Congressman Doc Hasting's Take on the Recent GMO Ban plus a look at the 2014 Cherry Crop

GMO Ban & Cherry Crop Estimate plus Grilling Safely. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The northwest cherry crop is being estimated at 20-million boxes according to the latest count determined during the 2014 Five-State Cherry Growers meeting. Growers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah who attended the meeting felt comfortable that barring any problems from Mother Nature that the estimate was pretty sound. California’s cherry crop this year has been decimated so there are hopes that the northwest crop will make up for the lack of product from down south.

Not sure if this is a portent of things to come but Oregon’s Jackson County has voted to ban the growing of genetically engineered or GMO crops within the County. The action will obviously be an issue for agriculture in the county. Washington State recently defeated an initiative that would require GMO labeling and Congressman Doc Hastings says this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this issue.

HASTINGS: The issue is out there. It has just come come to the United States here recently. It has been going on in Europe for some time. No, I don’t think this issue is necessarily going to go away but I you need to look at the facts and understand what the GMO means and frankly what the benefits of that has been in the past.

 

(USDA Report)

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