Vilsack, Branstad comment at avian flu conference

The U-S Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, was in Des Moines Tuesday morning to talk about the federal response to the avian influenza.  Iowa has seen more cases of the avian flu than any other state and farmers have lost 31.7 million birds at 75 different farms. Vilsack said he hopes farmers will be back in business by the end of summer, so long as the virus doesn’t re-emerge in the fall. The USDA has now made 700 million dollars available to producers, but is still looking for the best way to spend that money. Read More