Threats to farm security are varied and numerous. The prevention of intentional or unintentional injury to crops or livestock is of primary concern in pre-harvest agricultural production. Risk assessments have great utility in the realm of prevention in that they help to identify hazards that need to be addressed and rank their importance. Information obtained from a facility-specific risk assessment can be a powerful tool.

In addition to prevention, early identification to minimize damage should an event occur is also very important. As a producer, there are some things you can do to protect your facility.

Agriculture and food account for 13 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, 18 percent of its employment and $140 billion in revenue. Since September 11, 2001, there has been an increased awareness of the vulnerability of our domestic infrastructure, including the food and agricultural sector, to acts of terrorism.

The protection and integrity of America’s agricultural production and food supply are essential to the health and welfare of both the domestic population and the global community. While farm security presents unique challenges for producers, there are some basic and practical security measures that can be instituted at the farm level.

The voluntary guidelines and checklist presented here provide a pre-harvest security resource and are designed to help the agricultural producer reduce security risks at the farm level. Each producer should review the guidelines and checklist to determine the recommendations most appropriate for his or her operations.

Facility map

A map and a list of emergency contacts are critical components for any farm security plan and can be particularly useful for first responders in the event of a fire, explosion or biohazard incident. The map should include the following:

•name and address of the owner or proprietor and relationship of the farm to adjacent fields or structures

•buildings and structures labeled, including houses, barns, greenhouses, nurseries, shops, outbuildings, silos, grain bins, chemical and fertilizer storage, manure storage or pits (indicate sizes and locations of entrances)

•transportation routes, including access roads, highways, crossroads, etc.

•storage areas for machinery, equipment, chemicals

•fences and gates (indicate dimensions)

•well or municipal water supply, hydrants, ponds, streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands

•electric, gas and phone lines and shutoffs

•septic tanks, wastewater systems, cisterns

•drainage ditches, culverts, surface drains

•fields and pastures

•fuel storage tanks

•areas where animals and crops of concern are located  PD

References omitted due to space but are available upon request.

—From Purdue University, Knowledge to Go newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 4