Charger Recall & New Loan Guarantees plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has just announced a new round of loan guarantees for rural businesses.

VILSACK: There’s a substantial amount of opportunity that’s being created in rural America and we want to make sure people understand that.

$56.2 million in loan guarantees are to assist 12 rural businesses though funding made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funding includes a $10,000,000 loan to United Western Bank, Portland to refinance debt and purchase equipment at a forestry products business.

Cell phone users may want to pay attention. Nokia Corp. announced yesterday that some 14 million mobile phone chargers could be dangerous for users and said it will replace them free of charge. The chargers, bearing Nokia's name are made by a Chinese battery and auto part maker were mostly sold in Europe and North America. The chargers' plastic covers might work loose and expose wiring, which could cause an electric shock if touched when the charger is plugged into a socket. So far they have not  received any reports of injuries or accidents related to the chargers. Visit their website for more information.

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

I had to chuckle this past weekend over an article in my local paper by a reporter from the Los Angeles Times about farming being all the rage.  By the title of the article you would think this was going to be a piece in favor of farming in America, but two paragraphs into it one could immediately sense the distaste and misguided dislike this LA reporter had for the ag business and anything that supported farming, or might show farming in a favorable light. While the article proceeded to insist that family farms where fairy tales, that farming couldn’t be considered a way of life or that in reality there were no attractive farmers, I found myself wondering if this particular reporter had even been on a farm before, let alone talk to an honest to goodness farmer.  Granted, I would have to agree with the silliness of last year’s reality dating show “Farmer Wants a Wife”, but the silliness there emanated more from the LA beauties trying to do farm work in high heels than it did with the farming aspect.  So for your information “Meghan”, farming is a way of life, family farms do still exist, and there are some darn good looking farmers out there, male or female!

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