Air October 10, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. I have to admit that I was in Wichita last Saturday morning, so I didn’t get a good feel for how much frost was around. The ground was white with frost in north Wichita and milo between Herington and Florence showed some frost damaged leaves. But the further north I got the less damage I saw. I’d say the growing season is still on!

In light of recent events, there seems to be a growing interest as to what kind of threat we can expect from bioterrorism and what individual producers can do about it. There was a lot of interest last spring and early summer because of the Foot and Mouth outbreaks in Europe. But as the reported cases dropped off, the concern seemed to drop proportionately until recent events. The bottom line, to be very blunt, is that if someone really wants to try something, there isn’t much we can do to prevent that. And if a bioterrorism attack hits anywhere in the United States, that location would immediately be inundated with state and federal authorities that would be calling all the shots. Let’s go back to that Foot and Mouth scenario. If an outbreak occurs, there will be an immediate lock down of most transportation. Herds would be quarantined and many of them destroyed within a certain radius of the outbreak. Outside that area there would be testing of herds for infection. There would be restriction of travel and need for sanitation. There would be searching done to track any movement of livestock into or out of the area. So, are there any precautions that you can take? Sure there are. First of all, if you see any unfamiliar vehicles hanging around pastures or corrals. Contact the sheriffs office and have them investigate. It may just be a deer hunter scouting, it could just be another one of these crazy birdwatchers, or it could be someone with bad intent on their mind. But you don’t need to confront them, contact the authorities. Make sure that you are buying all your crop and livestock supplies, chemicals, drugs, etc. from known, reliable firms. There’s a growing interest in purchasing low price products off the Internet, but do you know where they are coming from and is it worth the risk? Common sense is your best friend for protection. And then just staying alert to what’s around you. We’ll probably never have to worry about what could happen, but don’t ever take it for granted!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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