Agricultural News
Department of Homeland Security Releases Assessment Report on Feedlots
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:33:19 CDT
An Assessment Report On The Cattle Feeding Industry was released this week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during a briefing to a joint meeting of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission Board of Directors and the Panhandle Regional Emergency Management Advisory Committee.
"Over the past several years, TCFA leadership and staff have worked with emergency management personnel at the regional, state and federal levels to conduct foot-and-mouth disease exercises. Those exercises have identified areas where additional improvements are needed," said TCFA Vice President Ben Weinheimer. "TCFA, in conjunction with the Panhandle Agrosecurity Working Group, West Texas A&M University and other groups in the region have continued to emphasize the need for more planning and training. The assessment report released this week is a product of those efforts and will lay the groundwork for us to further improve our prevention and response capabilities."
In 2010, assessments were conducted at feedyards, grain elevators, railroads, trucking companies, ethanol plants and veterinary medical diagnostic laboratories. The assessment report is the first step in a project funded by DHS to better protect the cattle feeding industry from natural and man-made disasters.
Over the next few years, $1.5 million will be invested to improve biosecurity plans and procedures at feedyards; provide training on those plans; conduct regional exercises to evaluate response plans for livestock emergencies, including foreign animal diseases; and to develop educational programs for local, county and regional officials related to planning, preparedness and response to livestock emergencies.
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