Bacon Shortage & Apples Are Down

Bacon Shortage & Apple Down plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

To some this might be the beginning of the apocalypse...the 2013 bacon shortage. But the question is also being raised...is there really going to be a shortage? The U.S. Department of Agriculture said there was plenty of frozen pork on hand, and experts say a 5 percent drop of hog production in the European Union likely wouldn't cause problems across the Atlantic. There might be a hike in the price of bacon due to rising feed costs but for now, breathe a sigh of relief...there will be plenty of bacon.

Here in the northwest we are looking at a pretty good apple harvest but that is not the case for the rest of the country and in fact according to Ag Department Economist Agnes Perez says the overall apple picture is down.

PEREZ: There were a series of spring freezes that occurred especially in the central and eastern part of the country that affected production. The buds were out earlier than expected so it became more susceptible to the spring freezes.

The average price to growers is 53 cents a pound up from 46 cents a pound a year ago. This years total crop looks to be a bit over 8-billion pounds and that’s 14% below a year ago. Bad news for the rest of the country but good news for apple producers here.

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

Even with all the changes to school lunches this year flavored milk is still on the menu at most schools, only now sporting a new slimmed down version. USDA’s new school lunch requirements state that flavored milk served with school lunches must be fat free. The sugar content in flavored milks is down as well. This new version of flavored milk offers less calories then, but the important nutrients that milk provides are still there, calcium, protein, and vitamin D just to mention a few. Last year when many schools decided to drop flavored milk from their menus, fearing it was a contributing factor in childhood obesity, the student consumption of milk dropped thirty-five percent. Schools then realized that it would take additional foods on the menu at an additional cost to try and replace the important nutrients students were missing because they weren’t consuming milk. The science still supports the health benefits of consuming two or three servings of nutrient rich dairy products a day. Many children are overweight and undernourished, but as many health care experts have continued to reiterate, milk is not the culprit.

Thanks Lacy. The largest Kubota cab ever built? It's waiting for you on Kubota's new M135GX deluxe mid-size tractor. Learn more at Kubota dot com. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.