Thomas Jefferson Award &Workshops for Farmers

Thomas Jefferson Award &Workshops for Farmers. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Rep. Dan Newhouse has been named as a recipient of the 2016 Thomas Jefferson Award by the International Foodservice Distributors Association. The award is presented by IFDA to lawmakers who support the free enterprise system. The Thomas Jefferson Award recognizes legislators whose work in Washington, D.C. will help distributors accomplish this mission. The program was introduced in 1992 and was inspired by Thomas Jefferson, who in his first inaugural address said, "A wise and frugal government ... shall leave men ... free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is hosting a three-part workshop series in the Yakima Valley. Mike Louisell with WSDA says the series is designed to help small and mid-sized farmers.

LOUISELL: Who want to develop their skills to meet the growing consumer demand for locally grown produce. All of these workshops will have Spanish interpreters. The first workshop will take place on May 3rd at the Yakima County Resource Center in Union Gap. Later this summer we are going to have a farm walk that will help farmers learn about good agricultural and good handling practices. This is good for ensuring the safety of your produce.

Details are on the WSDA website.

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