Ohio Farmer

Beagle Brigade zeroes in on farmer’s bag of baconBeagle Brigade zeroes in on farmer’s bag of bacon

Jen’s Jots: The president signs a statutory funding act for USDA’s canine army at international airports.

Jennifer Kiel, Editor

January 17, 2025

5 Min Read
Duane Stateler, farmer in McComb, Ohio
BACON INSPECTION: Duane Stateler, who farms in McComb, Ohio, was stopped in May 2023 when a beagle hit on his briefcase for contraband. The Beagle Brigade provides a vital line of defense for the entire ag industry and our nation’s food security. Photos courtesy of Duane Stateler

Not liking airport food, Ohio hog farmer Duane Stateler brought a baggie of cooked bacon to eat while waiting for a flight. Not long after eating his breakfast, a friendly beagle came up and sat next to his briefcase.  

Canines are often referred to as man’s best friend. But in addition to being fuzzy, friendly companions, they also serve as home security alarms, allow the blind to navigate and thwart attempts to traffic drugs.

But here’s one very important benefit they provide you may not be familiar with.

Not a military tactical unit, but the Beagle Brigade provides a vital line of defense for the entire ag industry and our nation’s food security.

A beagle working at an airport security check point

Under USDA, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection detector dogs are a key tool for screening international passengers and cargo to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases from entering the U.S.

“He didn’t bark; they’re trained to just sit beside anything suspect,” says Stateler, who is a fifth-generation pork producer co-operating Stateler Family Farms with his son, Anthony. They manage 15,600 head of hogs annually and farm 1,600 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat.

“While I had eaten and discarded the baggie, he was smelling the residual and hit on it,” he adds. “His handler came over, and I knew exactly what was going on. I opened up my briefcase and showed her there was nothing in there. But, I said, 'You have got to treat your dog because he's right — there was bacon in there.'”

The Beagle Brigade program averages about 75,000 seizures of prohibited agricultural products a year, according to USDA. The program uses donated or rescued dogs, and while beagles are used in airports, the program also includes labs and other larger dogs for cargo and container shipping inspection.

“For the better part of 20 years, officials have been trying to develop technology or a better way to screen for contraband, but they just cannot mimic the ability of those dogs’ sense of smell … not even close,” Stateler says.

Pat Hord, Ohio pork producer and NPPC board member, looking at a table filled with food contraband

Protecting pork industry and more

From a pork perspective, this program has helped shield the country from African swine fever, a highly contagious, deadly disease affecting both domestic and feral pigs.

Mass culling because of ASF has resulted in a decline of 20% to 50% of pig populations in affected regions. China alone culled about 225 million swine from 2018-19. History has shown that ASF is difficult to control and has devastating consequences. 

Once it’s detected in a country, export restrictions and trade disruptions follow — no matter the size of the outbreak. That’s important because in 2022, the U.S. exported $7.6 billion worth of pork to more than 100 countries and increased the average value of each hog marketed by nearly $61. U.S. pork exports also support more than 155,000 domestic jobs.

If the U.S. broke with African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, the cumulative impact on the pork and beef sectors over 10 years ranges from $79.5 billion for ASF alone to $231 billion for an ASF-FMD dual outbreak. According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, losses would average between $7.5 billion (ASF scenario) and $23.1 billion (ASF-FMD scenario) per year.

“Our agricultural industry depends on those dogs being able to detect that stuff coming in — that’s the lifeblood for the hog industry when we're talking about 26% of our product is through trade,” Stateler adds. “And 60% of that is variety meat — ears, feet and other stuff Americans don’t consume. Products we don’t have a market for over here.”

A table filled with fresh and packaged foods

Stateler, who serves on the National Pork Producers Council board of directors as president-elect and is a member of the Ohio Pork Council Board, was headed to Mexico for a joint meeting of pork officials from Mexico and Canada when his bacon was detected.

He’s well aware of the Beagle Brigade’s value as NPPC, with the support of more than 50 other organizations, has been working for three years to secure a permanent funding source for the program and its detector dog training center in Atlanta.

The Beagle Brigade Act, signed into law Dec. 23, provides statutory authority and funding for the training center; ensures shelter, veterinary care and nutrition for the dogs; provides for adoption of out-of-service dogs; and requires yearly reporting to Congress.

Stateler, who has been to the training facility and watched the dogs work as well as ports of entry, says, “It had been a discretionary, line-item program funded through user fees on flights that we had to fight for every year,” he says. “So, when COVID hit in 2020 and people weren’t flying, the $500 million program was looking at a shortfall of more than $300 million.

“We were able to secure funding from other sources during the yearly reauthorization of markets, but it underlined the need for a statutory requirement for funding, independent from user fees. Now, the funding is automatic, and we don’t have to worry about it and lobby for it every year. It’s a win for everyone.”

A security agent overseeing a table filled with food

Read more about:

Food Safety

About the Author

Jennifer Kiel

Editor, Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer

Jennifer was hired as editor of Michigan Farmer in 2003, and in 2015, she began serving a dual role as editor of Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer. Both those publications are now online only, while the print version is American Agriculturist, which covers Michigan, Ohio, the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic. She is the co-editor with Chris Torres.

Prior to joining Farm Progress, she served three years as the manager of communications and development for the American Farmland Trust Central Great Lakes Regional Office in Michigan, and as director of communications with the Michigan Agri-Business Association. Previously, she was the communications manager at Michigan Farm Bureau's state headquarters. She also lists 10 years of experience at six different daily and weekly Michigan newspapers on her resume.

She has been a member of American Agricultural Editors’ Association (now Agricultural Communicators Network) since 2003. She has won numerous writing and photography awards through that organization, which named her a Master Writer in 2006 and Writer of Merit in 2017.

She is a board member for the Michigan 4-H Foundation, Clinton County Conservation District and Barn Believers.

Jennifer and her husband, Chris, live in St. Johns, Mich., and collectively have five grown children and four grandchildren.

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