Oregon Ag Fest & West Nile

Oregon Ag Fest & West Nile

Oregon Ag Fest & West Nile. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

This weekend there's a chance to experience agriculture at the Oregon Ag Fest. The event was created to help better educate the public about the importance of agriculture and is aimed to help families better understand where their food, fiber and flora come from. Each April, Ag Fest is presented as a two-day, hands-on, activity-filled festival. It's held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. Nearly 17,000 people attend Ag Fest each year to touch, taste and experience the incredible world of agriculture. Ag Fest gets underway this weekend in Salem. Michele Ruby is the Executive Director.

RUBY: Ag Fest has been around 28 years and this year, as in years past, we have all kinds of fun family activities planned. We try to bridge that gap between urban and rural.

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With the early spring comes the early warning about mosquitoes and West Nile virus. Officials are advising horse owners to make sure their horse's vaccination is current for protection against West Nile. The disease is potentially fatal to horses and is spread by mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds. While West Nile virus can sicken people, horses, birds and other animals, it does not spread from horses to people or other animals. Horses require two doses of the vaccine initially, and then boosters at least annually.

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

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