01/13/04 McMorris on Canada; wheat acres up

01/13/04 McMorris on Canada; wheat acres up

Washing Ag January 13, 2005 Washington's new 5th District Congresswoman Cathy McMorris isn't yet prepared to say whether or not the USDA should move forward with its rule to allow Canadian live cattle under 30 months of age to enter the U.S. come March 7th. But she does say the U.S. needs to be cautious. McMorris: "And I am not ready to make a commitment, but I think that with the additional incident we really need to move cautiously and make sure that the industry is comfortable and make sure that our food is safe." McMorris spoke Wednesday at the Pacific Northwest Farm Forum in Spokane where she said that before reopening the border to Canadian cattle, she supports sending a trade team to Canada that includes producers, to verify the feed ban, evaluate BSE surveillance and testing, and review the findings from Canada's recent cases of BSE. The Washington Agricultural Statistics Service says farmers in the state planted 1.9 million acres of winter wheat for harvest in 2005. The agencies state director Ray Garibay says that's an increase of 100-thousand acres, or six percent over 2004, and good planting conditions were likely a factor. Garibay: "Our fall weather pattern, the good moisture conditions we had comparatively speaking, compared to what we are normally at." And it appears most of the state's winter wheat has at least some snow cover to protect it from the current arctic cold and wind. I'm Bob Hoff.
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