News

USDA purchases great northern beans

The USDA has purchased up to 25 million dollars of great northern beans-85 percent of which come from Nebraska. The beans will be used in federal school lunch and other assistance programs.Many Nebraska great northern bean growers have been unable to sell their 2008 crop due to weak foreign demand. There are an estimated 15-hundred dry bean growers in western Nebraska.

Nebraska’s governor and congressional delegation have been urging the USDA to purchase the beans as a way to get the market moving again. Senator Ben Nelson applauded the USDA’s action, saying it will allow bean farmers to plant this year’s crop.