Getting Closer & Taking Actions

Getting Closer & Taking Actions plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The President has had a busy few days as he is up against some deadlines. The big ones include gun violence and the fiscal cliff. On gun violence he says that he is prepared to take action. And while he admits it is a complex issue he says we can’t let that be an excuse for lack of action. The President has asked VP Biden to lead an effort that includes Cabinet members and outside organizations to come up with a set of concrete proposals no later than January. And he says he will push those proposals without delay.

And the fiscal cliff the President says he and Speaker John Boehner are "pretty close" to a grand deal that would avoid a "fiscal cliff," even as talks have ground to a standstill with just days left before broad tax increases and steep spending cuts take effect.

OBAMA: I'm going to continue to talk to the Speaker and the other leaders up in Congress.  But, ultimately, they've got to do their job.  Right now their job is to make sure that middle-class taxes do not go up and that we have a balanced, responsible package of deficit reduction.

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

Bill Gates has been moving from computers to tractors. Gates’s Cascade Investment firm acquired 24.5 million shares of Deere & Company in 2011, and recently bought three million additional shares of the farm equipment maker. This puts Gates’s stake in Deere & Company at about seven percent. Many wonder what Gates real motive is for investing in Deere and Co.. Perhaps he’s just being a sharp investor. Deere stock is value priced, and it seems to be a well run company. Gates is also known as a proactive supporter of increasing opportunities in the area of food production around the world; focusing on helping farmers in third world countries become self sufficient in producing food for their families. Of course Gates is in good company when it comes to owning Deere stock, billionaires Warren Buffett and Ken Fisher are also top fund owners of Deere & Company. These guys are billionaires for good reason. They put a good chunk of their money in what brokers like to call “forever stocks”, stocks that you can buy today and hold onto for the rest of your life. Who knows, it might be a good idea to follow their lead. Now if I could just come up with an “extra” million or two to spare.

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