Rising Egg Prices & Wheat Genome Cracked

Rising Egg Prices & Wheat Genome Cracked plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Egg prices seem to be rising much higher than would be indicated by the size of the egg recall, but there may be other factors involved. USDA's Ephriam Leibtag. LEIBTAG: Often times you do get these greater than proportional responses in markets, a little bit of a panic, the vast majority of supplies are not affected and therefore in a longer term you would expect egg prices to revert to a more normal level of price. The NW mint harvest is underway and so far yields are average throughout the northwest. Canada is experiencing a slightly lower than average crop due to cool wet weather earlier this spring. Spot market prices are lower than average while contract prices are very good. British scientists have decoded the genetic sequence of wheat. University of Liverpool scientist Neil Hall, whose team cracked the code, said the information could eventually help breeders of varieties of wheat better identify genetic variations responsible for disease resistance, drought tolerance and yield. Although the genetic sequence remains a rough draft, and additional strains of wheat need to be analyzed for the work to be useful, Hall predicted it wouldn't take long for his work to make an impact in the field. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Sometimes, like the song says, it's just too much, too little, too late, to ever try again. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and the Obama administration are both finding that out the hard way after Shirley Sherrod recently turned down their offer of a new position with the USDA. After they ousted Sherrod from her position as a rural director for the agency over misinterpreted comments from a speech she gave in March both the President and the Ag Secretary backpedaled fast and furious trying to make amends for their rash judgment and mishandling of the situation. But by that time Sherrod had gotten over being shocked, fearful, and nauseated by the whole mess, and was just plain angry. And who could blame her? Most of us assumed that the days of shoot first, ask questions later were long past. While forgive and forget is an ideal to strive for, it is also more akin to scaling Mount Everest for most of us, and Shirley Sherrod is struggling right now with that very real personal summit. She says she may return to the department after a brief time of healing and reflection. If she does return to the USDA, she is by far a better person than most of us. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.