Agribusiness Update for Monday 8/12/13

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

Addressing attendees of the International Sweetener Symposium via telephone conference - House Ag Ranking Member Collin Peterson said states that produce non-commodity crops are going to need to apply pressure for a farm bill to pass. Peterson said an extension wouldn’t cover programs important to specialty crops - so pressure needs to come from states that are going to lose provisions that were included in the 2008 Farm Bill - but not the extension.

Nationally known farm broadcaster Max Armstrong has a new free smartphone and tablet app that allows vintage tractor enthusiasts to test their tractor trivia skills, enjoy stories of classic machines and more. Max Armstrong’s Tractor App is available for iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets.

The Union of Concerned Scientists' new report and video about the economics of eating right found that eating just one additional serving of fruits or vegetables a day can save over 30,000 lives per year from cardiovascular diseases and save $5 billion in health care costs. If Americans went further and ate the full 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture those numbers quadruple.

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