Agribusiness Update for Friday 7/12/13

This is the Agribusiness Update...I’m Greg Martin...

The House voted yesterday to split the farm bill and vote on only the farm portion of the bill which passed. The farm portion only makes up about 20% and the rest is the controversial nutrition issue that the House will take up at a later date. Meanwhile the White House has threatened to veto and the Democratic run Senate is unlikely to pass the bill.

The West Nile virus has been found in Idaho’s Ada County. Mosquitoes found in a pool tested positive for the virus. Officials are urging people to take necessary precautions when you are outside. In 2006, Idaho led the nation in West Nile virus infections with almost 1,000 infections, which contributed to 23 deaths.

A lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the mandatory country-of-origin labeling rule finalized by USDA in May. The suit - filed by eight organizations that represent the U.S. and Canadian meat and livestock industries - challenges the rule from three angles and contends the government can’t require the labels because they offer no food safety or public health benefit - yet impose costs the government modestly estimates at 192-million dollars.

That’s today’s Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network.