
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.

BEAGLE BRIGADE: The Beagle Brigade Act, signed into law Dec. 23, provides statutory authority and funding for the program.
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.

CONFISCATED: Ohio pork producer and NPPC board member Pat Hord looks over what beagles had detected in just a few hours.
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.”

FLAGGED AT ATLANTA: This is one of two tables of food confiscated from 6 to 9 a.m. at the Atlanta International Airport.
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.”

PROTECTING AG: Even though it is posted throughout international airports, many people don’t know or care that they are violating the law and putting American ag in jeopardy. The Beagle Brigade provides a layer of protection.
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