11/06/07 Senator Cantwell on farm bill

Washington Ag November 6, 2007 As legislation on a new farm bill moves to the Senate floor Washington Senator Maria Cantwell says specialty crops is one area she is watching closely. Cantwell: "We want to make sure that make sure that specialty crops are recognized in the farm bill in that our Washington apples, cherries and pears and other things are treated with the same security as other crops are. And disaster relief is very important to us in the Northwest. We have had a couple of challenging years where hail storms and other things have caused severe crop damage. So that is very important too." A bill written by Montana Senator Max Baucus which establishes a permanent five-billion dollars agriculture disaster assistance fund is expected to be included with the farm bill on the Senate floor. Washington State University associate professor Marcia Ostrom has been named the recipient of the 2007 Western Regional Excellence in Extension Award. Ostrom is the director of the WSU Small Farms Program that she established in 2000 and a member of the Community and Rural Sociology Department. The award is given by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. I'm Bob Hoff.