08/02/06 Ag Secretary Visits Iraq

According to Johanns - Iraq can offer much more than oil. That`s why the Secretary is in Iraq to strengthen the U.S. relationship with the country - meeting with high level Iraqi officials and Iraqi ag producers. Johanns says the agriculture sector in Iraq is very important. He says the sector is the second largest contributor to the country`s Gross Domestic Product - and employs 25-percent of the workforce. That`s why Johanns says agriculture can play a big role in rebuilding the Iraqi economy. And he says the U.S. can help. JOHANNS: We spent some time talking about how the U.S. can further assist in building a robust Ag sector in Iraq in terms of enhancing their agricultural potential. And on Tuesday - Johanns and Iraq`s Deputy Prime Minister signed a joint statement of intent to revitalize the agricultural extension system in Iraq. Johanns says partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi universities will be vital to those efforts. JOHANNS: We'll reach out to our land grant universities in the United States. We'll ask them to literally make proposals to us in terms of aiding this extension service here and our goal is to really grow this effort for Iraq's future. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. From $300 - $3000, on line sites with names like Plantdrive.com, veggie stroke or Frybread can teach you how to modify your diesel vehicle into a rig that can really cook, on cooking oil. Cooking oil fueled automobiles seem to make environmental sense as they use a renewable fuel that burns less carbon dioxide. But before becoming coming a convert there is one limiting factor. They happen to be illegal. That's right, The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has stated that using cooking oil as fuel violates the Clean air Act and subjects the owner to a $2750 fine. Some see the EPA as hypocritical to penalize an environmentally friendly fuel but new cars must be EPA certified and until a veggie EPA certification exists officials at the EPA fear veggie oil which is denser than diesel could create more soot. So if you are intent on running on salad oil, beware those French fry fumes might betray you resulting hefty fine. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.