02/16/07 Ag Meeting & New Judge

Ag Committee Meeting & New 9th Court Judge. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. The House Ag Committee had some tough questions for U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns Wednesday. Johanns - along with Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner and Chief Economist Keith Collins - met with the committee to discuss the Administration's farm bill proposals. While there are some areas of disagreement - House Ag Chairman Collin Peterson expressed that the Secretary had some good ideas in his proposals. But in the end - he says the committee will gather farm bill input from a number of sources - and will work to protect the safety net - while adding new initiatives that revitalize rural America and help the nation reach energy independence. One piece of the proposal garnering a lot of attention was the Administration's payment limits plan - and in particular - the Adjusted Gross Income - or AGI - limits for farmers. Johanns explained. JOHANNS: Actually when you slice through this it is actually 38-thousand farm operators who have an AGI over 200-thousand. But only about 25-thousand of those receive farm payments so you can slice that a little finer when you figure out who is getting the payments. The United States Senate today voted unanimously to confirm President Bush's nomination of Idaho State Court Judge N. Randy Smith to serve as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Smith is expected to receive his commission shortly. He will fill a judgeship vacant November 14, 2003, when Judge Thomas G. Nelson of Boise assumed senior status. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is authorized 28 active judgeships and currently has one vacancy. 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.