Avian Influenza Quarantine & Fertilizer Report

Avian Influenza Quarantine & Fertilizer Report

Avian Influenza Quarantine & Fertilizer Report. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Agriculture adopted an emergency rule to establish a quarantine zone for avian influenza that includes parts of Benton and Franklin counties, covering an area of roughly 20 miles around two locations where avian influenza has been identified in backyard flocks of mixed poultry and other birds. The virus has not been found in commercial poultry anywhere in Washington or the United States. There is no immediate public health concern due to the avian influenza virus detected. Avian influenza does not affect poultry meat or egg products, which remain safe to eat.

Rabobank has issued a new report on the global fertilizer industry, looking at issues of price, supply and demand in key international markets. Stephen Nicholson, Senior Analyst at Rabo AgriFinance explains.

NICHOLSON: The outlook depending on what side of the fence you're on: if your soil fertilizer looks a little cloudy and not exactly sure where prices are going to be but you're hopeful that spring demand will be good and we'l kind of firm prices up a little bit - if you're a farmer right now prices look a little soft because demand was not quite as big as we thought last fall because of all the field work that didn't get done, particularly in the U.S. corn belt and so you've got some carryover stocks coming into the spring but everyone is hopeful for a good spring and good fieldwork and more acres of corn than what the markets anticipating right now.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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