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UPI Farming Today

By GREGORY TEJEDA, United Press International

Hemp can also be eaten

Activists upset with federal laws that prohibit the legal growth of industrial hemp are taking another tack, emphasizing the crop with similarities to marijuana is fully capable of being used for food.

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Hemp activists have stressed in the past the crop can be used to make items such as clothing and rope.

But next week, the Hemp Industries Association is coordinating an event in Arlington, Va., to protest new rules by the Drug Enforcement Agency that ban all hemp seed and oil food products that contain even an insignificant amount of THC.

On Tuesday outside DEA offices, activists plan to taste food products such as pretzels, chips, energy bars, waffles, breakfast cereal and ice cream that contain hemp.

Activist groups, including the association, have filed lawsuits challenging the DEA rules. It is not certain when a ruling in those legal cases will come.

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Critics say the new rules imposed by the DEA last month will cause substantial harm to business and consumers by making products illegal when there is little or no threat of drug abuse.

"The amount of THC in hemp foods is like an olive pit in a railroad car," said John Rulac, president of Nutiva Foods and one of the organizers of next week's protest.

He compares the hemp industry to the soy food industry as it existed 30 years ago. Now, soy is used in many food products and has become a significant crop.

"The DEA rule is not based in science, will result in job losses and will stifle this new growth industry," Rulac said.

Many politicians, both at federal and local levels, have been reluctant to support laws that would encourage hemp use out of fear that they would be distorted by marijuana growers into something that would legitimize that crop.

But supporters note industrial hemp was a legal crop until 1937 when federal laws against its development were first imposed.


Ag disaster aid needs to be in economic stimulus bill

The National Farmers Union sent a letter this week urging senators to include production loss aid in an economic stimulus bill soon to be debated by the Senate.

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"Agricultural producers nationwide are suffering from depressed commodity prices; however, the situation is particularly grim in states that have also faced floods, drought, tornadoes and other natural disasters," the letter reads.

A bill by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., extends the fiscal 2001 emergency agricultural assistance for another year to compensate farmers and ranchers for income losses resulting from damaging weather conditions.

It provides $1.8 billion for crop disaster assistance and $500 million for livestock disaster assistance.


Feds agree to develop tests for plant diseases

The Agriculture Department has reached a two-year agreement with a California-based company to develop DNA tests for rapid field diagnosis of plant diseases that threaten major cash crops.

Scientists with the agricultural research service will design DNA primers and probes that detect organisms responsible for several diseases. Cepheid, a Sunnyvale, Calif., company, will get first rights to license the tests for use in its own systems.

The company expects to supply the first samples of lyophilized, high-stability, high-performance testing kits for evaluation during the first half of 2002.

The end result is intended to be a reduction crop losses due to diseases, such as citrus canker, Karnal bunt of wheat, Pierce's disease in grape vines and plum pox in stone fruits, which currently cause up to $9.1 billion in crop losses each year.

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Activists upset w/ Olympic rodeo

Animal rights activists met Thursday with officials organizing the Olympic games in Salt Lake City to complain about the notion that rodeo will be an Olympic event.

"A rodeo is little more than a slightly cleaned up bullfight," said Tony Moore, an activist from Britain who was part of a group from many nations that claims the animals in rodeo are put at risk.

Activists say they would prefer to have rodeo, a new Olympic event, dropped from the program. They had veterinarians on hand to show possible risks to the animals, largely because of the confined conditions in which they are kept prior to the actual events.

"We will show (Salt Lake Olympic Committee) not only evidence of rodeo animal abuse, but also that this event will turn the Olympics into a fiasco," said Colleen Gardner, a Salt Lake-based activist. "The Olympics should be pulling the world together, not pushing it farther apart."


New colored food group could be healthier

Ohio State University researchers want the government to create a new food group -- foods colored red, orange-yellow, green and purple-blue.

They think giving such foods special emphasis would encourage consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables. And, maybe, even learn the health benefits of eating such colorful foods.

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For example, research has shown that blueberries have antioxidants and other compounds that help fight off various cancers, are high in fiber, may help reverse problems associated with aging and also contain concentrated tannins -- compounds that have been found to prevent urinary infections and are not found in such fruits as apples and oranges.

Ohio State workers believe the more intense the color, the healthier the fruit or vegetable is.

(by E.W. Kieckhefer)


Grains futures mixed on CBOT

Grains futures were mixed at the close Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Soybeans finished higher on weekly Agriculture Department export sales figures that were above 1 million tons for the third time during November. Also helping prices was the notion recent declines were overdone.

Corn rose because on beliefs market conditions were oversold and a lack of farmer selling, which has kept cash prices firm in recent days.

Wheat was down because exports were running behind last year's pace and the continuation of speculative selling.

Oat futures were up on followthrough buying by traders.

The prices:

Soybeans: Jan 4.36 1/2 up 1, Mar 4.38 1/4 up 1 3/4, May 4.41 1/4 up 1 1/4, Jul 4.46 up 1 1/4.

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Corn: Dec 1.99 3/4 up 1, Mar 2.11 3/4 up 1 1/4, May 2.19 1/4 up 1 1/4, Jul 2.26 1/4 up 1 1/4.

Wheat: Dec 2.73 1/4 off 1 1/4, Mar 2.81 3/4 off 1/4, May 2.84 1/4 up 1/4, Jul 2.86 unch.

Oats: Dec 2.16 1/2 up 2 1/2, Mar 2.05 1/2 up 5 3/4, May 1.91 3/4 up 7, Jul 1.72 1/4 up 7 1/4.

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