09/15/06 Facing Bioterrorism

Facing bioterrorism. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Just last week - the U.S. recognized the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The events of that day served as a wake-up call for every U.S. citizen. But according to Livestock Marketing Association Vice President for Government and Industry Affairs Nancy Robinson - the September 11th attacks also alerted the Ag community to the potential for bioterrorism. And that - she says - is a frightening reality. ROBINSON: And act of bioterrorism will have a very detrimental and huge effect on the economy of agriculture and animal agriculture in particular. That's why the Livestock Marketing Association is working at the state and national level on the homeland security issue. Robinson says LMA wants to ensure livestock producers and markets know what the threats of bioterrorism are - and how they can guard against them. ROBINSON: We're participating in a number of homeland security briefings, seminars and more recently assessments at the state and local level of agriculture facilities; markets in particular on determining what are the vulnerabilities that are presented at these facilities so that we can develop some plans and act on those plans to be prepared and also to try to minimize as much as possible the threat of bioterrorism. According to Robinson - the biggest threat to the Ag industry is the introduction of any foreign animal disease. ROBINSON: Diseases like foot and mouth diseases which are very communicable to other animals would ruin the economy of animal agriculture in this country. So we have to be concerned about the introduction of any disease or chemical that might affect the food supply and affect humans as well as animals. Fortunately - Robinson says - there are things livestock producers and markets can do - precautions they can take - to guard against bioterrorism incidents. She says the best defense is awareness and preparedness. ROBINSON: That includes everything from taking a full assessment of the vulnerabilities of your facility whether it's a farm, ranch or market, developing some plans, being prepared to know what to do in the event of some type of act of bioterrorism and then be prepared to take some action as well. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.