State ag personnel trained to deal with threats

Wednesday, June 14th 2006, 10:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ More than a dozen employees of the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry are now trained to respond to threats to the state's agriculture or food supplies.

State veterinarian Becky Brewer says the training was provided by the U-S Department of Agriculture, the Forestry Service and state agriculture officials.

She says the training is to prepare in case of any threat such as avian flu, mad cow disease or any other emergency or threat to the state.

The group was trained in specific areas including incident commander, safety officer, chief of budget, planning and public information.

Oklahoma's agriculture industry produces an estimated $9.4 billion a year for the state's economy.