Pork merger & Spinach suffers. Im Greg Martin with todays Northwest Report.

Reaction was swift on Monday to the announcement that the nation`s number one hog producer - Smithfield Foods - intends to purchase the nation`s second largest hog producer - Kansas City based Premium Standard Farms - in a merger deal that has already been unanimously approved by both Boards of Directors. Charlie Arnot (AHR-knot) is spokesman for Premium Standard Farms - and details the scope of the deal.

ARNOT: At Premium Standard Farms its over 4000 employees nationwide in North Carolina, Missouri and Texas. Two processing facilities in Clinton, North Carolina and Milan, Mo and farms in those three states.

The companies don`t expect the merger to have any affect whatsoever on the choices and quality of products available to end users and consumers.

This E coli problem has hit spinach growers just when they were seeing demand and consumption at the highest levels in sixty years. USDA economist Gary Lucier.

LUCIER: And were now averaging about 2 pounds per capita, the highest since the mid 1940s. But about ¾s of that was sold into the fresh market and that fresh market includes both the fresh cut and processed baby spinaches and things of that nature.

On a bright note, once the problem is tracked down and solved, producers and consumers wont have to wait long for another crop.

LUCIER: You can turn around and have another crop ready probably within 45 days or less depending on the maturity of the product.

Now with todays Food Forethought, heres Susan Allen.

Dont mess with our milk! The US District Court for the District of Columbia recently told Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, I call them&, irresponsible medicine to go jump in a lake when the activist group pushed for warning labels on milk regarding lactose intolerance. I wonder what wacko physicians actually make up what is nothing more than an animal activist group that hiding under the guise of a committee of doctors  but in reality just pushes an anti-meat and anti-dairy agenda. The executive vice president of science and innovation of the National Dairy Council, Greg Miller, who I might add has a legit PH.D, called the groups action yet another attempt by this animal rights group to grab headlines, saying ,  It is important for people to understand the health consequences of avoiding diary foods as it represents the major source of dietary calcium Avoiding dairy may increase the risk of serious illness, including hypertension stroke, colon caner and osteoporosis. Current information about lactose intolerances are available at nationaldiarycouncil.org.

Thanks Susan. Thats todays Northwest Report. Im Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.