Maintaining the security of the United States is not limited to protecting against terrorist attacks on citizens. The agricultural industry also has to be more cautious, Penn State researchers said.

Prior to Sept. 11, the movement for more security in the farm industry was already underway, but the terror attacks accelerated it.

"(Sept. 11) actually jelled everything together," said Bhushan Jayarao, extension veterinarian at the department of veterinary science.

Agro-terrorism is an intention primarily used to cause economic loss and instill fear in the public, Jayarao said.

The importation of crops and animals can be hazardous to farmers, said David Wolfgang, field study director for the department of veterinary science.

"On those products there can be bacteria or viruses," Wolfgang said.

The speed that items are transported across the world can pose a problem as well.

Foreign importers might discover there is a problem with the stock after it has arrived, however, at that point it may be too late, Jayarao said.

"Some kind of insect, not seen in the United States, it can cause a lot of devastation," he said. "There is nothing to kill the agent."

The United States Department of Agriculture takes this risk very seriously, Jayarao said.

For increased protection, scientists said farmers should follow the isolation, resistance and sanitation (IRS) plan.

Farmers should keep the sick and new animals isolated because of their risk of infecting the fit ones.

Keeping animals resistant to illness must be a main priority, Wolfgang said.

"Healthy animals fight off disease bet ter," he added.

To that extent, he said they should be vaccinated and given a balanced diet. The sanitation of the farm also is important.

"Once you identify a problem area, clean it up," Wolfgang said.

On today's farms, there is more production per acre than ever before. Due to the concentration of animals and crops, bacteria and viruses can spread quickly.

"Once it gets on the farm it can infect more animals," Wolfgang said. In addition, averting large problems is financially prudent.

"It's almost always cheaper to prevent problems and than clean up afterwards," Wolfgang said.

A new theme in agriculture is bio-security.

"We need to have single farmers, everybody, who raise livestock to have a bio-security plan," Jayarao said.

The plan will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the farm and address the deficiencies detected.

"Good bio-security makes the products safer," Wolfgang said. "We're really doing this for the consumer and the economy."

A great fear is that a terrorist can poison farm animals with a disease such as anthrax that can harm large numbers of people. But this is an unlikely scenario.

"No animals with anthrax will pass through inspections," Jayarao said.

The screening procedure for livestock in the United States is quite thorough.

"When the people open the animal (for inspection), even a lame one, he will say something's wrong," Jayarao said. "It's so very apparent."

Both scientists believe any terrorist attack will have harsher effects on the economy than individual citizen safety.

"There would be a lot of regional disruption and quite an amount of economic loss, but it would be difficult for agents of other countries to destroy our food system," Jayarao said. "The economic part of agro-terrorism is the biggest concern."

The agricultural industry is extremely important to Pennsylvania. It ranks in the top 10 nationally in dairy, poultry and other agricultural areas, and an attack would substantially hurt the state, Jayarao said.

The power of one person to cause great harm, however, is limited.

"The ability for a devious person to cause mass destruction is small," Wolfgang said. "A person could cause a lot of animal destruction and (damage) a region."

But the threat of an attack on the agricultural industry is credible, Jayarao said.

"Agro-terrorism is real," he said. "It is serious and it should never be discounted."