WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The government will buy up to $170 million worth of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help drought-stricken farmers, the White House said Aug. 13.

The purchase for food banks and other federal food nutrition programs is expected to help producers struggling with the high cost of feed during the worst drought in a quarter-century. Federal law allows the USDA to buy meat and poultry products to help farmers and ranchers affected by natural disasters.

President Barack Obama said the government would boost its purchases of meat now, while prices are low, and freeze much of it for later use. The USDA plans to buy up to $100 million of additional pork products, $50 million of chicken, $10 million of lamb and $10 million of catfish. The Department of Defense, a large purchaser of beef, pork and lamb, was expected to look for ways to encourage its vendors to speed up purchases of meat.

The USDA has spent about $37 million on pork products so far this year. If it spends an additional $100 million, that would be more than twice what the agency spent on pork in 2011.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Health officials in Indiana and Kentucky are investigating farms, distributors and retailers after an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened 150 people nationwide was linked to cantaloupe grown in the southwestern part of Indiana.

Officials Friday advised all Indiana residents to discard cantaloupes purchased since July 7. The Kentucky Department of Public Health warned people not to eat cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana after tests found the fruit carried the same strain of salmonella that has killed two and sickened more than 50 in Kentucky.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The entire states of Illinois and Indiana are now eligible for drought relief.

The announcement from the USDA drew praise from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who said the designation will help farmers and communities hurt by the drought. Durbin, Republican Sen. Mark Kirk and other Illinois members of Congress had asked that the whole state be eligible for emergency assistance.

In Ohio, nine more counties were designated as primary natural disaster areas last week, too, as part of 172 counties across the country the USDA designated. In Iowa, 34 more counties were designated on Aug. 16, too, as were 68 in Kentucky and one in Tennessee.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Anthrax experts and veterinarians are warning ranchers to watch herds for sudden deaths, after more than 100 animals died in anthrax outbreaks on ranches in Colorado and Texas in the past 3 weeks.

Anthrax outbreaks happen occasionally in livestock herds in the United States, usually west of the Mississippi River. The animals typically contract the disease by ingesting or inhaling spores in the soil. Infected animals die within hours, so sudden deaths are the usual sign of an outbreak.

Entire herds can be decimated if animals are not quickly vaccinated. Experts said the risk of disease may be greater because the drought that’s covering much of the U.S. causes stressed animals to have lower immunity and they tend to graze closer to the dirt that could contain anthrax spores.