This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report

culture Report.
Beans are a popular choice for home gardens. 
The University of Illinois Extension service says bush bean plants need the least amount of work. They stand without support. 
Green bush beans used to be called string beans because of fiber material along the pods containing the seeds. Now green beans are called snap beans because plant breeding reduced the fibers. 
Unlike bush bean plants, pole beans need supports to climb. But they need less space than bush beans because they twist around poles or sticks. Because the plants are tall, a person can stand while harvesting the beans.
The University of Illinois Extension says beans should not be planted until all danger of a freeze has passed in the spring. Cold weather could damage them. Planting beans every two to four weeks until early August will provide a continuous harvest.
Small weeds and grasses around beans plants need to be controlled, but be careful not to harm the plants. The root systems are not very strong or deep.
Seeds should be planted at a depth of two and one-half centimeters. Make sure the soil is not too wet or the seeds could develop poorly. 
Bush beans should be planted five to ten centimeters apart. And there should be at least forty-five to sixty centimeters between the rows. 
Pole beans should be planted ten to fifteen centimeters apart in rows that are about seventy-six to ninety centimeters apart. Or you could plant them in hills with four to six seeds per hill. 
The hills should be seventy-six centimeters apart and with seventy-six centimeters between rows. 
The University of Illinois specialists say to harvest beans when the pods are firm and have reached their full length. Do not wait until the seeds inside are fully developed. Bean plants produce more beans if pods are continually removed before the seeds are mature. 
But wait until the plants are completely dry before picking beans. Picking beans from wet plants can spread bean bacterial blight, a disease that damages the plants. 
The specialists at the University of Illinois Extension say beans should be moved to different areas of the garden each year. This is because diseases that affect beans can stay in the soil and infect the next bean crop. 
Not only are beans a healthy food, they are also good for the soil. Other plants take nitrogen out of the soil, but beans and other legumes replace it.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. To learn more about agriculture, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.
Bai nghe 8.
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Farmers in England have been worried about foot-and-mouth disease among their cows. The viral sickness is one of the world’s most destructive diseases of livestock. Foot-and-mouth disease does not usually kill animals. But it sickens them and severely reduces production of meat and milk, resulting in economic disaster.
The current cases of the disease first struck cattle in southern England. At the end of July, a farmer in Surrey noted that two of his cows were sick. He reported the news to government health officials. They passed it on to the World Organization for Animal Health. 
Agricultural scientists confirmed the first cases of the disease in two animals. The first group of one hundred twenty cows was killed August third. At that time, the government banned export of all livestock, fresh meat and milk products. The ban is expected to remain in place until August twenty-fifth. 
About one hundred cattle were killed from a second infected herd on a farm about three kilometers from the first. A third group of cows was killed last week. Almost six hundred cows have been destroyed so far to prevent the spread of the disease. 
Tests of cows on two other farms in Surrey showed no presence of the highly infectious virus. So experts say the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease could be over by the end of the week if no new cases are found. However, they urged farmers to continue to check their cattle for signs of the disease. 
British health investigators believe there is a strong possibility the outbreak started in a research center close to the farms. The center has two laboratories that use the virus for research and to make vaccines. One of the laboratories rejected the claim. It said there is no evidence the virus was transported out of the laboratory by people.
In two thousand one, foot-and-mouth disease cost the British agricultural and tourism industries billions of dollars. More than six million animals were killed. The crisis delayed a general election for a month, canceled many sports events and closed the countryside to visitors. 
The disease affects animals such as cows, pigs, goats and sheep. It spreads easily through direct contact among animals. It is also spread by people on clothing and shoes. 
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Faith Lapidus.
Bai nghe 9.
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Two words are enough to start a debate: farm subsidies. 
Farmers who are subsidized by their governments usually receive direct payments or loans. Domestic subsidies provide support within a farmer's own country. Export subsidies help them sell their products in other countries, often at a lower price.
Developing nations criticize export subsidies in the United States and other wealthy countries. They say the result is that their own farmers are often unable to compete on the world market.
The dispute over subsidies is one of the major barriers to a new agreement for the World Trade Organization. Negotiators will meet again next month in Geneva to discuss compromise proposals for agricultural and industrial goods. 
One version written last month calls for the United States to lower its subsidies. In return, big developing countries like China, India and Brazil would make larger reductions in taxes on industries. 
But in Washington, the House of Representatives recently passed a farm bill that would continue high-paying subsidies. These go mostly to farmers in the Midwest and South who grow corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybeans. The bill would also add money for growers of fruits and vegetables. 
The bill now goes to the Senate. President Bush has threatened to veto it. He opposes subsidies for farmers currently receiving high prices for crops like corn and soybeans.
Today's farm subsidies have roots in the Great Depression.
In nineteen thirty-three, Congress passed a law that paid farmers not to plant on some of their land. The idea was to control crop supplies and support prices, while protecting the soil.
Since nineteen thirty-three, legislation known as the farm bill has come before Congress about every five years for renewal. 
After the nineteen sixties, aid to farmers increased. In nineteen ninety-six, Congress passed the Freedom to Farm Act. This law removed the requirement to leave areas of land unplanted in order to receive government money.
Economist and author James Weaver thinks political pressure on Congress will make big cuts in subsidies unlikely anytime soon. He says most farmers with high subsidies like the system the way it is. The amount received is based on production area. So the wealthiest farmers with the most land often receive the most money. 
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.
Bai nghe 10.
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
The government of China says much progress has been made in efforts to control the spread of blue-ear pig disease. Government officials said last week that forty-seven thousand pigs were infected in July. That was down more than fifty percent from the number reported for June.
The name for the virus comes from the fact that infected pigs can temporarily develop discolored ears. The scientific name is porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. 
China has an estimated five hundred million pigs. An Agriculture Ministry spokesman said more than one hundred million pigs have been given vaccine to prevent the disease. 
The spokesman said two hundred fifty-seven thousand pigs were infected with the virus this year. Sixty-eight thousand of them died. Many more were destroyed.
An Agriculture Ministry official said the outbreak involves a form of the virus that is unusually deadly to pigs.
Vietnam also has reported recent cases of blue-ear disease.
The disease causes reproductive failure in female pigs and breathing difficulties in young pigs. Older pigs may also be affected. Signs of the disease can include high fever and cases of pneumonia. Pigs weakened by the virus are more likely to get bacterial infections.
An outbreak of infectious disease killed as many as one million pigs in China last year. China's top veterinary health official said this past June that blue-ear disease was the cause of most of those deaths. China reported the outbreak to the World Organization for Animal Health last September.
The World Organization for Animal Health says the disease happens in most major pig-producing areas of the world. The disease was first recognized in nineteen eighty-seven in the United States. Three years later it appeared in western Europe and spread quickly. 
The agency says the disease does not seem to affect animals other than pigs. Experts say they do not know of any cases of humans who have gotten the pig disease.
China is the world's largest producer of pigs. Supply shortages have driven up pork prices this year in China. Still, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said this month that China exported sixty-two thousand metric tons of pork in the first half of the year. That compared with pork exports of two hundred forty-six tons for all of last year.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For more stories about agriculture, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.