The Iowa Beef Industry Council has launched a campaign to educate Iowa cattle producers about agro-terrorism. Brian Waddington of the Iowa Beef Industry Council will lead seminars around the state. Waddington says if there’s interest in a county, he’ll schedule a “beef quality assurance meeting” and once someone sits through the seminar, they’ll become a beef quality assurance “certified” producer. Waddington says it’s important for every livestock producer to have a sound “biosecurity plan” in place for their farm. “Right now, it is just something that is looming out there that we are trying to head off,” Waddington says. “We certainly don’t want anything to happen here in the United States that would be detrimental to the livestock industry.” About two billion dollars worth of cattle were sold in Iowa last year and Waddington says if a terrorist introduced an infectious disease in a cattle herd in Iowa, it could have a devastating effect.
