Salmon Virus and EPA Dust Control

Salmon Virus and EPA Dust Control plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

EPA Chief Lisa Jackson says she won’t double the size of allowable farm dust particles, a move that would conflict with her science advisers but bow to tremendous pressure from agriculture. Farm Bureau’s Rick Krause.

KRAUSE: This is the first time that Administrator Jackson has publicly mentioned that she will keep the standard as it is and not change it so to that extent it’s a big step forward, we believe. It still has to go through the public notice and the public comment procedure and it has to go to the Office of Budget Management for it’s interagency review.

Scientists in Washington state are concerned about a deadly, contagious virus recently detected in wild salmon in British Columbia. Researchers in British Columbia announced Monday they had found the influenza virus in two juvenile sockeye salmon on B.C.'s central coast, the first time in the Pacific Northwest. The virus has caused devastating losses at fish farms in Chile. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's John Kerwin on Tuesday said his agency wants to refine its testing methods to improve detection of the virus. The state tested about 56,000 fish last year and so far has not found signs of infectious salmon anemia.

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

As if the month of October wasn’t already spectacular, with its warm days, cool crisp nights, brilliant fall foliage, and bountiful harvests it’s now officially the National Farm to School Month. Over the last decade farm to schools programs have gone from only a handful of schools participating nationwide to well over two thousand schools having such programs today. USDA’s farm to school programs were started in order to bring locally grown foods directly to local schools, providing students with fresh fruits and vegetables. These programs have proven to be successful well beyond even the original goal of supplying schools with locally grown foods, they have blossomed into educational tools as well. Teachers and students fortunate enough to have farm to school programs are often able to enjoy field trips to local farms and ranches where they benefit from “outdoor classrooms” introducing them to the world of agriculture and teaching how important and vital agriculture is to each of us. The fact that students can in many instances now name the farmers and ranchers suppling fresh foods to their schools is a success story in and of itself.

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