UPI Farming Today

U.S. agriculture not completely secure

The United States' food supply might not be the first target of an anti-Western terrorist, but agricultural researchers with Purdue University say it is not immune to threats.

Those researchers note that the agriculture industry is a significant part of the U.S. economy, with 2.16 million farms representing 941.2 acres and cash receipts topping $193 billion.

"Strategists look at the fact that if a country was going to declare war on the United States that they would go for those high-profile targets and, at the same time, go after the economy," said communication specialist Steve Cain.

"Affecting agriculture in the United States is a big part of our economy."

Cain is among several researchers with Purdue who are working with a national project seeking to protect farms and the food supply from outside threats of contamination.

Agriculture Department officials have increased their funding during the past year for added security measures meant to reduce the likelihood of crop contamination.

The Extension Disaster Education Network currently is conducting a survey to determine farmer opinions on bio-security issues and educational needs.

A different survey by the group found that 85 percent of farmers expect some sort of terrorist attack on some segment of agriculture. Also, 77 percent said they were not convinced their respective counties were prepared for such an attack.

Water contamination and livestock feed were considered the most susceptible areas for attack.

Food security was considered an urgent area of concern by 64 percent of those surveyed, while 50 percent said animal bio-security preparedness needed to be improved. Farm security and crop bio-security was considered urgent by 45 percent.

But many officials believe that agriculture has the advantage of being spread throughout a large country, making it difficult for a single attack to cause irrevocable damage.

"The geographical dispersion of the system makes it very difficult for a terrorist to make a big impact," said Otto Doering, an agricultural economist.

Agreeing was agricultural economist Ken Foster, who said, "Somebody could tamper with one segment or one product and might cause a disruption but are we going to go hungry because of that?"

And Joanne Kick-Raack, a pesticide education coordinator with Ohio State University, said she believes that officials across the United States have taken steps in the past year to improve security, making the possibility of crop tampering less likely to succeed.

Drought:

Rainfall during the past week in the Plains prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to ease the drought status in the area.

The Drought Monitor released Thursday indicated thunderstorms reduced drought from South Dakota to Kansas, with areas previously classified as "severe" drought downgraded to "moderate" drought or "abnormally dry."

In other parts of the United States, "abnormally dry" conditions expanded into southern Michigan and parts of Illinois and Indiana. Dryness also expanded into parts of Arkansas and "severe" drought developed in southwest Texas.

Separately, South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow Thursday pleaded for Congress to alter the methods used to calculate and distribute federal aid for farmers hurt by drought.

Healthy forests:

House Agriculture forestry subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said he believes the federal government has positively acted to reduce catastrophic wildfire threats to communities and the environment.

The subcommittee met Thursday in Washington and officials from the departments of Agriculture and Interior testified about efforts made during the past year to reduce the damage caused by forest fires.

More than 6 million acres already have been damaged by forest fire this year.

"Fires like these are not a natural part of our ecosystem," Goodlatte said. "They are not cleansing, nor beneficial to the forest; they are dangerous and destructive."

Champagne grapes:

The harvest season began officially Thursday in Champagne, France.

It has been about 100 days since the first flowering in area vineyards and the harvest will move across 323 villages in the region.

"In the wake of a good summer, grape growers in Champagne are paying close attention to the weather," said Thomas Bruce of Champagne USA, an offshoot of the French committee that promotes the area's beverages. "Hopefully, this past week's relatively warm and sunny conditions will continue to provide exceptional conditions for the picking of the one-of-a-kind grapes of Champagne."

Grains:

Grain futures were mostly lower at the close Thursday at the Chicago Board of Trade.

Soybeans fell on corrective action with traders believing recent price gains were overdone.

The supply/demand report from the Agriculture Department was less sympathetic than expected, pushing corn lower.

Wheat and oats fell on influence from soybeans and corn.

The prices:

Soybeans: Sep 5.78 off 13 1/2, Nov 5.78 1/4 off 10 1/2, Jan 5.80 1/2 off 11, Mar 5.80 3/4 off 9 3/4.

Corn: Sep 2.74 1/4 off 6 3/4, Dec 2.83 1/4 off 9 1/4, Mar 2.89 off 9, May 2.91 off 8 3/4.

Wheat: Sep 4.09 off 7, Dec 4.06 off 8 1/4, Mar 4.10 3/4 off 7 3/4, May 3.91 off 5 1/4.

Oats: Sep 2.02 1/4 off 2 3/4, Dec 2.02 1/4 off 3 3/4, Mar 1.96 3/4 off 3, May 1.92 off 3.