09/11/07 Remembering and Preparing

Remembering and Preparing. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Six years ago the world was shocked to see the disastrous events that took place in New York City and Washington DC. The healing process will continue for a long time and of course we don't want to forget. Complacency is almost as big an enemy as the people who commit these heinous acts of terrorism. We must be alert, not to the point of paranoia, but vigilant. It is important for us to take proper precautions to keep ourselves safe. While the airline industry has responded by tightening up security at airports, it's important to look at other places where we might be susceptible to attack and one of those is through agroterrorism. Agroterrorism is not a new threat but one that should be taken very seriously. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns feels that education is very important. JOHANNS: We're also working to educate our farmers and our ranchers and our vets so that they are able to recognize the clinical signs of bio-security threats and infectious diseases. We have seen the effects of what a food safety recall can have on the public like last years spinach and lettuce e. coli issue where it turned out to be due to a quite natural culprit. But when bags of product are pulled from shelves, Johanns says it's important to keep consumer confidence. JOHANNS: We're a major supplier of food for the world. You shake people's confidence in that and my gosh, you've got a serious problem. Other elements of the agroterrorism fight include a national animal ID system. From tracking cattle that suffer from BSE or mad cow disease to avian influenza in poultry, having the ability to track any animal in the food chain makes good sense. The US Animal Identification Organization is developing a marketing campaign that focuses primarily on producers in the cattle and bison industry that need more information about the National Animal ID System. Rick Stott with the USAIO says they hope to register more than 100-thousand new premises by the end of 2008. STOTT: This is the first step of an industry driven of an animal id solution. I think that's one of the key things USDA has done is to really engage the industry as a true partner. Regardless of the threat, it's important that we are always alert. It's important that we not become so desensitized that we become complacent. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.