Vilsack jawbones bankers on behalf of dairy
Washington Ag Today September 11, 2009 It’s tough financial times right now for both the dairy and pork industries. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says he’s asking lenders to be patient with producers in those sectors of agriculture. Vilsack: “I did have a conversation with Secretary Geithner yesterday encouraging the Treasury Department to request commercial banks to understand the short term difficulties we are seeing in pork and dairy and the belief we have these markets are going to rebound and when they do these folks are going to have the equity they had before that supported loans.” Vilsack also plans to step up USDA purchases of dairy and pork after October 1st when the new federal spending year starts. The USDA Farm Service Agency has announced it will add an additional weight category to the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) for non-adult beef cattle, non-adult dairy cattle and non-adult buffalo/beefalo. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
The over 400 pound category will be split into 2 categories, 400 to 799 pounds and 800 pounds or more. This change will ensure that the assigned market values reflect the statutory requirement for the payment to be 75 percent of the market value for the livestock.
The Washington Asparagus Commission will be holding a Spanish and English Food Safety Training on September 23rd from 1:00 - 5:00 at Snipes Mountain Restaurant in Sunnyside, WA. Please contact the Commission office at 509-266-4303 for more information.
