Commercial Gardening Recovery and Beef Samples Test Negative for Bird Flu

**With plant nurseries germinating seeds for springtime garden transplants, producers and seed companies report steady supply and demand after recovering from a pandemic gardening boom that depleted seed inventories.

Steve Wiley, with American Takii seed company in Monterey California, says the popularity of gardening during the pandemic helped the company compensate for a dip in commercial sales.

As commercial business returns, he says, “the home garden market remains quite strong.”

**The USDA says all ground beef samples sent to the National Veterinary Services Lab for testing were negative for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Farm Policy News says USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service collected 30 samples of ground beef from retail outlets in the states where dairy cattle tested positive for H5N1.

The FDA says the testing of additional dairy products continues to show that pasteurization inactivates the bird flu virus.

**U.S. trade policy can strengthen supply chain resiliency and ensure U.S. dairy continues growing as a global leader.

That’s the testimony that Tony Rice, Trade Policy Director for the National Milk Producers Federation, gave at a hearing before U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

Rice’s testimony highlighted the need for a more proactive U.S. trade policy agenda that tackles global trade barriers and enhances market access to key partners.