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[Agriculture Fact Book 98]
Why are the farmers and ranchers of the United States able to produce so much food for the tables of America's consumers?
Of course, there's no simple answer. But one key to this plentiful supply of food can be summed up in a single phrase: "Healthy crops and livestock."
And this is no accident. America's agricultural health is a result of a team effort--good husbandry by farmers and ranchers plus an organized effort to control and eradicate pests and disease and to prevent the entry of devastating foreign plagues.
Just like frosts, floods, and droughts, pests and diseases can wreak havoc on agricultural productivity, depressing farm incomes and driving up food costs for consumers in the process. While we may not be able to prevent weather-related disasters, USDA plays a vital role in protecting our country's agricultural health. The result is a more abundant, higher quality, and cheaper food supply than is found anywhere else in the world.
Agriculture is an important sector in our economy, and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) helps to ensure that it remains healthy and strong. With the advent of free trade initiatives, a global network of countries has agreed that valid agricultural health concerns--not politics, not economics--are the only acceptable basis for trade restrictions. In this environment, our country's agricultural health infrastructure will be our farmers' greatest ally in seeking new export markets.
Agriculture, America's biggest industry and its largest employer, is under constant threat of attack. The enemies are countless and often microscopic, and they gain access to our country in surprising ways. Their potential allies include every traveler entering the United States and every American business importing agricultural products from other countries.
Many passengers entering the United States don't realize that one piece of fruit packed in a suitcase has the potential to cause millions of dollars in damage to U.S. agriculture. Forbidden fruits and vegetables can carry a whole range of plant diseases and pests. Oranges, for example, can introduce diseases like citrus canker or pests like the Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly).
Similarly, sausages and other meat products from many countries can contain animal disease organisms that can live for many months and even survive processing. Meat scraps from abroad could end up in garbage that is fed to swine. If the meat came from animals infected with a disease, such as African swine fever, hog cholera, or foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), it could easily be passed to domestic swine, and a serious epidemic could result. An outbreak of African swine fever in U.S. hogs would drive up the price of pork to consumers, cost hundreds of millions of dollars to eradicate, and close many U.S. export markets.
APHIS safeguards U.S. borders against the entry of foreign agricultural pests and diseases. At all airport terminals, seaports, and border stations, about 1,600 Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) employees inspect international conveyances and the baggage of passengers for plant and animal products that could harbor pests or disease organisms. At international airports, detector dogs in APHIS’ Beagle Brigade help find prohibited agricultural materials. PPQ officers also inspect ship and air cargoes, rail and truck freight, and package mail from foreign countries. At animal import centers, APHIS veterinarians check animals in quarantine to make sure they are not infected with any foreign pests or diseases before being allowed into the country.
The following table provides selected inspection and interception data:
FY 1994 1995 1996 1997
Ships inspected 53,270 52,661 52,974 52,348
Aircraft inspected 451,342 401,741 410,318 461,927
Passengers and crew inspected 62,548,979 65,645,734 66,119,960 68,448,289
Interceptions of plant material 1,442,214 1,583,687 1,567,886 1,609,370
Interceptions of pests 54,831 58,032 48,483 62,830
Interceptions of meat/poultry 281,230 223,392 264,001 294,674
products
Baggage civil penalties-number 22,164 21,813 20,716 21,498
Baggage civil penalties-amount $1,186,310 $1,098,220 $1,080,000 $1,107,670
From high-tech to a keen nose, APHIS uses a variety of means to safeguard American agriculture. PPQ officers augment visual inspection with some 85 x-ray units that help check passenger baggage and mail for prohibited agricultural materials. They also have enlisted trained detector dogs and their keen sense of smell to help sniff out prohibited fruit and meat. On leashes and under the constant supervision of their handlers, the friendly beagles in USDA's Beagle Brigade have checked the baggage of passengers arriving from overseas for 14 years. Currently, APHIS has about 60 canine teams at 21 airports, including 19 of America’s 20 busiest international airports.
In addition to domestic exclusion efforts, APHIS' International Services (IS) has a corps of experts stationed overseas or through the use of APHIS officers on temporary duty to bolster the Nation's defenses against exotic pests and diseases. Often it is more practical and effective to check and monitor commodities for pests or diseases at the source through preclearance programs. APHIS has special arrangements with a number of countries for preclearance programs, which are summarized in the following table.
Country Commodities
Argentina Apples & pears
Australia Apples, nashi pears, pears, grapes
Belgium Bulb inspection
Brazil Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Chile Stonefruit, berries, grapes, cut flowers,
cherimoya, kiwifruit, other fruits & vegetables
Colombia Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Costa Rica Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Ecuador Mangoes (hot water treatment) & melons (free zone)
France Apples
Great Britain Bulb inspection
Guatemala Mangoes (hot water treatment) & melons
Haiti Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Ireland Bulb inspection
Israel Bulb inspection
Jamaica Ugli fruit, cut flowers, papaya & 46 other commodities
Japan Sand pears, Unshu oranges, Fuji apples
Korea Sand pears, mandarin oranges
Mexico Mangoes (hot water treatment), citrus(fumigation or from Sonora free zone),
apples, apricots, peaches, persimmons, & pomegranates (Sonora free zone)
New Zealand Apples, pears, Nashi pears
The Netherlands Bulb inspection
Nicaragua Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Peru Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Scotland Bulb inspection
South Africa Apples, pears, plums, grapes, peaches, nectarines, & citrus
Spain Lemons, clementines, Valencia oranges
Taiwan Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Turkey Bulb inspection
Venezuela Mangoes (hot water treatment)
Through direct overseas contacts, IS employees gather and exchange information on plant and animal health; work to strengthen national, regional, and international agricultural health organizations; and cooperate in international programs against certain pests and diseases that directly threaten American agriculture. Two of the latter are the MOSCAMED program--which combats Medfly infestations in Mexico and Guatemala--and a program to eradicate screwworms, a parasitic insect of warm-blooded animals. Screwworm flies lay their eggs on the edge of open wounds, and the developing larvae feed on the living flesh of the host. Left untreated, the infestation can be fatal.
Screwworms were eradicated from the United States through the use of the sterile insect technique. With this method, millions of screwworm flies are reared in captivity, sterilized, and then released over infested areas to mate with native fertile flies. Eggs produced through such matings do not hatch, and the insect literally breeds itself out of existence.
To provide further protection to U.S. livestock, starting in 1972, eradication efforts were moved southward from the U.S.-Mexico border, with the eventual goal of establishing a barrier of sterile flies across the Isthmus of Panama. To date, screwworms have been eradicated from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Eradication is well advanced in Costa Rica. Eradication will begin in Panama in 1998, and a new rearing facility is planned. Currently a production plant at Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas in southern Mexico can produce up to 500 million sterile flies weekly.
IS also works to prevent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) from entering Mexico, Central America, and Panama and works with Colombia to eliminate FMD from the northern part of that country.
If, despite our best efforts, foreign pests or diseases do manage to slip past our border defenses, APHIS conducts appropriate control and eradication measures. Examples include Mediterranean fruit fly eradication projects in California in the early 1990's and outbreaks of exotic Newcastle disease in pet birds in several States during the 1980's.
APHIS PPQ has a special cadre of people who deal with introductions of exotic plant pests. Known as "Rapid Response Teams," these groups have been mobilized on several occasions to combat costly infestations of Medflies and to perform other tasks.
Early detection of exotic animal diseases by alert livestock producers and practicing veterinarians who contact specially trained State and Federal veterinarians is the key to their quick detection and elimination. More than 300 such trained veterinarians are located throughout the United States to investigate suspected foreign diseases. Within 24 hours of diagnosis, one of two specially trained task forces in APHIS' Veterinary Services can be mobilized at the site of an outbreak to implement the measures necessary to eradicate the disease.
Currently, APHIS officials are actively working to prevent the entry of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)--sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease." This disease has had a serious impact on the British livestock industry. BSE has never been diagnosed in the United States. Since 1989, APHIS has restricted the importation of live ruminants and ruminant products--including animal feed made with ruminant protein--from Great Britain and other countries where BSE is known to exist. In addition, APHIS has conducted a BSE surveillance program since 1989.
APHIS is responsible for enforcing regulations governing the import and export of plants and animals and certain agricultural products.
Import requirements depend on both the product and the country of origin. Plants and plant materials usually must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by an official of the exporting country. Livestock and poultry must be accompanied by a health certificate, also issued by an official of the exporting country. Animal products, such as meats and hides, are restricted if they originate in countries that have a different disease status than the United States.
APHIS regulates the importation of animals that enter the country through land ports along the borders with Mexico and Canada. Imports of livestock and poultry from most countries must be quarantined at one of three animal import centers: Newburgh, NY; Miami, FL; and Los Angeles, CA. A special high-security animal import center at Fleming Key, FL, provides a safe means of importing animals from countries where foot-and-mouth disease exists.
Personally owned pet birds can enter through one of five USDA-operated bird quarantine facilities: New York, NY; Miami, FL; San Ysidro, CA; Hidalgo, TX; and Los Angeles, CA. Those that qualify as U.S.-origin birds may return through any port of entry when arrangements have been made for a USDA Veterinary Services veterinarian to inspect their bird.
Pet birds from Canada can enter without quarantine because Canada's animal disease programs and import rules are similar to those of the United States. Commercial shipments of pet birds can enter through one of the privately owned, APHIS-supervised quarantine facilities. APHIS cooperates with the U.S. Department of the Interior in carrying out provisions of the Endangered Species Act that deal with imports and exports of endangered plant, animal, or bird species. APHIS inspectors at ports of entry are trained to identify these species and to notify Interior of any species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that are found during inspection. Also, at many ports, APHIS officers inspect and sample seed imported from foreign countries to ensure that it is accurately labeled and free of noxious weeds.
APHIS also maintains 16 plant inspection stations, the largest of which is at Miami, FL, for commercial importation of plant materials. Smaller stations are at Orlando, FL; San Juan, PR; JFK International Airport, Jamaica, NY; Elizabeth, NJ; Houston, El Paso, and Los Indios (Brownsville), TX; Nogales, AZ; San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Honolulu, HI; Beltsville, MD; and New Orleans, LA.
To facilitate agricultural exports, APHIS officials certify the health of both plants and animals that are shipped to foreign countries. PPQ provides assurance that U.S. plants and plant products meet the plant quarantine import requirements of foreign countries. This assurance is in the form of a phytosanitary certificate, issued by PPQ or its State cooperators. During FY 1997, 298,365 phytosanitary certificates were issued for exports of plants and plant products worth more than $20 billion.
Veterinary Services (VS) officials and the National Center for Import and Export negotiate animal health requirements for export of livestock, germplasm, poultry, and animal products with the importing countries. These requirements are maintained in the International Regulations Retrieval System (IRRS). VS area offices and major exporters have access to the system. IRRS is also available on the World Wide Web at www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ireg_txt
USDA accredited veterinarians issue health certificates in order to meet the U.S. requirements and the requirements of the recipient country. These health certificates are endorsed by VS area veterinarians in the State of origin. The final inspection of livestock is conducted by a VS port veterinarian at the port of embarkment. This inspection is not required for livestock shipped to Canada and Mexico if it is shipped through land border ports.
APHIS is of greatest help to the U.S. livestock industry in the area of foreign health requirements. Through direct negotiations with foreign governments, APHIS has established approximately 450 livestock, semen, embryo, and poultry health agreements with more than 100 countries. These negotiations are a continuous process, occurring wherever APHIS finds opportunities to open new markets or to reduce unnecessary impediments, or whenever changing disease conditions require adjustments.
In addition to certifying to the health of agricultural exports, APHIS officials mount a proactive approach to the marketing of U.S. crops and livestock overseas. For instance, APHIS and Food Safety and Inspection Service officials coordinated negotiations to avert a Russian embargo on U.S. poultry exports worth $600 million a year. On the plant side, efforts by APHIS and Foreign Agricultural Service officials helped maintain U.S. wheat exports after the March 1996 discovery of an outbreak of Karnal bunt, a fungal disease of wheat, in Arizona. The United States is the world's leading wheat exporter, accounting for 25 percent of world wheat exports in 1997.
In most cases, plant pest problems are handled by individual farmers, ranchers, and other property owners and their State or local governments. However, when an insect, weed, or disease poses a particularly serious threat to a major crop, the Nation's forests, or other plant resources, APHIS may join in the control work.
Most pests and weeds that are targets of PPQ programs are not native to the United States. They gained entry into this country through commercial trade channels, international travelers, or other means.
When pests are new to this country, control techniques may not be available. In any case, PPQ applies interstate quarantines, cooperates with States, and takes other steps to prevent spread until effective control measures can be developed.
In many cases, foreign pests are only minor problems in their native lands because they are kept in check by native parasites, predators, and diseases. Since many of these natural enemies may not exist in the United States, one of PPQ's control techniques--in cooperation with USDA's Agricultural Research Service--is to import, rear, and release parasites and other biological control organisms.
In its classic sense, biological control means using predators, parasites, and pathogens to combat plant pests. Predators and parasites include insects, mites, and nematodes that naturally attack a target pest. Pathogens include bacteria, viruses, or fungi that cause diseases specifically injurious to a target pest.
Biological control was first put to broad, practical use in the United States in the 1880's. At that time, California citrus groves were being devastated by an exotic insect, the cottony- cushion scale. A USDA scout working in Australia found the vedalia beetle feeding on the scale insect. The beetle, part of the lady beetle family, was successfully introduced into California and other citrus-growing regions and has kept the scale insect from causing economic damage ever since.
To coordinate the important search for new and better biocontrol opportunities, a National Biological Control Institute was established in APHIS in 1989. The Institute's mission is to promote, facilitate, and provide leadership for biological control. Its main work is to compile and release technical information and coordinate the work needed to find, identify, and augment or distribute new biological control agents.
The Institute relies on scientists from ARS and elsewhere to identify potentially useful biological control agents. These agents are carefully screened at quarantine centers before being put to use.
Various agencies have successfully cooperated on biocontrol projects. For example, several decades ago, ARS scientists found six species of stingless wasps in Europe that keep alfalfa weevils in check. In 1980, APHIS took on the job of establishing these beneficial wasps across the land. Between 1980 and 1989, APHIS and its cooperators raised and distributed about 17 million wasps, and today there are beneficial wasps within reach of virtually every alfalfa field in the country. It's estimated that the benefits of the alfalfa weevil biocontrol program amount to about $88 million per year, representing a return of about $87 for each $1 spent on the project.
Other APHIS biocontrol programs currently underway in cooperation with State agencies include efforts against the cereal leaf beetle, sweet potato whitefly, Colorado potato beetle, brown citrus aphid, pink hibiscus mealybug, gypsy moth, imported fire ant, leafy spurge, purple loosestrife, Russian knapweed, dalmatian and yellow toadflax, and diffuse and spotted knapweed. Promising biocontrol agents for other pests are being tested at PPQ biocontrol labs located at Mission, TX; Niles, MI; and Bozeman, MT.
One major domestic program PPQ is coordinating is the effort to eradicate boll weevils from the United States. The boll weevil entered this country from Mexico in the late 1890's and soon became a major pest of cotton. It has caused an estimated $12 billion in losses to the Nation's economy. In 1973, it was estimated that insecticides applied to control boll weevils accounted for about one-third of the total applied to agricultural crops in the United States.
The success of a 1971-73 cooperative boll weevil eradication experiment in portions of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama involving Federal and State agencies and grower associations led to two 3-year demonstration projects. One was an eradication trial in North Carolina and Virginia; the second was an optimum pest management trial in Mississippi. The eradication trial was a success in 1980, and the program has undergone regular, incremental expansion since that time.
The current boll weevil eradication effort judiciously applies pesticides based on the number of adult weevils trapped around cotton fields. The traps contain a pheromone (insect attractant) and a small amount of insecticide that kills all captured weevils. In eradication program areas, one to three traps are placed per acre and are checked weekly. Pesticide is applied only to fields that reach a predetermined number of trapped weevils. This selective use of pesticides results in fields requiring minimal pesticide applications--sometimes none--during the growing season. After several seasons, the weevils are eradicated within the defined program area, eliminating any further need to spray for this pest. As an indirect benefit of eliminating the boll weevil, growers are able to maintain beneficial insects that help control many secondary pests. This further reduces the amount of pesticide used each season to produce the cotton crop.
The table below shows the progress in eradicating boll weevils from U.S. cotton-growing areas.
States Eradication Weevil-free
involved Acres Acres
1983 VA/NC/SC 160,000 35,000
1985 +CA/AZ 1,400,000 1,100,000
1987 +GA/FL/AL 450,000 1,500,000
1994 +MS/TN/TX 50,000 2,000,000
1996 Same 1,300,000 4,600,000
1997 +LA 1,600,000 4,600,000
1998 +OK 2,000,000 4,600,000
In the cooperative boll weevil eradication program, APHIS provides technical support, a portion of program funds, and some capital equipment and administrative support. Grower assessments and/or State appropriations provided 87 percent of the total program cost in 1998, with APHIS providing the remaining 13 percent.
The economic benefit:cost ratio for the program has been projected to be 12:1 nationwide, and as high as 40:1 in specific areas of the Cotton Belt. The success of the program has brought a resurgence of cotton production and related industries. Acreage in the Southeast has increased nearly four-fold since the weevil’s eradication. In eradicated areas, growers’ production costs-- without the weevil--are much lower than those in the infested areas.
Witchweed is a parasitic plant that attaches itself to the roots of crops such as corn, sorghum, sugar cane, and other members of the grass family, robbing them of water and vital nutrients. Each plant can produce up to 500,000 seeds per year, and the seeds can remain viable in the soil for up to 15 years, germinating when they come into contact with the root of a host plant.
Witchweed was introduced into the Carolinas from Africa in the mid-1950's. When the parasite first struck, corn plants mysteriously withered and died. A student visiting from India recognized the weed and told U.S. agricultural experts what it was.
Over the course of an eradication effort that began in 1974, some 450,000 acres have been infested. The eradication program was based on surveillance to locate infested fields, quarantines to prevent spread, and a combination of herbicides and germination stimulants to actually eradicate the weed.
At the beginning of FY 1995, with fewer than 28,000 infested acres remaining, APHIS turned operation of the program over to North Carolina to complete eradication there, but continues to help finish the eradication effort in South Carolina.
APHIS was the lead agency in a cooperative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) initiative for grasshopper control in the Western United States. This IPM project, which began in 1987 and closed down in 1994, was aimed at finding better and more acceptable ways of preventing grasshopper damage, while protecting the environment. Activities included developing means to predict and manage grasshopper outbreaks, developing biological control alternatives that minimize the use of chemicals, and integrating proven control techniques into guidelines for APHIS rangeland grasshopper programs.
All this information was integrated into a computer-based decision support system program called "HOPPER." HOPPER is a user-friendly software package that facilitates grasshopper predictions, time and selection of control options, compilation of weather data, and analysis of the economics of range management practices. An example of how HOPPER is used was provided by a Logan County, CO, official in August 1996. He wrote: "I was recently asked to utilize the district's resources to help ranchers save grass pasture obviously threatened by grasshoppers." Using the HOPPER computer model (previously downloaded from the Internet), he estimated the return and decided on the best treatment method.
"We discovered that we would spend $4 per acre in an effort to save $1.50 per acre of grass. The ranchers quickly realized they could purchase hay to replace lost forage and save money. The program showed us we would also have very little effect on next year's population. It also showed us that we should initiate any control effort sooner in the year than we have done in the past."
Other domestic PPQ programs include a quarantine program to prevent the artificial spread of the European gypsy moth from infested areas in the northeastern United States through movement of outdoor household goods and other articles, quarantines to prevent the spread of imported fire ants through movement of plant nursery material from infested areas, and releasing irradiated sterile pink bollworm moths to keep this insect out of cotton in California's San Joaquin Valley.
Protecting the health of the Nation's livestock and poultry industries is the responsibility of APHIS’ Veterinary Services (VS).
VS veterinary medical officers and animal health technicians work with their counterparts in the States and with livestock producers to carry out cooperative programs to control and eradicate certain animal diseases. The decision to begin a nationwide campaign against a domestic animal disease is based on a number of factors, the most important of which is: "Are producers and the livestock industry a leading force in the campaign?"
This organized effort against livestock diseases began in 1884 when Congress created a special agency within USDA to combat bovine pleuropneumonia--a dreaded cattle disease that was crippling exports as well as taking a heavy toll on domestic cattle. Within 8 years, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia had been eradicated and this campaign set the pattern for subsequent animal disease control and eradication programs.
To date, 13 serious livestock and poultry diseases have been eradicated from the United States. They are: Year Disease 1892 Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia 1929 Foot-and-mouth disease 1929 Fowl plague 1934 Glanders 1942 Dourine 1943 Texas cattle fever 1959 Vesicular exanthema (VE) 1959 & 66 Screwworms (southeast & southwest) 1971 Venezuelan equine encephalitis 1973 Sheep scabies 1974 Exotic Newcastle disease 1978 Hog cholera 1985 Lethal avian influenza
Current VS disease eradication programs include cooperative State-Federal efforts directed at cattle and swine brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, and pseudorabies in swine. The following table shows the status of States in these programs.
Cattle Swine Cattle Swine State Brucellosis* Brucellosis** TB*** Pseudorabies**** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AL FREE STAGE 2 FREE FREE AK FREE FREE FREE FREE AZ FREE FREE FREE FREE AR FREE STAGE 2 FREE STAGE 3/4 CA FREE FREE M-A STAGE 3 CO FREE FREE FREE FREE CT FREE FREE FREE FREE DE FREE FREE FREE FREE FL FREE STAGE 2 FREE STAGE 3 GA FREE FREE FREE STAGE 4 HI FREE FREE SUSP.M-A STAGE 4 ID FREE FREE FREE FREE IL FREE FREE FREE STAGE 3 IN FREE FREE FREE STAGE 2/3 IA FREE FREE FREE STAGE 2/3 KS CLASS A FREE FREE STAGE 3 KY FREE FREE FREE FREE LA FREE STAGE 2 FREE STAGE 3 ME FREE FREE FREE FREE MD FREE FREE FREE FREE MA FREE FREE FREE STAGE 4 MI FREE FREE FREE STAGE 3 MN FREE FREE FREE STAGE 2/3 MS CLASS A FREE FREE FREE MO CLASS A FREE FREE STAGE 4 MT FREE FREE FREE FREE NE FREE FREE FREE STAGE 3 NV FREE FREE FREE FREE NH FREE FREE FREE FREE NJ FREE FREE FREE STAGE 3 NM FREE FREE M-A FREE NY FREE FREE FREE FREE NC FREE FREE FREE STAGE 2/3 ND FREE FREE FREE FREE OH FREE FREE FREE STAGE 3 OK CLASS A STAGE 2 FREE STAGE 4 OR FREE FREE FREE FREE PA FREE FREE M-A STAGE 3 PR FREE FREE M-A FREE RI FREE FREE FREE FREE SC FREE STAGE 2 FREE FREE SD CLASS A FREE FREE STAGE 3/4 TN FREE FREE FREE FREE TX CLASS A STAGE 2 M-A STAGE 3 UT FREE FREE FREE FREE VT FREE FREE FREE FREE VI FREE FREE FREE FREE VA FREE FREE FREE FREE WA FREE FREE FREE FREE WV FREE FREE FREE FREE WI FREE FREE FREE STAGE 3/4 WY FREE FREE FREE FREE * Class A (less than 0.25 percent herd infection rate) or Class Free ** Stage 1,2, or Free *** Modified Accredited (M-A) or Accredited Free (Free) **** Stage 1,2,3,4, or Free
Disease control and eradication measures include quarantines to stop the movement of possibly infected or exposed animals, testing and examination to detect infection, destruction of infected (sometimes exposed) animals to prevent further disease spread, treatment to eliminate parasites, vaccination in some cases, and cleaning and disinfection of contaminated premises. In addition to the programs listed above, APHIS also cooperates with States in a voluntary Flock Certification program to combat scrapie in sheep and goats. By April 1998, 260 sheep and goat flocks had been enrolled in the certification program. A current listing of enrolled flocks, by State and by breed, is available on the World Wide Web (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/scrapie/status.html)
APHIS animal health programs are carried out by a field force of about 250 veterinarians and 360 lay inspectors working out of area offices (usually located in State capitals). Laboratory support for these programs is supplied by APHIS' National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) at Ames, IA, and Plum Island, NY, which are centers of excellence in the diagnostic sciences and an integral part of APHIS' animal health programs.
Under the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act of 1913, APHIS enforces regulations to assure that animal vaccines and other veterinary biologics are safe, pure, potent, and effective. Veterinary biologics are products designed to diagnose, prevent, or treat animal diseases. They are used to protect or diagnose disease in a variety of domestic animals, including farm animals, household pets, poultry, fish, and fur bearers.
In contrast to animal medicines, drugs, or chemicals--all of which are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--veterinary biologics are derivatives of living organisms. Unlike some pharmaceutical products, most biologics leave no chemical residues in animals. Furthermore, most disease organisms do not develop resistance to the immune response produced by a veterinary biologic.
Veterinarians and other professionals in the APHIS VS Center for Veterinary Biologics regulate and license all veterinary biologics as well as the facilities where they are produced. They also inspect and monitor the production of veterinary biologics, including both genetically engineered products and products produced by conventional means. Necessary tests of veterinary biologics are conducted at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories at Ames, IA.
APHIS also regulates the licensing and production of genetically engineered vaccines and other veterinary biologics. These products range from diagnostic kits for feline leukemia virus to genetically engineered vaccines to prevent pseudorabies, a serious disease affecting swine. With the pseudorabies vaccines, tests kits have been developed to distinguish between infected animals and those vaccinated with genetically engineered vaccines.
Since the first vaccine was licensed in 1979, a total of 79 genetically engineered biologics have been licensed; all but 20 are still being produced.
More than a half-century ago, there were perhaps a half a dozen animal vaccines and other biologics available to farmers. Now there are 2,379 active product licenses for these animal vaccines and other biologics and 110 licensed manufacturers.
In order to combat plant pests and animal diseases, it's important to know their number and where they are located.
To monitor plant pests, PPQ works with the States in a project called the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey, which started in 1982 as a pilot project. Survey data on weeds, insects, and plant diseases and pests are entered into a nationwide database, the National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS). This database can be accessed from anywhere in the country by persons with an authorized account.
By accessing NAPIS, users can retrieve the latest data on pests. NAPIS data can assist pest forecasting, early pest warning, quicker and more precise delimiting efforts, and better planning for plant pest eradication or control efforts. Survey data--which can reflect the absence as well as the presence of pests--also help U.S. exports, assuring foreign countries that our commodities are free of specific pests and diseases.
There are more than a million records in the NAPIS database. Approximately 200 Federal and State agencies use NAPIS, which contains survey data files as well as text and graphics files. The data can be downloaded and analyzed with geographic information systems (GIS) to provide graphic representation of information. For example, locations of pine shoot beetle detections can be shown graphically, as well as where and how often surveys have been conducted for the beetle. This information is used by the State and Federal agencies regulating this pest.
Describing animal health and management in the United States is the goal of the APHIS National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS). This program, which is conducted by APHIS' Veterinary Services, began in 1983.
NAHMS compiles statistics and information from existing data bases and gathers new data through short- and long-term targeted studies to present a baseline picture of animal agriculture. This information then can be used to predict trends and improve animal production efficiency and food quality. NAHMS provides statistically sound data concerning U.S. livestock and poultry diseases and disease conditions, along with their costs and associated production practices. By the end of 1997, NAHMS had conducted nine national studies on U.S. animal populations: swine (2), dairy (2), beef cow/calf (2) , beef feedlot (1), sheep (1), and catfish (1). Sentinel monitoring of morbidity and mortality in beef feedlots is an ongoing monitoring project, as is bulk tank somatic cell count. Marek's disease in broiler operations, and Poult Enteritis and Mortality Syndrome (PEMS) in turkeys were among NAHMS' short-term projects.
Information from NAHMS aids a broad group of users throughout agriculture. For instance, baseline animal health and management data from NAHMS national studies are helping analysts identify associations between Salmonella and cattle management. NAHMS data are also helping researchers evaluate management practices that contribute to the occurrence of Johne's disease and digital dermatitis in cattle. State and national officials, industry groups, and producers apply NAHMS data and information in educational programs and in setting research priorities.
NAHMS information is available through the World Wide Web (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah); see the Center for Animal Health Monitoring.
Scientists use agricultural biotechnology with a variety of laboratory techniques, such as genetic engineering, to improve plants, animals, and micro-organisms. Recent discoveries have led to virus-resistant crops such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and potatoes; to better vaccines and diagnostic kits used for diseases of horses, chickens, and swine; and even to new and improved varieties of commercial flowers.
Since 1987, APHIS' role in agricultural biotechnology has been to manage and oversee regulations to ensure the safe and rapid development of the products of biotechnology. Applicants under APHIS' effective regulations and practical guidelines can safely test--outside of the physical containment of the laboratory--genetically engineered organisms.
APHIS officials issue permits or acknowledge notification for the importation, interstate movement, or field testing of genetically engineered plants, micro-organisms, and invertebrates that are developed with components from plant pathogenic material.
Since 1987, APHIS has issued more than 3,800 release permits and notifications at more than 17,000 sites in the United States, and no environmental problems have resulted from these field tests. The biotechnology regulations also provide for an exemption process once it has been established that a genetically engineered product does not present a plant pest risk. Under this process, applicants can petition APHIS for a determination of nonregulated status for specific genetically engineered products. In the past 2½ years, 20 new engineered plant lines in 11 crops have been proven safe and no longer need to be regulated by APHIS. The most recent of these--in April 1998--was the first genetically engineered sugar beet, which is herbicide tolerant.
The four most recently deregulated include:
APHIS biotechnology personnel meet with regulatory officials from other nations on a regular basis to foster regulatory harmonization. These discussions are intended to help ensure that requirements imposed by other countries are as consistent as possible with U.S. requirements and that our trading partners are kept informed of biotechnology regulatory developments.
Information about APHIS' biotechnology regulations, current submissions, and new issues and events can be seen on the World Wide Web (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotech/html).
The mission of APHIS' Wildlife Services (WS) program is to provide Federal leadership in managing problems caused by wildlife. Wildlife is a significant public resource that is greatly valued by the American public. But by its very nature, wildlife also can damage agricultural and industrial resources, pose risks to human health and safety, and affect other natural resources. WS helps solve problems that occur when human activity and wildlife are in conflict with one another. In doing so, WS attempts to develop and use wildlife management strategies that are biologically, environmentally, and socially sound.
The need for effective and environmentally sound wildlife damage management is rising dramatically. There are several reasons for this. Increasing suburban development intrudes upon traditional wildlife habitats. Population explosions of some adaptable wildlife species, such as coyotes, deer, and geese, pose increasing risks to human activities. At the same time, advances in science and technology are providing alternative methods for solving wildlife problems.
APHIS' National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC), the world's only research facility devoted entirely to the development of methods for managing wildlife damage, accounts for about one-fourth of the WS budget. In existence since the 1920's, NWRC has an integrated, multi- disciplinary research program that is uniquely suited to provide scientific information and solutions to wildlife damage problems.
A few examples of current NWRC projects include:
More than half of U.S. farmers experience economic loss from animal damage. In 1994, sheep and goat producers lost an estimated $17.7 million due to predation. In 1995, cattle producers' losses to predators were worth $39.6 million. Coyotes alone caused $11.5 million in sheep losses and $21.8 million in cattle losses nationwide. A survey in 1993 showed that wildlife caused $92 million in losses to corn producers in the top 10 corn-producing States.
Additionally, beavers in the Southeastern United States cause an estimated $100 million in damage each year to public and private property, while Mississippi catfish farmers lose nearly $6 million worth of fingerlings to fish-eating birds. During 1 year in Pennsylvania, white-tailed deer caused crop losses totaling $30 million. Overall, bird populations cause an estimated annual loss to U.S. agriculture of $100 million. In 1994, the annual dollar loss to agriculture in the United States from wildlife was about $600 million.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) surveyed 1,465 catfish producers in January 1997. Results indicated that 68 percent of the respondents spent some effort to avoid wildlife-related losses to their catfish crops. Of all catfish losses reported, 67 percent were depredated by wildlife, primarily birds. In Mississippi, where 81 percent of wildlife damage was reported, cormorants were cited as the cause 53 percent of the time. The total cost to catfish producers of efforts to prevent wildlife-related damage was estimated to be $17 million in 1996.
APHIS deals with a wide variety of wildlife problems--ranging from reducing coyote predation on lambs to protecting endangered species from predation by other wildlife. Here are a few examples of WS efforts:
APHIS administers two laws that seek to ensure the humane handling of animals: the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Horse Protection Act (HPA).
For more than a quarter century, USDA has enforced the AWA and its standards and regulations to prevent the trafficking in lost and stolen pets and to protect animals from inhumane treatment and neglect. Congress passed the AWA in 1966 and strengthened the law through amendments in 1970, 1976, 1985, and 1990.
The AWA prohibits staged dogfights, bear and raccoon baiting, and similar animal fighting ventures. It also requires that minimum standards of care and treatment be provided for most warmblooded animals bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported commercially, or exhibited to the public. This includes animals exhibited in zoos, circuses, and marine mammal facilities, as well as pets transported on commercial airlines.
Individuals who operate regulated businesses must be licensed or registered with USDA and must provide their animals with adequate care and treatment in the areas of housing, handling, sanitation, nutrition, water, veterinary care, and protection from extremes of weather and temperature. They must also keep accurate acquisition and disposition records and a description of every animal that comes into their possession. In addition:
In enforcing the AWA, APHIS conducts prelicensing inspections of licensees. Before issuing a license, applicants must be in compliance with all standards and regulations under the AWA.
APHIS also conducts randomly scheduled unannounced inspections to ensure that all regulated facilities continue to comply with the Act. If an inspection reveals deficiencies in meeting the AWA standards and regulations, the inspector instructs the licensee or registrant to correct the problems within a given amount of time. If deficiencies remain uncorrected at the followup inspection, APHIS documents the facility’s deficiencies and considers possible legal action. Such action may include fines and/or the suspension or revocation of licenses.
In FY 1997, APHIS pursued numerous cases against individuals who were not in compliance with the AWA. Examples of these actions are:
The tables below provide data on APHIS' inspection and enforcement efforts for FY 1995-97.
Compliance Inspections, FY 1995 97
Total Total
facilities compliance
FY (sites) inspections
1997 7,789
(10,534) 12,056
1996 7,837
(10,366) 12,635
1995 7,721
(10,108) 14,722
Sanctions Imposed, FY 1995 97
Revocations, suspensions,
FY Fines Imposed and disqualifications
1997 $868,440 43
1996 $1,052,225 29
1995 $451,725 19
USDA also enforces the HPA, which prohibits horses subjected to a process called soring from participating in exhibitions, sales, shows, or auctions. In addition, the Act prohibits drivers from hauling sored horses across State lines to compete in shows. The law was first passed in 1970 and amended in 1976.
Soring--a painful practice used to accentuate a horse's gait--is accomplished by irritating a horse's forelegs through the injection or application of chemicals or mechanical irritants. When a sored horse walks, it responds by quickly lifting its front legs to relieve the pain. Although the HPA covers all horse breeds, Tennessee Walking horses and other high-stepping breeds are the most frequent victims of soring.
To facilitate enforcement of the HPA, APHIS has established the Designated Qualified Person (DQP) program. DQP's are trained and licensed by USDA-certified horse industry organizations or associations to detect sored horses. DQP's are APHIS-accredited veterinarians with equine experience, or they are farriers, horse trainers, or other knowledgeable equestrians.
DQP's are responsible for barring from shows horses that do not meet Federal regulations under the HPA. Without DQP's, show management assumes full legal responsibility for disqualifying sored horses before awarding prizes and before customers view horses at sales or auctions. Horse organizations can revoke the license of DQP's if their inspections do not meet HPA standards.
To ensure that DQP's continue to adhere to HPA standards, APHIS personnel conduct randomly scheduled unannounced inspections. The APHIS inspection team includes veterinarians and investigators. The veterinarians observe horses during a show and can examine any horse for signs of soring or violation of the regulations.
For those who violate the HPA, APHIS can impose criminal or civil charges. If convicted, violators can spend up to 2 years in prison, receive penalties of up to $5,000, and be disqualified for 1 or more years from the right to show, exhibit, or sell horses through auction sales. Trainers can be disqualified for life.
In addition to the AWA and HPA, many State and local governments have passed additional animal welfare legislation. The public is encouraged to work with Federal, State, and local officials as well as local humane organizations to help eliminate inhumane treatment of animals.
APHIS provides services to the aquaculture industry in a number of areas. Aquaculture is the fastest growing segment of U.S. agriculture, surpassing in value most domestic fruit, vegetable, and nut crops. Between 1980 and 1990, the industry experienced a 400-percent increase in growth; it is now estimated to be worth approximately $1.5 billion. The aquaculture industry provides about 300,000 jobs nationwide.
Current APHIS services include licensing of fish vaccines and other biologics under the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act, controlling birds and damage-causing animals, and providing health certification services for exports. APHIS is currently working to expand its aquatic animal health activities, its underlying authority to support industry efforts to increase exports of aquacultural products around the world, its coordination of interstate regulation, and its protection of the industry from the entry of animal pests and diseases. Examples include:
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