Thursday morning roundup

POSTED: 04:53 MST Thursday, October 11, 2007

by Robb Hicken

Article Tools
Printer friendly edition
E-mail this to a friend
RSS Feed
Digg this story
Add to Del.icio.us
Tags - Agriculture, Blog, Mike Simpson

Businessman Don McFarland is trying to stave off opponents of his proposed 13,000-animal cattle feedlot near a World War II-era prison camp for Japanese Americans that's been declared a national monument.

The Jerome County Commission voted 2-1 Tuesday against the plan. There, nearly 10,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were held behind barbed wire following Japan's Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. The National Park Service has plans to develop the 73-acre parcel set aside in 2001 by President Clinton into an educational exhibit focusing on wartime civil rights and how the government treated minorities in times of fear. McFarland had originally proposed 18,550 cattle to be kept in the feedlot.

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson is leading bipartisan efforts seeking disaster funds for farmers and ranchers that were hit hard this year by drought and wildfires. According to Simpson, Idaho was ground zero for drought and wildfires and experienced some of the worst fire conditions in decades. He said that now is an appropriate time for Congress to step forward and help Idaho deal with the aftermath of this year's disasters. Among the supplemental legislation that Simpson is seeking, extension of the Crop Disaster Program and extension of the Livestock Compensation Program.

3 Comments

Question: has anyone seen or heard of any emergency 'backdoor' meetings in the last 24-48 hrs between Micron execs & Otter? (Have had several calls from Micron employees saying this was going on)
Comment By Tom
Thursday, October 11, 2007 @ 8:16 AM

Without seeing how "near" to the internment camp this proposed feedlot is, I could be off base. However, if you can't put a feedlot in Jerome, where can you?
I'm no expert, but as I understand we ship a lot of our cattle to other states to be fed and processed, thus there's really isn't an "Idaho Beef" product.
In this day and age where even urban and regional planners are talking about regional food security, it makes sense that we find ways to (re)integrate food processing into our economy.
Comment By Chris Blanchard
Thursday, October 11, 2007 @ 10:03 AM

This proposed feedlot is close enough that the smell will be ever present at the internment camp.
This is a national historic site and should be preserved and developed.
The plans are for an educational center - that will serve as a tourist attraction.
Comment By doug
Thursday, October 11, 2007 @ 3:16 PM

Leave a comment

Leave this field empty

Name:

Email:

You have characters left.

Commenters, let's maintain a civil discussion here. Please observe the following guidelines:

Do not use profanity or euphemisms for profanity.
Do not personally attack or bait other commenters.
Express your own views; don't just argue for argument's sake.
Sarcasm doesn't work on the Web. Either avoid it or clearly label it so you aren't misinterpreted.
Don't make the same point repetitively.
No spam. Link to a commercial site only if it's relevant to the discussion.
Putting your name on your comments increases their value and credibility. However, if you must conceal your identity, please choose one pseudonym and stick to it. No "sock puppets."