When Americans think about national security, they tend to picture borders, defense systems or cyber operations. Few picture a cornfield. But Meghan Jackson, director for food, agriculture and environment security at the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), said the nation’s stability may depend just as much on resilient agriculture as it does on advanced defense technologies.
Jackson recently appeared on the Water for Food Podcast to explain why the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lists food and agriculture among the nation’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors, and why she believes it may be the most interconnected of all. Agriculture touches chemicals, energy, water, transportation and cyber systems all at once, which means a disruption anywhere in that chain can ripple far beyond the field.
The podcast is produced by the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, a sister institute of NSRI. It addresses the global challenge of achieving food security with less stress on water resources through water management in agricultural and food systems. Tune into the full episode at dwffpodcast.libsyn.com/55-food-security-and-national-security-protecting-agriculture-from-farm-to-table.
Jackson’s background includes service at the National Bio and Agro‑Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas, and the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Those roles shaped the way she sees threats. Whether the source is intentional, accidental or natural, the response often requires similar tools, coordination and resilience.
During the interview, Jackson pointed to several real-world examples. The New World screwworm, once limited by natural barriers in the Darién Gap, has begun moving north. The pest, she noted, “doesn’t care where you draw a border.” African swine fever, now present in the Dominican Republic, wiped out roughly half of the world’s pork supply during the 2018–2020 outbreak in China. And in Japan, the 2011 Fukushima disaster devastated a region once known for fruit production, requiring years of collaboration to recover.
The throughline across all of these events is redundancy. Jackson emphasized that resilient and distributed supply chains — systems with more nodes and more backups — are less appealing and less vulnerable targets.
“The more resilient your system is, the less attractive it is for someone to come in and hack it or throw a bioterrorism agent on it,” she said.
Water security sits squarely within that landscape. Jackson highlighted growing competition for water resources, including active legal disputes between states. She also pointed to cyberattacks on water and agricultural systems. Many of the same hacking groups that have struck hospitals are now targeting agriculture because both sectors rely on similar legacy technologies that are increasingly cloud-connected.
Nebraska’s growing bioeconomy shows both risk and opportunity. The state is turning renewable biological resources, like corn, into ethanol, advanced bioproducts and distillers’ grains. It’s a promising shift away from fossil fuels. But each step of the process requires significant water. Jackson pointed to solutions such as precision irrigation, graywater reuse and expanded desalination along coastal regions.
Even as agriculture becomes more high‑tech, Jackson said producers remain the first line of defense. Farmers and ranchers know their fields, equipment and daily routines better than anyone. When something looks off, that frontline awareness is often the earliest and most reliable signal. She encourages producers to use tools like the Food and Agriculture Information Sharing and Analysis Center, CISA’s reporting resources and the FBI when something seems suspicious.
Looking ahead, Jackson wants more focus on severe weather and crop disease mitigation. Corn, in particular, touches an enormous share of the national food and manufacturing economy. Protecting it protects everything connected to it.
She is also optimistic about advances in remote sensing. The University of Nebraska is using satellite imagery to monitor soil, crop and field conditions across more than 40,000 acres of research land. Jackson said the scale of that “living laboratory” allows researchers to test new approaches before threats emerge.
“Agriculture isn’t adjacent to national security — it’s embedded in it,” Jackson said. “When our food systems are resilient and well protected, the nation is stronger.”
