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The tension is high in agricultural countries. Extreme weather, trade uncertainty and low commodity prices add to the stress of farmers. This was more evident than ever during the Farm Journal's annual assessment of planned farm production in the Midwest Crop Tour Farm Tour of the Week. An employee of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, who was scheduled to speak at one of the tour's events, received a threat over the phone. In response, the USDA withdrew its staff from the last days of the tour.
"An employee of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service received a threat during the Pro Farmer Crop Tour tour from someone not involved in the tour. As a precaution, we immediately removed all our staff from the event, "said Hubert Hamer, administrator of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), in a statement. "The federal protection services have been contacted and are investigating this incident. The safety of our employees is our top priority. "
The threat, which was not directed against the head of the NASS Harvest Division, Lance Honig, as some have speculated, came from a person from Iowa who n & # 39; 39; was not affiliated with the event. The threat was not related to Crop Tour and was not associated with scouts or other meeting participants.
"For 27 years, the Pro Farmer Crop Tour has been a public service for agriculture, whether it's good or bad. And it's clearly a stressful time right now, "said Andy Weber Farm Journal's CEO in a statement. "From the first minute, we took this threat very seriously and took every possible measure to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the tour."
Joel Jaeger, CEO of Pro Farmer, said more than 3,000 people would participate in the tour. "The safety of scouts and meetings is our top priority," said Jaeger. As a result, Pro Farmer and its parent company, Farm Journal, have increased the security of all events for the rest of the week.
"Every threat must be taken seriously. So we asked the police to determine their viability. As a precaution, we take steps to secure the remaining sites, adding security staff to live events and having staff and scouts visit the crops to stay informed and report any concerns immediately, " said Jaeger.
Listen to the guys discussing the situation on AgriTalk below.
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