Hastings Supports Specialty Crops & USDA Targets E.Coli

Hastings Supports Specialty Crops & USDA Targets E.Coli. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Washington Congressman Doc Hastings has sent a letter to the Committee on Agriculture expressing support for specialty crops.

HASTINGS: I felt it was important when the last farm bill was reauthorized to have provisions for research and so forth for specialty crops. And most of the crops we grow in the northwest fall into that category. So this is simply an attempt with 80 of my colleagues to send a letter to the ag committee saying okay let’s keep these programs going because they have been working over the last 5 years.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service next week will begin instituting a zero-tolerance policy for six additional strains of E. coli that are responsible for human illness. Beginning Monday, FSIS will routinely test raw beef manufacturing trim, which is a major component of ground beef, for the six additional strains of E. coli. Trim found to be contaminated with these pathogens will not be allowed into commerce and will be subject to recall.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

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