WASHINGTON (AP) — Journalists and government watchdog groups say that crucial food safety information could be kept from the public under a farm bill the Senate is debating.

The Society of Professional Journalists, the American Civil Liberties Union and others say an attempt to ban the disclosure of information from a national animal tracking system could exempt some USDA documents from freedom of information laws.

“It’s essential that citizens be made aware of dangers in their own communities, including livestock that can cause serious illness and death,” said David Cuillier of the journalists’ organization.

Cattle groups say such disclosure could harm their business. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc., which represents ranchers, has lobbied on behalf of the plan.

Colin Woodall, director of legislative affairs for the group, said much of the tracking information is sensitive and unrelated to food safety. “If it gets in the wrong hands, it could be very problematic for our members,” he said. “It’s like Coca-Cola having to disclose its secret formula to everyone who wants to file a FOIA request.”

The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, included the language in the bill and is now “further examining its implications,” said committee spokeswoman Kate Cyrul.

Cyrul said Thursday that the provision was included because ranchers were concerned that meatpackers, retailers or the government could misuse their information.

The Senate bill would allow the department to share some of the information with states and other government agencies under certain conditions, including threats of disease or threats to homeland security. But it would be against the law in most cases for the general public to access the information.

Researchers confirm soybean rust in 14 Iowa counties

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Researchers confirmed cases of Asian Soybean Rust in 14 counties across the state as of Nov. 5.

The announcement from the Iowa Soybean Assoc. came less than two months after researchers announced that the first case of rust had been found in an Iowa farm field. All the confirmed cases came in fields that were planted late.

Soybean rust is a destructive fungus that can move swiftly through fields, infecting and destroying the soybean plant’s green, leafy material. It requires hot, wet conditions to grow and experts had long predicted it could make its way to Iowa.

Officials say farmers are lucky that the rust did not make its way to Iowa earlier in the planting season.

Truck carrying manure tips over, spilling half its load

REDKEY, Ind. (AP) — A semi tanker hauling about 6,000 gallons of liquefied hog manure tipped over, spilling half of the waste along an eastern Indiana highway, police said.

An estimated 2,500 gallons of the hog waste spilled from the truck in the wreck on Nov. 7, but the environmental impact appears to have been minimal, said Steve Polston, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

“Mostly, the environmental impact is to the soil at the site of the incident. About 100 gallons might have spilled into a ditch,” Polston said.

Driver Robert Thompson of Morgantown was turning onto Indiana Highway 67 from a county road when the tanker’s tires left the road, causing it to unhook from the rig and flip onto its side about 20 miles northeast of Muncie, Jay County sheriff’s Deputy Mitch Sutton said.

The truck, owned by Wagler Transportation, Inc. of Nashville, was removing the waste from a confined hog feeding operation to spread onto farm fields as fertilizer.

Sutton said the Redkey Fire Department built a dike to contain the manure, which was then pumped into another Wagler tanker that was hauling manure in the area. Wagler is expected to excavate the contaminated soil and spread it on farmland.

Barn fire kills over 150,000 fish URBANA, Ohio (AP) — A barn fire at a fish farm near the western Ohio city of Urbana killed more than 150,000 of the farm’s half-million fish.

Dave Smith, owner of Freshwater Farms of Ohio, said he moved the fish to the barn and stoked up a stove to stave off the cold.

Smith blamed the direction of the wind for sparking the blaze the night of Nov. 6.

Smith said the farm’s most valuable creatures – about 10 sturgeon, some more than six feet long – were rescued. The farm is a hatchery and market where the fish are bred and sold. The sturgeon are raised to breed solely to stock ponds.

Despite the barn fire, the store remains open.

Hogs die in Iowa building fire

OTO, Iowa (AP) — An investigation is underway into a fire that destroyed a hog confinement building near Oto, in western Iowa.

Officials say about 100 sows and undetermined number of pigs died in the fire that broke out the morning of Nov. 7 in one of eight buildings on a farm. Oto Fire Chief Larry Bumsted said the building was in the middle of the other buildings, and he was surprised the other ones didn’t catch on fire.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the state fire marshal’s office.