By Laura Ziegler
Kansas City, Missouri – We can not put razor wire around all of our packing or processing plants across the country, the Secretary said, in an interview at the second International Symposium on Agroterrorism in Kansas City this week. He said smuggling of plants or pathogens across borders is always a concern, or the spread of a disease that could effect livestock or plants. Such events could be devastating to the agricultural economy as well as shake public confidence,Secretary Johanns said. But he went on to say there have been no such threats to date, and he does not think one is likely. But the Secretary of Agriculture said the government is joining with law enforcement and the food industry to take precautions and prepare for the possibility that such an attack could occur. He said federal agencies were joining with law enforcement and the food industry to oversee food security and that he had asked for 300 million dollars next year for food to develop better food security programs.