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Witte honored by National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
Jeff Witte, New Mexico Department of Agriculture's director of agricultural biosecurity, received the James A. Graham Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture during the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture's annual meeting in Montgomery, Ala.
Witte was honored for his work with the Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center (SWBFSDC) where he has worked closely with various private entities, state and federal agencies and research institutions on agriculture issues related to homeland security.
"I am extremely honored that Sec. Miley Gonzalez nominated me and very humbled to receive this award," Witte said of the award that honors one individual each year that is in a position providing services to agricultural producers. "We have a great team at NMDA and NMSU, and I have a great team at home. This work could not be accomplished without their support."
Witte is co-founder and co-director of SWBFSDC, a partnership between NMDA and NMSU's College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has charged the center with administering all programs related to agro-security in the state.
In that role Witte conducts strategic planning, with special emphasis in risk assessment and coordination among the agriculture industry, tribal entities and federal and state agencies in securing a safe food supply and infrastructure.
Activities that he has been involved in include coordination of research in animal syndrome surveillance, staff and industry training in emergency preparedness and terrorism awareness, including the 10 states along the United States' border with Mexico. Through these efforts SWBFSDC, NMSU and NMDA have become a member of the National Coalition for Agriculture Security Training and have assisted in developing a pilot course titled "Preparing Communities for Agroterrorism."
Through the collaboration of SWBFSDC and the Border Governors' Association, Witte helped coordinate the Border Governors' 10-State tabletop exercise in 2006 and 2007 and will direct the 2009 exercise in November. The exercises include true-to-life scenarios such as animal disease outbreak, food safety issues and acts of terrorism including how first responders would react, detailing the most minute actions.
NMDA and NMSU, through the center, have become recognized as national leaders in developing and conducting programs related to agro-security and food safety. The center has been responsible for developing and establishing many programs important to New Mexico, including the Agroguard Community Policing Program, a neighborhood watch program for agriculture; the New Mexico Agriculture Livestock Incident Response Team (NM-ALIRT), a program that consists of 25 large-animal veterinarians; the Avian Influenza Response teams; and three certified Incident Command System training courses.
Since the threats to agricultural biosecurity are national, the center established partnerships with the University of Tennessee Veterinary School, Louisiana State University's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training, the National Center for Food Safety and Defense at the University of Minnesota, Kansas State University and the University of Kentucky, as well as Purdue University.
Witte is an instructor for the Extension Disaster Education Network's Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning (S-CAP) initiative, which addresses the safety and security of agriculture and the food supply. NMSU and the University of Kentucky are co-leads of the project, designed to develop a model for counties to be able to use to develop an agriculture preparedness annex for hazard plans.
Written by Jane Moorman.