House Farm Bill & More Stink Bug Issues

House Farm Bill & More Stink Bug Issues. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The Food, Farm and Jobs Act passed out of the House early yesterday morning. There is still the House floor vote and then both versions somehow get mashed together. Before the House Ag Committee got to work on its version of the farm bill - more than 100 amendments had been filed. Members were able to move through those amendments and on to bill approval by the end of the night. Washington Congressman Doc Hastings says that there is a bit of a misconception with this bill which is normally called just the “farm bill.”

HASTINGS: Well understand first that 80% of the farm bill is not farm related. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of that 80% is something I wouldn’t totally embrace however from the farm stand point I do know that whatever safety nets are there are not aas aggressive as they have been in the past

A well established population of the brown marmorated stink bug has been found in Hood River, Oregon. These almost indestructible bugs reproduce every few days, have a voracious appetite for almost every kind of crop, and can resist almost all pesticides. They have already destroyed many eastern crops and with their migration to the northwest farmers are looking for any answers to the threat. The USDA recently funded a multimillion dollar grant to find ways to stop it which includes introducing a small wasp that destroys the stink bug eggs.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

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