Big Budget Impacts & Big Anniversary

Big Budget Impacts & Big Anniversary plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill that funds the government for the remainder of the fiscal year and implements key policy changes that benefit northwest agriculture. Oregon Congressman Greg Walden supported the plan.

WALDEN: Importantly for our famers and our ranchers, this plan halts an increase in grazing fees and it stops proposals to list the sage grouse under the ESA.  That's a move that could decimate rural economies in eastern Oregon. We increase our oversight of agencies, like the IRS, and we cut funding from them. And we cut wasteful spending from agencies like EPA that try to push forward with really bad regulations that hurt our farmers, and ranchers, and job creators.

For the last 75 years, the Idaho Farm Bureau has been assisting ag producers in the gem state. The event was celebrated during their recent annual convention in Boise. In addition to the anniversary delegates adopted new policy on fuel taxes to help improve Idaho's roads and bridges, endangered species with regard to sage grouse, opposed establishment of new free-roaming herds of bison outside Yellowstone Park and adopted new policy language on the establishment of national monuments and wilderness areas.

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

With Christmas quickly approaching I have been frantically checking and rechecking my gift list. It got me to pondering what your average farmer's wish list might read like. So, I decided to check it out. Here's what I came up with; some of the items will surprise you, and some won't! Functional clothing and work gear are always appreciated; check out the affordable long-tail t-shirts available out there that will help your farmer avoid "plumber's crack" - a gift that definitely keeps on giving! Tools and tool organizers were also mentioned. But it was also apparent that farmers like their techno gadgets too, from iPads, to pocket sized digital cameras, to MP3 players. Of course, farmers dream big like most of us when it comes to being asked what we really want, and what farmers eyes wouldn't light up if they found a brand new tractor with all the bells and whistles wrapped up with a shiny red bow on Christmas morning. Then there's the eternally hopeful wish list - an abundant and dependable water supply, crops free from pests and diseases, better markets, a New Year free from additional government regulations, and finally, being like the rest of us, peace on earth.

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