Tax Extenders & Avian Influenza Found

Tax Extenders & Avian Influenza Found plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in wild birds in Whatcom County in Washington State. Two separate virus strains were identified: one in northern pintail ducks and the other in captive Gyrfalcons that were fed hunter-killed wild birds. Neither virus has been found in commercial poultry anywhere in the United States and no human cases with these viruses have been detected in the United States, Canada or internationally. There is no immediate public health concern.

The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday evening to extend expiring tax breaks - also known as the tax extenders package - passed earlier by the House.  The measure now heads to the President's desk where he is expected to sign the legislation. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden from Oregon said next time Congress needs to do better.

WYDEN: The real lesson out of this is when you have an opportunity to provide certainty and predictability for the American economy, take it. Don't walk away from it. Unfortunately because this bill is only two weeks long that's what we're doing, we're walking away from the chance to provide some certainty and predictability. Instead our citizens are going to be in the dark come January 1 with respect to taxes.

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

What happens when you try to promote "Meatless Mondays" on a University campus smack dab in the middle of America's Heartland? It gets shot down in a hurry. Earlier this month a committee of the Association of Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a land grant institution, proposed a resolution to promote "Meatless Mondays" on campus. Their aim - to lessen what they considered the adverse effects of beef production on the environment. When word got out around campus about the resolution more than 100 ag students at the college formed a coalition to oppose the proposal at the student senate meeting. Numerous students opposing the resolution cited the fact that UNL is a land grant university in one of the top beef producing states in the nation, attended by students whose families' livelihoods depend on livestock production. One student who is an animal science major told the group gathered at the meeting that "Not only is agriculture the backbone of this University, it's the backbone of this state." After hearing facts and personal stories about livestock production from the many students who opposed the "Meatless Mondays" proposal the student senate voted down the resolution with a clear majority vote.

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