No Mandatory Animal ID

Friday, May 5. 2006

I'm Confused

The National Cattlemen's Beef association (NCBA) has been all hot and bothered over the whole NAIS for some time now. They have thought all along this is the next best thing to sliced bread for the cattle industry. Then I read this story.

Despite McDonald's Corporation, the largest U.S. beef buyer, calling for a national animal traceback system, beef industry leaders oppose any mandatory measure.

Mike John, National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) president, agrees a traceback system is needed, but remains opposed to a mandatory program.


When has the NCBA been opposed to a mandatory system? Never up until now. Why have they changed their minds on this? Maybe they are starting to hear opposition from enough members to see the light and figure out that the cattle producers are opposed to this mandatory system and something else needs looked at.

I have advocated a voluntary, market driven system for a while now. If consumers want meat traceability, they should pay for it . Then the meat packers will pay more to the producers for it and the market will drive producers that want to make more profit to find a way to voluntarily make a traceback situation work. Look what Mike Johns is saying now all of a sudden.

Because of current private industry solutions that meet the requirements traceability is looking for, John said any traceback system should be voluntary. If anything, the market should drive involvement in this traceback system.

"If producers invest in the system because there is a return to them, they will purchase the tags, they will pay the fees associated with participating with private industry programs," John said.


Epiphany!! A market driven system. [sarcasm]Damn I wish I would have thought of that months ago, NAIS.html">which I did, and been talking about it instead of just whining about the mandatory system.[/sarcasm]

Mike Johns is finally wising up and at least talking like he represents the cattle industry. I will be curious to see where this goes, if anywhere. When the largest cattle producers organization starts talking this way, Congress might begin to listen. Our pressure on people in charge of implementing NAIS must be doing some good, keep it up.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it did change the way the NCBA is approaching this monumental shift in the way the business operates.

This entry was posted by Sarpy Sam on Friday, May 5. 2006 at 04:10. and is filed under NCBA. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own blog.

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  1. NAIS and The NCBA

    Some real interesting news about National Animal Identification System ( NAIS ) over at my other site. Go check it out if you want to see how the NCBA is just jumping on the bandwagon I advocated months ago. It's interesting. A story to me means a plot

    Weblog: Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere
    Tracked: May 05, 04:39

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  1. R. Holaday says:
    #1 2006-06-12 01:26 (Reply)

    The LEGAL definition of "Voluntary" has been changed to now accomodate the NAIS system as well as the other RFID garbage. Voluntary participation with the NAIS means that you are actually signing a permanent and legally binding contract with the Federal Government for the number on you premises(GPS), as well as for every number on every animal. Did you realize that NAIS was not even legal until they brainstormed the sidestepping of the law with a signed legal contract for your property numbers? Voluntary now means intentional and willing participation in whatever you're volunteering for. Oddly enough, the "voluntary" system is more like a stealing system for information, as many of us WA producers have had our info submitted through feedstores, and veterinarians when we have bought feed or animals, or had veterinary care. Also, once they have your info that you may have bought such and such a chicken or goat, then they have all that info in their system, which was never submitted by you, yet they are taking it permanently and is illegal to have it removed from their system once it is in there. So this is what they are calling "Voluntary"! Besides, NAIS is not just about cattle owners. It is the same for every person in America that even just has 1 chicken. It violates horse owners, pig owners, chicken owners, goat owners, etc- basically everything with a pulse is included in NAIS.
    They don't need a mandatory system when an indirect mandate will come from businesses associated with livestock. Its already penetrated 4H, as well as fairgrounds, and any facility set up for showing animals. They are requiring all the NAIS bull by 2008/9, or you cannot bring your animal to their grounds or participate in any of their events. So who needs a mandatory system, when it becomes indirectly mandatory through corporations, and public facilities!
    Keep in mind they are hoping for a minimum of 90% voluntary participation, and that means by stealing info submitted by any organization they can force it out of. The state vet already has ALL my info and I never submitted one ounce of it! I never volunteered. So the voluntary system might be ok IF it were just about cattle, and IF it meant that volunteering was just that-volunteering- and not the signing of a legal and permanently binding contract with the Federal Government! If you don't believe me, check out the MT state government website, type in NAIS, where it will take you to another website altogether, which is located where? in what part of the world does this website originate? Its not in the govt website any longer- its somewhere else entirely. Its a separate function yet they want you to think its a govt webpage. Its not. Then go to their volunteer program where they will then have you fill out the legal and permanent binding contract-read all the fine print CAREFULLY. What you are signing is a legal federal contract that allows them to be the owners of all the numbers you have submitted- forever. The code for animals is considered a currency code-did you know that? Who needs laws when you have signed legal contracts between the public and the Federal Government?
    Check it out and then reconsider where this program is really headed, because its not voluntary and its not good for anybody but the head honchos at the commercial feedlots and the people in govt that are easily going to control the entire food supply if this happens.
    IF commercial cattle owners want to get better prices, the real market is in organic production because people are sick of eating hormone and antibiotic fed meat. Organic meat prices are MUCH higher than non-organic meat. That is the real money maker right there- I don't understand why more cattlemen don't try to go organic if they want to make more money with their cattle, instead of trying to submit to a psychotic hyper control system like the NAIS that will truly wipe out the country's small farm owners like me and my family.


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