No Mandatory Animal ID

MLA apologises for hacking tagging poll

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has been forced to apologise, after two staff members hacked into an Internet poll on the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS).

The Rural Press poll asked readers to rate the performance of the system to trace animals from birth to death.

Early poll results showed more than 60 per cent of voters described NLIS as poor or terrible.

But a day later, after tampering by MLA staff, the poll showed 70 per cent believed the system was good or excellent.

Even in Australia the promoters of animal ID are having trouble convincing people to like the ID scheme. They have to hack in and fix the results of a poll. Johanns and crew keep throwing Australia up to us in the US for their tracking system and how we should emulate it. This just shows though that the rank and file in Australia don't like their NLIS program and the Government in Australia and it's cohorts are having to use underhanded schemes to make the world believe it is going great guns.

Don't believe the US government when they tell you how great the Australia system is working. Research it a little. the majority of Australian producers are skeptical and leery of the system and want it overhauled all ready and it hasn't even been around very long.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure causes government worldwide to lie to get in operation.

USDA's Johanns Urges Broad Support Of Animal ID System

Speaking at the National Institute of Animal Agriculture's Animal Identification/Information Exposition 2006 in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns encouraged participants to continue working toward full participation in a national, voluntary system of animal identification.

"Don't let naysayers dampen your enthusiasm," Johanns said in a speech to the group. Other countries have animal-identification systems, and they are using the fact that their livestock are traceable as a marketing tool, Johanns said. The U.S. also should have a system for tracing livestock to stay competitive.

The USDA just keeps pushing this issue. The claim is still that it will be voulantary which I completely agree with. Johanns has also said that if 100% voluntary participation isn't reached it will be mandatory. Keep your eyes on this. Never let up the vigilance.

Can I ask a reasonable question? What is stopping there from being a tracing system now? If it will make us so much more competitive why does the USDA or the Government need to get involved? If this were going to help say Tyson sell more beef overseas or in the US why don't they just require it. All Tyson would have to do is say they will no longer slaughter beef that doesn't have a trace back to birth involved with it. Then, if there is such a demand for it they can just sit back and rake in the money, pure and simple. No government involvement, no mandating it under penalty of law. Just a producers decision whether they want to participate or not and letting the market decide. SIMPLE.

There has to be much more involved in this since the meat packers aren't just doing this. You want to know what it is? There isn't the demand out there and there is no profit in it for them to source ID their meat. So if there is no profit in it for them, why should I do it at a loss just to please them. Show me the money and I will show you the tag.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure has the USDA hopping through the meat packers hoops pushing it.

We keep getting sold the whole bill of goods on NAIS by the constant chorus that Australia is doing it so we need to. According to the proponents of the system all is working out well Down Under and we should be meek little sheep and follow along. Let's take a brief glimpse at how it's working out Down Under.

Livestock tracking system `on track'

National Livestock Identification System chairman John Wyld has defended the system against claims that it was not working and offered producers no benefit.

Mr Wyld, of Victoria, said that Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers office bearers should focus on the interests of grassroots members in Tasmania rather than operate as "a mouthpiece for those constantly negative attacks emanating from another state".

In The Examiner earlier this month, Australian Beef Association chairwoman Linda Hewitt was quoted as saying that the nine million phantom cattle that no longer existed, but whose tags were still active, showed the system didn't work.

TFGA Meat Council chairman Laurie Appleby, too, was critical of the way NLIS was working.

He said that the only people making money out of NLIS were those supplying the system with tags or readers.

He questioned the value of an Australian tracking system whose participants received a lower price than their American counterparts who used no such system.

So, the chairman of the system thinks it's working great, but the people using the system see problems. 9 million tags still active but no cattle to go along with them. It seems they were slaughtered and the meat packers never removed the tags from the database like they should. Fun isn't it.

They also complain that there is no financial benefit to the system and that US producers are still getting more for their cattle and have no such system. How true this is I can't say but these are the people on the ground seeing this, so i imagine they have a good idea.

One last thing. The whole idea of this system is to be able to track an animal to it's place of origin in case of a disease. Is this working in Australia?

But former TFGA Meat Council chairman David Byard said that the recent hydatids cyst find at Killafaddy showed the system was flawed.

The cyst was found in a beast whose head had already been removed and there was no way of identifying the infected carcass or where it originated, he said.

"I'm afraid we've been sold a bunny - what's the use of a system that only traces a beast to slaughter," he said.

"The much lauded paddock-to-plate traceability doesn't exist."

They've been sold a "bunny." The disease trace back didn't work. So we are getting a disease trace back system forced on us, modeled on the Australian example, and that example has prove not to work. This is just wonderful.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, and now it's proved to not be able to trace one back either.

Knight backs simpler voluntary national animal ID system

The Senate Ag Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the nomination of several top agriculture officials. Among them is, Bruce Knight, the current Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, who has been nominated for the post of USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.

If confirmed, Knight will oversee key USDA agencies, including the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration, the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In that role, Knight will also be the administration’s point man on national animal ID.

So there might be a new guy in charge of the NAIS program. What does he have to say.

Talent invited Knight to share his views, and Knight agreed with Talent that national animal ID should be a voluntary program. Knight also said national animal ID would be among his top priorities, and should be simplified to increase its adoption by livestock producers. “There is room for improvement making this touchable, tangible and understandable for farmers and ranchers,” Knight said. “We need a voluntary program that’s very easy to understand, and a program that is very apparent to producers why it’s important to both themselves as an individual and to the industry good as a whole,” he added.

Knight said such an approach could make a big difference in USDA’s approach to national animal ID. “And I think those precepts could be transformational in how we’re working with the national animal ID program at present,” said Knight.

It should be voulantary and it should be simpler. I can't agree more. These are the things I would like to see.

The big question in all this is does he truly beklive what hw is saying, or is he just saying it to be confirmed. Only time will tell.

An ear tag never stopped a disease.

"This is a controversial issue. I don't think we need to have it in New Mexico because New Mexico is a brand state. There are not many brand states in the U.S. New Mexico has a very good cattle tracking system. Primarily, the animal identification system should be limited to the states with no brand law."
Alisa Ogden, rancher, farmer and president elect of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, expressing an opinion about NAIS. (Source: Carlsbad Current Argus, July 11, 2006)

It looks like the Government is fighting back against people like me talking about NAIS. Check out this grant being offered by the USDA and why it's being offered.

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-GRANTS-051106-001
Posted Date: May 11, 2006
Original Closing Date for Applications: Jul 25, 2006
Current Closing Date for Applications: Jul 25, 2006
Archive Date: Aug 24, 2006
Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement
Category of Funding Activity: Agriculture
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 111
Estimated Total Program Funding: $10,882,000
Award Ceiling:
Award Floor:
CFDA Number: 10.025 -- Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

Eligible Applicants

State governments
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)


Additional Information on Eligibility:


Agency Name

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Description

USDA initiated implementation of the NAIS in 2004. The Department’s first priority with the initial funding in FY2004 was to have the components of the national premises registration system in place in every State by July 2005. With this accomplished, the next step was to use FY2005 funds to increase the number of registered eligible premises in each State. As of April, 2006, over 245,000 premises have been registered nationwide, or approximately twelve percent of the estimated number that are eligible. Funding for FY2006 will be provided to State and Native American Tribal governments to support the continued implementation and maintenance of the national premises identification system and NAIS within their respective areas. We would like to achieve a national target for premises registration of fifteen percent by July, 2006, twenty five percent by January, 2007, and thirty five percent by July, 2007. Since the majority of premises will be registered in a voluntary system, it is critical that we provide all individuals, business, and organizations a correct and consistent message about how they will benefit from NAIS and their responsibility to participate. Misinformation and adverse publicity has been somewhat detrimental to the adoption of NAIS in many areas of the country. USDA is working with States, organizations, and other stakeholders to develop appropriate educational and outreach materials. Applications for cooperative agreement funding must include an aggressive plan for education and outreach, including effective use of existing outreach resources such as cooperative extension, state AVIC offices, and state industry organizations, to stakeholders at all levels within the state or tribe. This funding opportunity does NOT include funds for conducting pilot projects to develop solutions for animal identification and/or collecting animal movement data. Similarly, funds are not to be used for the purchase of animal identification devices, animal movement data recording hardware or software, or the development of animal tracking databases. Animal movement tracking will be developed, implemented, and funded within the private and/or State/Tribal sector.

Over 10 million dollars being offered to fight "Misinformation and adverse publicity has been somewhat detrimental to the adoption of NAIS in many areas of the country. USDA is working with States, organizations, and other stakeholders to develop appropriate educational and outreach materials." My-O-My. They are sure running awful scared from the truth being spoken by people such as me doing this all on their own with a shoestring budget.

I guess the truth spoken with conviction outweighs legions of money, or so I hope.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but the Government hopes tons of money will stop me.

Hacker enters Agriculture dept. computers

A hacker broke into the Agriculture Department's computer system and may have obtained names, Social Security numbers and photos of 26,000 Washington-area employees and contractors, the department said Wednesday.

These are the same people that assure us that the data they are going to be collecting for NAIS is secure and that we should trust them. Another good reason to oppose NAIS.

MEAT INDUSTRY: Vet calls animal ID proposals overkill

The North Dakota Board of Animal Health veterinarian is developing a proposal for a "hybrid" animal trace-back system that relies more on existing systems - cattle branding and paper trails on livestock transactions - and not switching immediately to expensive individual electronic tracking for all animals.

The federal government is in the process of implementing a National Animal Identification System. The system is voluntary but could become mandatory. It would be based on a national registration of farms and feedlots, coupled with electronic tags for each animal.

What a novel concept, use the existing brand system instead of the complicated NAIS for animal trackback.

"We have a system that actually works quite well because it is associated with title and real dollars," he says.

Wow, a system that actually works. The only problem? Some Government bureaucrat might have to get off his fat ass and look at the records instead of just calling it up on a computer. [sarcasm]Them government employees are so abused, aren't they. Expect them to do some work, poor babies.[/sarcasm]

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but government employees sure want it to make their life easier at tremendous cost to producers.

Stop the National Animal ID System

The House of Representatives recently passed funding for a new federal mandate that threatens to put thousands of small farmers and ranchers out of business. The National Animal Identification System, known as NAIS, is an expensive and unnecessary federal program that requires owners of livestock-- cattle, dairy, poultry, and even horses-- to tag animals with electronic tracking devices. The intrusive monitoring system amounts to nothing more than a tax on livestock owners, allowing the federal government access to detailed information about their private property.

In typical Washington-speak, NAIS is "voluntary"--provided USDA bureaucrats are satisfied with the level of cooperation. Trust me, NAIS will be mandatory within a few years. When was the last time a new federal program did not expand once implemented?

Read the whole thing, Rep Ron Paul leaves a powerful impression.

According to Walter at noNAIS Rep Ron Paul has introduced an amendment to H.R.5384, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007, that would defund National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

AMENDMENT TO H.R., AS REPORTED
(AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS, 2007)
OFFERED BY MR. PAUL OF TEXAS

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following new sections:

SEC. . None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to implement or administer the National Animal Identification System.

We must act immediately and call our Congressmen, the Capitol Switchboard can be reached at (202) 225-3121, and ask them to support Rep. Ron Paul's amendment to H.R. 5384. There is not time for letters or e-mail to make a difference, call now and maybe we can bury this unconstitutional invasion on our privacy and liberties.

Thanks

Some more interesting information on the "wonder tags," the RFID tags that the Government wants us to use on our cattle for the National Animal Identification System.

BeefTalk: Electronic identification - Two steps ahead, one back

Attempts to implement a national identification program for animal trace-back have been noticed. News about the outbreak of a disease with notable impact has increased the pro and con discussion, but the lasting outcome is far from defined.

The Dickinson Research Extension Center is involved in a project that is designed to monitor cattle in transit and locate cattle during shipment. This research involves evaluating the ability to read calves going on and off a truck using low-frequency RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.

So, what did their research show?

For the optimist, the trial was 94.4 percent successful. For the practical cattle producer, only four of the six runs actually resulted in a 94.4 percent or higher success rate. In reality, only 66.7 percent of the runs actually achieved a realistic outcome, while 33.3 percent failed. One tag failed twice, requiring three reads to achieve a 100 percent read for this set of data.

ONLY 66.7% ACHIEVED A REALISTIC OUTCOME. That's horrible. The Government wants us to rely on a technology that is only effective 2/3 of the time. Sorry Charlie, that's just not going to work. How much more work and labor is this system going to entail with these kind of numbers? I don't even want to think about it. Running the cattle and reading the tags time and time again because the system doesn't work right. You start running over 500 cows with these kinds of numbers and the chances of getting a good read on them are slim to none.

This whole NAIS system needs to be scaled back a whole lot. A herd ID system with permanent metal tags would be the easiest, low tech solution that could be made to work for all. I still wouldn't like it particularly, but it would work.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure entices the government to foist off a failed technology on us, the producers.

In an interview to Inside Washington Today, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, who will become the Chairman of the Committee if the Democrats recapture the House, had this to say about NAIS.

-- Animal identification (ID): "From the start we have worked for an exemption for farmers via the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. I have sponsored two bills – one to set up a mandatory animal ID system based on the FAIR system that the [Ag] Department actually financed. In that, there was a FOI exemption. I introduced another bill with just the FOI exemption. And I got Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) to cosponsor it with me. But Davis was basically reigned in by the House leadership because this is a way to stop it. If they don't allow the FOI exemption to pass, then they can use this as an excuse not to do it (mandatory animal ID)."

-- Are you saying the House GOP leadership does not want mandatory animal ID? "The Republican leadership does not want it. USDA has been in our way the whole time on this deal. I could tell you stories….

"These guys don't want mandatory animal ID because the cattlemen don't want it and the cattlemen have inordinate power in this administration. And they have basically brought this thing to a standstill.

"We are not going to get the Japanese market back, largely because we don't have animal ID. We are kidding ourselves. I understand the people who don't want to do this, but my bill said that the government is going to pay for this – for the first round of tags, we will pay for the readers, we will pay for the whole system so all the farmer and rancher has to do is put the tag on the animal.

"The cost of this is like $20 million. Canada did it for $6 million, and Australia did it for $4 million. Of course they have fewer animals.

"So far the Department has spent $600 million and they have nothing to show for it."

-- You obviously are frustrated when it comes to the animal ID issue? "If they had followed my initial bill in 2004, animal ID would have been implemented by now or much further advanced.

"My judgment is they have their heads in the sand on this issue, especially when every other cattle producing country has a plan in place already. For us to sit there and not have a system is ludicrous.

"It is not a matter that they can't pass this (FOI exemption). It is my judgment that they don't want to pass it.

"And there is no leadership out of USDA on this. They have been all over the map on this topic. It is the biggest bunch of disinformation I have seen put out since the oil companies have been going after ethanol.

"USDA has people in their own Department who are frustrated. They are not providing the leadership. I have had these discussions with [USDA Secretary Mike] Johanns and he has kind of gone back and forth on it. In the end, the best thing I have been able to get out of him is that he admits that eventually this will become mandatory. But he won't say any timeframe. But the meat industry (AMI, packers, etc.,) is all for this mandatory animal ID system.

"Ironically what is likely going to make this happen is Wal-Mart and McDonald's because they are about to say 'Iif you don't have animal ID, we are not going to buy your meat.'"

Typical politics, he claims the Republicans don't want it and are blocking it. Most Republicans on the Committee are for it so I don't know what he is talking about. I love the part about how the Government is going to buy the first round of tags and all the readers. What good is that going to do me, I will need thousands of dollars of tags a year so the first round is not real helpful and money is not the reason i oppose this. the loss of personal freedom and liberty and the mandate that I have to do it are most of the reasons. The extra work to tag all my calves, which I don't do now, is the other part. The amount of work it will pile on me is tremendous.

The Last part of this though is what people need to think about.

-- If the Democrats regain control of the House, would that accelerate the timeline for mandatory animal ID? "Absolutely. That bill would be out of my committee in short effort. And I think I have support in the whole House, and I think in the Senate, to move this."

The NAIS bill would advance in short order should Democrats take the House. If that doesn't scare freedom minded Americans, I don't know what will.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure shows the true colors of freedom loving people.

NAIS to deal with BSE not A-OK

Shortly after another "mad cow" was discovered in Alabama, there was a rash of articles in the press citing the event as convincing evidence that the USDA's National Animal Identification System should move forward as quickly as possible. Nowhere did any of the articles mention that the NAIS will do nothing to prevent, control or even slow the disease. (emphasis added)

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, widely known as "mad cow disease," is a chronic, degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle. BSE takes years to develop in cattle, not days or weeks. Moreover, the disease is not contagious. The USDA says: "It's important to note that [BSE and related diseases] are not communicable diseases – they do not spread easily like viruses."

If this disease, promoted as justification for the NAIS program, is not contagious, why, then, is it necessary for the USDA to construct this massive program to register every premises that houses any farm animal, tag each animal with an electronic monitoring chip, and track every off-premises movement of every animal through a centralized database?

This is the same question I have been asking. Why do we need this massive invasion of our privacy for a non-communicable disease that isn't a problem, by the USDA's own admission, in the US? I think this answer's it.

The corporate giants who dominate the major trade associations, pay expensive lobbyists and fill the campaign coffers of politicians are the real instigators of the NAIS. These are the only people who will benefit from this program by streamlining their vertical integration of the marketplace. In the end, it is the consumer who will pay the increased costs at the supermarket.

Same thing I have been saying, the big meat packers are going to be the big winners here. They are using the money from their bank accounts to buy the USDA officials and politicians they need to get this instigated for their benefit and to the detriment of consumers and producers.

Where might this lead in the long run?

There is another, more serious negative effect. If the NAIS can be constructed to trace the origin of animal diseases that may threaten human life, why not use the system to trace human diseases that most certainly threaten human life? Why not require an electronic chip to be placed in every AIDS victim, or every flu victim, or every released felon? A system that can trace the movements of every animal in the nation could surely just as easily trace the movement of every person in the nation.

Don't laugh or think for a moment that there are not those who believe this kind of system would be a major improvement over the disorderly "freedom" that Americans enjoy. Political uproar would block the program in an instant were it being openly developed for people. But once the program is developed for animals, the next step is a very small step, indeed.

Again, the same thing I have said here before. It's just a small step to integrate this same system in the human population and control and monitor them the same way. Maybe this whole NAIS is a test run of the databases to perfect them for use in monitoring more mobile humans. Didn't think of that, did you? I know call me a conspiracy theorist. I'm just throwing out ideas, if they scare you that's your problem.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it could lead to tagging and controlling all of us.

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.

USDA RELEASES BSE PREVALENCE ESTIMATE FOR U.S.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced USDA's estimate of the prevalence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States.

"Our enhanced BSE surveillance program has been an enormous undertaking, but well worth the effort," said Johanns. "We can now say, based on science, that the prevalence of BSE in the United States is extraordinarily low. The testing and analysis reinforce our confidence in the health of the U.S. cattle herd, while our interlocking safeguards, including the removal of specified risk materials and the feed ban, protect animal and human health."

Four to seven animals is all they figure have BSE in the US. That's really good news. These statistical analysis always seem a little like witchcraft to me but i know most of the time they are valid.

The bigger question this brings up is, if the prevalence of BSE is so low in the US, why do we need the national Animal Identification System (NAIS) to track all animals? The original justification was the BSE crisis. If there is no BSE crisis, why track all the animals? I will tell you, to benefit the big corporations at the expense of the producers in this country. That's all NAIS is about. Animal health is not the driving force, it is the lie being used by the USDA/meat packers to drive this agenda.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, it's just used to feed bologna to the people of the US.