Ag Terrorism
Agroterrorism isn’t newIt isn’t a new concept, she said. Germans used anthrax againstlivestock in World War I. And every state with an offensive bio-weapons program has an anti-agriculture component. A covertoffensive program in the former Soviet Union had a biganti-agriculture component.The purpose of these attacks, she said, is the same as with anyother form of terrorism: fear.The costs would not be limited to the loss of farm products,Kelley said. They would include the cost of diagnosis, therequired destruction of contaminated properties, the loss ofexports and damage to consumer confidence.Kelley has seen the toll on a nation’s economic and psychologicalstructure firsthand. She spent time in England during thefoot-and-mouth disease outbreak there.”The economic impact isn’t just agricultural,” she said. “Theemployment rate (in England) is the lowest it’s been in 26 years.And tourism has dropped.”The environment was affected by the outbreak, too. Water tableswere contaminated by buried animals. Don’t forget the psychological impactBut Kelley said the psychological impact affected her most.”Farming is a very social industry,” she said. “People holed up.They didn’t want to expose their herds.”Children were quarantined and their pets killed. Veterinariansand military personnel were the only ones allowed on and offfarms. Many farmers went bankrupt. Some committed suicide.”When I was over there, I decided I was not going through thisagain,” she said. “I knew we had to find some other options.”In the United States, measures are in effect to counter anagroterrorist attack. A microbial defense initiative was formedin the wake of post-Sept. 11 anthrax attacks. “Our biggest allyin agriculture has been the Department of Defense,” she said.Methods for dealing with an attack, however, aren’t perfectedyet. Referring to her experience with foot-and-mouth disease,Kelley said, “We need to consider options other than massslaughter.” By Brooke Hatfield and Sharon OmahenUniversity of GeorgiaWhile many know of the threat terrorism poses to Americans, fewconsider the hazards of agroterrorism.”Agriculture is critical to the economic infrastructure of theUnited States,” said Lynda Kelley, a researcher with the U.S.Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.”One-sixth of the gross domestic product is agriculture-related,”Kelley said. “Yet the U.S. General Accounting Office’s reports onterrorism fail to address threats to agriculture.”Agroterrorism is generally defined as maliciously usingbiological agents as weapons against the agricultural industry.An agroterrorist attack can use pathogens, pests or toxins,Kelley said.
UGA forms agrosecurity task forceIn Georgia, the University of Georgia formed the UGA AgrosecurityTask Force shortly after 9/11.”The task force’s first major accomplishment was an agrosecurityconference last May which attracted over 400 people, includingextension agents from across the state,” said Jeff Fisher, thetask force chair.”Our goal was to get people on the same page as far as emergencysituations go,” said Fisher, a professor of environmental healthat the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.UGA and Georgia Tech researchers teamed up with officials fromthe Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Georgia AgribusinessCouncil and Georgia Department of Agriculture to form CSAGE, the Center for the Security of Agriculture and the Environment, in December 2001.Researchers with CSAGE are studying all areas of agriculture thatterrorists could target.”We just don’t talk about the detailed specifics of ourresearch,” Fisher said. “We don’t want to identify these areas.That would be like training terrorists. And we definitely don’twant to do that.”