Wheat-Soy Export Sales Higher & Three New Cases of Bird Flu

**The USDA says export sales of wheat and soybeans rose while corn sales declined during the week ending February 3.

Wheat sales totaled 84,800 metric tons, up 48% from a week earlier, but still down 75% from the four-week average.

Soybean sales rose 46% to 1.6 million metric tons, up 81% from the four-week average.

Corn sales dropped to 589,000 metric tons, 50% lower than

the week before and 43% under the average.

**The USDA unveiled a resource guide to help rural businesses grow and expand the rural economy.

The guide features information on how rural entrepreneurs can use USDA and other federal programs to access financing and other assistance to help start and expand their businesses.

The guide includes tools to expand access to capital, create value-added ag products, access high-speed internet and cut energy costs, along with other resources.

The guide is available at, www.rd.usda.gov

**State and federal officials say they’d kill infected poultry flocks in Kentucky and Virginia to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a deadly poultry disease.

In less than a week, the USDA has reported three cases of bird flu, from the Shenandoah Mountains to the Mississippi River.

They were the first confirmations in U.S. domestic flocks in two years.

Nearly 50 million birds died in a bird flu epidemic in 2014 and 15.

www.agriculture.com/news/business/deadly-bird-flu-found-in-two-more-states