them say that farming and being an athlete go hand in hand, both have you going up against odds you cant' control, but you still go out and do what you have to do.

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