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| | Ag secretary approves $1.2 million to prevent soybean rust
Friday, May 13, 2005 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Thursday announced $1.2 million in federal funding to prevent the spread of a fungus that could harm soybeans in Arkansas. The money will be used for surveillance, monitoring and education about Asian soybean rust, a fungus spread primarily by windborne spores and transported over long distances. "That is great news," said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark. "Hopefully, this expenditure of federal funds will help our soybean farmers." Earlier this week, Pryor inserted a provision into an $82 billion war supplemental bill that urged the Agriculture Department to do more to fend off the fungus. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., called the funding a first step. "The fact that he's recognizing it to be a problem and taking action is a positive thing," Lincoln said. Of the $1.2 million total, $800,000 will be spent on sentinel soybean plots in 35 states and Puerto Rico. Another $180,000 will be used for mobile survey units to help states identify the disease and report surveillance data. And $210,000 will go toward updating and maintaining the Agriculture Department's soybean rust Web site, www.usda.gov/soybeanrust. The USDA confirmed the first case of soybean rust in the United States in November 2004 at a Louisiana State University production farm. The first case in Arkansas was confirmed later that month in Crittenden County. -- 30 -- |
