Dateline: October 18, 2001

Combs urges producers to remain vigilant  

Leon Church, County Agent

Susan Combs, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, has asked the County Extension Agents across Texas to get a message out to all agricultural producers to be vigilant in these troubled times.

We in agriculture have always known that a safe, reliable food supply has been an important part of national defense. In light of the tragic events in New York and Washington, D.C., and with federal officials voicing concern about the potential for other domestic attacks, an assault on our food supply through either biological weapons or the introduction of a foreign animal or crop disease or pest would be a highly destructive force that could be used against agriculture and America.

While we have been vigilant in the past, now is the time for everyone in agriculture to be even more so. That’s why Combs has formed a Texas Border Food Security Coalition of producer groups and associations to work with their members and to encourage farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses to be on the lookout for any unusual activity including strangers on their farms, ranches, and agribusinesses. This is particularly true in the Texas counties along the border with Mexico.

In addition, Combs has asked members of our agricultural community to follow these added security measures. Maintain a list of all emergency contacts and numbers and post these throughout you operation; review internal security, safety procedures, and provide training to employees; report to local authorities all suspicious activities, vehicles, or persons; report to local authorities all threats on personnel and facilities; report to local authorities all thefts, inventory shortages, or missing products that could pose a public health or safety risk; report to local authorities all burglaries, sabotage to facilities or equipment, and all vandalism or activities that may pose a safety or security risk; report any missing blank documentation or identification cards such as shipping forms; and if you notice unusual occurrence of animal diseases, contact a veterinarian and the Texas Animal Health Commission at 1-800-550-8242.

These are common sense type measures, but ones we need to keep in mind.