Calls For Immigration Reform & GE Potato Approved

Calls For Immigration Reform & GE Potato Approved plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Immigration reform. It's a tough issue and one that most politicians don't really know how to handle. Now a northwest mayor is getting into the picture after last Thursday's arrest in Portland of an illegal alien. Portland Mayor Charlie Hales is now calling for immigration reform after supporters released a statement expressing their outrage and held an "emergency rally" downtown Portland. The illegal was facing a DUI charge when he sought sanctuary in a Portland church. He was arrested and turned over to federal officials. Conservative radio host, Lars Larson, calls the man a criminal and says he needs to be sent back where he came from.

Last Friday, USDA approved a genetically engineered potato that won't bruise and reduce a potentially harmful ingredient that emerges in the high heat required for French fries and potato chips. National Potato Council's John Keeling

KEELING: We know that the product has been rigorously reviewed and approved so we feel like the government has done their due diligence so from the industry perspective our position on technology is going to be we support technology and we believe what technology of GE as well as other types of conventional technologies can do for agriculture and do for consumers so once they're approved safe then we believe that growers can make reasonable decisions about whether to grow it and consumers can make reasonable decisions about whether to buy it.

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

Back in 2010 I spoke about the almost forgotten "made in the USA" label and its resurgence in both domestic and international markets. At the time American workers were needing jobs and agreeing to slightly lower wages, and Chinese labor costs were on the rise. Consulting groups were predicting that by 2015 American grown and American made products would once again mean quality, affordability and availability to the global market. What then seemed like an extremely optimistic prediction now seems pretty spot on. The USDA recently released its final total for U.S. ag exports in FY 2014, which skyrocketed to a record $152.5 billion; shooting past last year's record of $141 billion. Ag Secretary Vilsack stated that, "Agricultural exports have climbed 41% in value over the past five years. U.S. agricultural exports have increased in volume as well as in monetary value, which demonstrates an increasing global appetite for high-quality, American grown products." It's nice to know that sometimes predictions really do come true.

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