Hey, the Farm & Garden website is running a poll on whether NAIS is a good idea or not. Go over and voice your opinion. Right now it's running about 92% opposed to NAIS. Maybe your vote will change things.
An ear tag never stopped a disease.
Otero livestock group asks county to oppose ID system
The chairman of the Otero County Grazing Advisory Board is calling the National Animal Identification System "devastating to the livestock industry in the state."
Rancher Bobby Jones told Otero County commissioners Tuesday that grazing board members unanimously approved a resolution opposing NAIS in February. The measure identifies and tracks animals using a computer chip implanted under the animal's skin, a computer chip ear tag, and a retina scan.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared NAIS will be mandatory by 2009.
Jones asked commissioners to support the livestock organization's resolution. The document states the program violates the First, Fourth, Fifth, 10th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
"We feel like the USDA does not have authority or jurisdiction to do this," Jones said.
He said he is not opposed to ranchers who want to voluntarily participate, but pointed out that cattle brands used in New Mexico "have sufficed for over a hundred years" as a means of identifying animals.
