Tentative Agreement & Renewable Fuels At Sturgis

Tentative Agreement & Renewable Fuels At Sturgis plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

There has been a tentative agreement in the 18-month dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Northwest Grain Companies. Washington Governor Jay Inslee released a statement yesterday and said, "United Grain Company has been notified that state grain inspectors will resume inspections immediately. This is outstanding news for grain growers across Washington, for our grain customers overseas, and for the hundreds of ILWU workers who will now be back on the job." Washington Senator Curtis King said quote: "Grain growers in my legislative district, across central and eastern Washington and even those outside our state can continue to bolster our state's economy without concern that our export partners will find a more dependable source for the products they need."

For the sixth year now, motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world were able to learn more about ethanol, courtesy of the Renewable Fuels Association, at the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. RFA Director of Market Development Robert White says they are starting to see the promotion pay off.

WHITE: One of the unique things that we really started to see come to life this year is that the education to the riders is actually taking a new life and we're seeing riders talking to riders.

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

I joined millions of others in wishing Smokey Bear a very happy 70th birthday this past week. Like numerous school age children over the last seven decades I grew up knowing Smokey "the" Bear and his message about preventing forest fires. While Smokey's middle name was never actually "the", he will always be Smokey "the" Bear to most baby boomers thanks to the iconic song from the 1950's which inserted the word "the" into Smokey's name to help the song flow better. And flow it must have, since many senior citizens can still remember the lyrics to this day. Even though the lyrics are nostalgically simple they still send a great message - "You can take a tip from Smokey that there's nothing like a tree 'cause they're good for kids to climb in and they're beautiful to see. You just have to look around you and you'll find it's not a joke to see what you'd be missing if they all went up in smoke". Thankfully after 70 years children and adults alike are still hearing Smokey's message and hopefully will take it to heart, because being careful and helping to prevent wildfires is still the least that we can do.

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