Ag Appropriations Bill & Hastings Supports Asparagus

Ag Appropriations Bill & Hastings Supports Asparagus. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Washington Congressman Doc Hastings led bipartisan congressional efforts this week to encourage the United States Department of Agriculture to start signup for the Asparagus Market Loss Program. 

HASTINGS: In the 2008 Farm Bill there is a provisions called the Asparagus Market Loss Program that was in response to a long standing trade program that allows Peruvian asparagus to come into the United States duty free and as a result our asparagus growers and asparagus acreage has shrunk dramatically.

House and Senate negotiators are expected to agree to a new Agriculture appropriations measure that contains emergency aid to U.S. dairy farmers and lifts a two-year-old ban on Chinese poultry imports. The original House-passed bill continued a ban on Chinese poultry imports. But the conference report takes the Senate approach, authorizing the Agriculture Department to allow Chinese poultry imports once it determines that they meet food safety standards equivalent to those in the United States. As for helping dairy farmers, the agreement would give U.S. dairy farmers 290-million dollars in direct payments and the U.S. Department of Agriculture would spend another 60-million to buy cheese and other dairy products to reduce surpluses that have helped drive down farmers’ income.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange Report.

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