08/07/06 Ag Secretary Ready To Rebuild Iraq

Ag Secretary ready to rebuild Iraq. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns made a trip to Iraq this week to meet with top officials - and offer help to the Iraqis in rebuilding their agriculture and re-entering the world trading community. The Ag Secretary met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Nouri Al-Maliki and extended America's hand to help Iraq rebuild its agricultural sector JOHANNS: This is a man that is very sincere about moving his country forward and he has the right idea. He recognizes that in order to really build long lasting security for his citizens, he has to have a strong economic development initiative and agriculture is a piece of that. Agriculture by any definition is the second largest industry in this country. The largest industry in the country is oil - but Johanns says Iraq needs to evaluate the contribution of both. JOHANNS: Oil is great but quite honestly oil isn't going to create a lot of jobs. You are really going to create a lot more jobs in the Ag sector; he recognizes that. So if we can build this Ag sector to the level it used to be, at one point this was the bread basket of the world, then you're going to employee people and you are really going to move this economy. The entire mission to Iraq took sixty hours. Johanns was back in his office and in front of reporters just six hours after the plane touched down in Washington, D.C. Following three major world missions in just over a week - it appears the Secretary will stay home for awhile. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. According to the top notch ag research and extension departments at the University of Idaho, Spring barley is an important crop in the state with approximately 900,000 acres harvested annually. That number could explode thanks to the USDA nod of approval on clinical trails that found that barley actually reduces the rate of heart disease. Barley is rich with a fiber called beta-glucan, in fact it has more beta glucan than even oats and because beta glucan can also play a role in moderating glucose in insulin, doctors could soon be looking to barley to make a positive contribution towards improving the health of people with type two diabetes as well. Like a list of film credits, barley's benefits keep rolling& USDA human nutrition researcher, Dr Joan Conway believes barley will help weight watchers by reducing hunger for two to three hours. Barley has made the USDA's "in" list, gaining rave reviews and this new darling of the grain world could insure a blockbuster future for NW barley growers. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.