Standing about 16 inches tall, Burnie, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) canine officer, moves from bag to bag while patrolling the Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport. As international travelers navigate the U.S. port of entry, they flash a smile at Burnie and give him a pat on the head without realizing the vital work he is doing.
Burnie is one of 120 beagles that work side by side with agriculture specialists at more than 180 ports to protect the food supply and agricultural industries. They prevent the intentional or unintentional entry of harmful plant pests, and animal diseases into the U.S.
Known as the “Beagle Brigade,” this important group of four-legged friends is working the frontlines every day to safeguard U.S. agricultural resources. The trained agriculture dogs can scan luggage for smuggled or forgotten fruits and meat products in seconds, compared to the process of opening bags and visually inspecting for them.
"They work at a molecular level," says Tim Lauth, chief agriculture specialist. "They are trained on five or six scents when they come out of school, but by the time they end their career they can identify hundreds of scents."
Beagles like Burnie and his Minneapolis partner Scarlett were chosen because of their keen sense of smell, non-threatening size, high food drive, and friendly disposition with the public.
"Not much gets through with them (beagles) working in tandem with their agriculture specialist partners. Together they are great," Lauth says. "But you still need the human touch."
The first wave of defense
The beagles are the first wave of inspection in a multi-step process. CBP agriculture specialists have extensive training and experience in the biological sciences and agricultural inspection. Several agents in Minneapolis hold bachelor’s of science degrees in agronomy and entomology, while other agents work on their family farms in their spare time.
Jeff Powers, a CBP K-9 agriculture specialist, works with his canine partner, Burnie every day patrolling international flights arriving in Minneapolis transporting thousands of passengers.
"He gets a lot of attention at work," Powers says of his furry partner.
Currently one of the top threats to U.S. agriculture is African Swine Fever (ASF). ASF is a highly contagious viral disease in pigs. According to USDA, it is estimated to have impacted about 40% of the 450 million pigs in China and has spread to other countries in Asia and Europe.
The virus causes nearly 100 percent mortality and there is no vaccine or treatment at that this time. If it were to reach the U.S., it could cause severe damage to the nation’s pork industry.
"While pork from pigs with ASF is safe to eat, the ramifications of ASF in the U.S. could be wide-reaching," says Jamee Eggers, producer education director for the Iowa Pork Producers Association.
She says if the disease were to make it to the U.S., it could drive prices down rapidly and cause a decrease in the demand for soybean and corn grown by farmers because these crops are key components of pig feed. Currently pork production in Iowa creates 141,813 jobs and nearly $37 billion annually in sales, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
"Ag is so important to Iowa that even if a consumer doesn’t think they are related to pork production, they know someone or work with someone or have family that could be directly affected by the loss of jobs," Eggers says. "It could very much have a far-reaching impact on rural Iowa communities."
ASF is only one of a dozen high priority foreign animal diseases and invasive plant pests that the Beagle Brigade and CBP are working to keep out of the U.S. Others include the Khapra beetle, nematodes, cottonseed bugs, rust fungus, Newcastle disease, fruit flies and propagative plants.
"You can have something as simple as an orange that has a fruit fly on it or a leaf with an aphid on it. These small pests have the ability to wipe out millions and millions of dollars in agricultural goods," Lauth explains.
On a typical day in fiscal year 2018, the CBP processed 1,133,914 passengers and pedestrians. On average per day, CBP agriculture specialists discovered 319 pests at U.S. ports of entry and 4,452 materials for quarantine. That included meat, plant, animal, byproduct and soil.
"The Beagle Brigade and their CBP agriculture specialists are a key component of our nation’s first line of defense against illegal ag products," Eggers says. "Right now, obviously, we are focused on illegal pork products, but the beagles also protect against illegal citrus and they help find other seed products to prevent noxious weed and harmful plants from being introduced into the country."
Story originally published for the Iowa Food and Family Project.