11/03/06 Level field for grain & ethanol boom

The American Farm Bureau says it's not right and it's not fair that rail rates for grain are up - while coal shipping rates are down. And in fact - Farm Bureau wants the government to step in. Farm Bureau Labor Specialist Austin Perez says AFBF wants a level playing field for grain shipments. And Perez says that's something that - according to a Government Accountability Office report - does not exist today. PEREZ: The General Accounting reports show that the freight rate for coal declined by 35% while the grain rates rose by 9%. There`s no question the ethanol industry is booming - and data recently released by the Energy Information Administration proves it. According to the Renewable Fuels Association - the data shows U.S. ethanol production and demand continued its strong growth in August - with ethanol producers averaging 329-thousand barrels a day - a record for daily production average. But according to RFA - the August 2006 average also represents a big increase from year ago levels. In fact - the daily production average for August 2006 is an increase of 69-thousand barrels a day from August of 2005. Demand for ethanol did not exceed the record set in June - but did average 385-thousand barrels a day. Now here's today's Washington Grange Report. (GRANGE ) That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.