Donating Food & No Help From Executive Action

Donating Food & No Help From Executive Action

Donating Food & No Help From Executive Action plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The President's executive action for immigration was of course heralded by some and criticized by others. Farmers and ranchers are not thrilled and in fact say that the announcement last Thursday will offer little help help farm operators struggling to get the workers they need and could drive more agricultural production outside the United States. The action, will only protect a small fraction of undocumented immigrants. We'll keep an eye on this important topic.

It's that time of year when we thing about giving back and the Thankful4Ag initiative by Bayer CropScience gives the public a fun and easy opportunity to donate food to those who need it across the country.  Jeff Donald with Bayer CropScience.

DONALD: This is the second year we've done this program and for the two short years we've done it's rapidly become one of our favorite times of the year. Thankful4Ag program gives us a chance to help those in need at a time when they need it the most but it also allows us to connect people with the growers that are providing the food for the tables in a away that they can learn something interesting and shows our appreciation for those that work so hard to make that happen.

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

Today's combines and tractors are equipped with sensors that can record and upload information about what happens in the field - from soil conditions to crop yields. This type of information can make or break a farming operation. Farmers are well aware of the benefits that can be gleamed from big data; they are also well aware of the privacy issues surrounding such data. A survey conducted by AFBF showed that 77% of farmers surveyed feared government entities might gain access to their private information without their knowledge or consent, and 76% were concerned such information could be used by others for commodity market speculation. This month a coalition of some of the biggest names in farm organizations and ag technology providers announced an agreement on principles governing the use of data collected from farms. According to American Farm Bureau Federation President, Bob Stallman, the new "Privacy and Security Principles for Farm Data" established by the coalition are meant to "provide a measure of needed certainty to farmers regarding the protection of their data". Interestingly this document prohibits using any collected data to speculate in commodity markets; with all the companies agreeing that such an act would be illegal.

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

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