Is Agriculture Security At Risk? More Than You Realize

When U.S. Navy Seals entered the hiding place for Osama Bin Laden they found a list of 16 deadly agricultural pathogens that Al Qaeda intended to use as bioweapons, said former Sen. Joe Lieberman during a recent Senate Committee on Agriculture hearing on agro-defense. Six of the bioweapons targeted livestock production. Four targeted crop production. Six more targeted humans.  Threats such as bio-terrorism, plus recent outbreaks of avian flu, Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus in hogs, and foot and mouth disease oversees, as well as other diseases underscore the need for more research, biological containment plans and vaccine readiness to protect agriculture, the food supply and the nation’s economy, committee leaders said.