10-28 NWR Increasing grain sales

This is your Northwest report for Friday, October 28, I'm David Sparks and Northwest grain producers should be delighted by the fact that more than 450 people were in Detroit this week for a meeting seeking to bring international buyers and sellers of US grain into the same room. This event was the fourth of its kind since 2010 and is hosted by the US Grains Council and the Renewable Fuels Association. It brings many grain buyers to the United States for conversations about all things grain. US Grains Council CEO and President Tom Sleight says the event comes at a critical time: "Obviously, we have done a lot. Four successive years of record harvest. I hear every day, almost every hour that we have to find markets for these grains around the world so it is very important this year, probably more than any other year to focus on short term market development, short term sales. We had to get movement into the grain market, exports in general are doing well, this we hope will give us a little bit of a boost."

Elsewhere, the USDA says it will provide $3.6 billion in loans to finance 82 electric infrastructure upgrades in 31 states, creating jobs and improving system operations for rural electric customers across the country.

Finally, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund, habitat destruction caused by global food production is the driving force behind a dramatic decline in wild animal populations worldwide.