Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to buy up to $30 million worth of poultry products for federal food programs, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said today.

Lincoln, who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said she received the news from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Lincoln had sent a letter to Vilsack last week urging USDA to make a large poultry purchase.

The purchase “will provide a much-needed boost to Arkansas’ poultry industry,” Lincoln said in a news release, noting that the poultry industry represents one out of every six jobs in Arkansas.

The poultry will go to programs such as child nutrition programs and programs that feed victims of natural disasters. The release did not say how much of the poultry was expected to come from Arkansas.

Lincoln is facing a tough re-election challenge from Republican U.S. Rep. John Boozman.