No Mandatory Animal ID

Animal ID opponents gaining steam

Another rebellion is brewing across the hinterland. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has targeted ranchers, farmers, horse owners, homesteaders, organic gardeners and chicken-owning grandmas for participation in a new National Animal Identification System. The targets are unhappy and are organizing to see that the USDA cannot force participation in this new high-tech government program.

Sen. Jim Talent and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, both from Missouri, have introduced legislation in both chambers that will prohibit the USDA from imposing a "mandatory" animal identification program on livestock owners. The bills will also prohibit the use of federal funds to support any state program that mandates participation.

The USDA and the promoters of the NAIS are furious. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in particular, has been a strong supporter of the program. But many individual Farm Bureau members, and some county and state organizations, oppose a mandatory program and are supporting the Talent-Emerson bills. There has been more than casual talk about widespread defections from the Farm Bureau because of the national association's support for the program.

The National Cattle and Beef Association is also concerned about losing members because of the association's outspoken support for NAIS. NCBA's response to the introduction of the Talent-Emerson bills was considerably less caustic than was the American Farm Bureau Federation's. NCBA's recent increase in membership fees and the emergence of the competitive R-CALF organization were already causing concern about member loyalty for the NCBA leadership. According to a congressional staffer (who must remain anonymous in order to keep his job), the NCBA folks are softening their position on NAIS.

The grass-roots community is ramping up its opposition to the NAIS and generating support for the Talent-Emerson bills.

Yes, the people can make a difference. It seems to be unusual in this day and age but it happens. Keep writing the Senators and Congressmen and state officials. Let them know how unhappy you are about this. Quit those organizations that support it and join organizations that oppose it. Our message is starting to get through. Keep the pressure up.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it does organize people to oppose it.

Animal-tracking system worries small farmers

A national animal-identification system, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to fully implement by 2009, will financially burden small farmers, says Louisa County farmer Ramona Huff.

It is not only the cost of the identification tags, but also the record-keeping and the prospect of fines for not complying with the system's requirements that could put small farmers at a disadvantage, Huff said.

It worries more than small farmers, large ones are worried too. Between the cost and the record keeping requirements it is real scary to me. That's why we need to fight this by writing our elected officials and voicing our complaints. Keep jup the pressure.

An ear tag never stopped a disease bit it sure scare farmers and ranchers.

The Real Deal: Tagging Terrorist Chickens

Agribusiness lobbied the USDA to create a system to protect them from legal liability if an epidemic does break out. More, NAIS would protect agribusiness market share, forestalling a public revulsion against their product by “confirming” that only a few animals were sick, rather than not thousands. NAIS enables huge agribusiness conglomerates that concentrate thousands of animals (and so concentrate the chance for spreading diseases) to point their finger at someone else.

Here’s the scenario:

# People in Sheboygan get sick from something they ate.

# It’s determined the meat came from a local fast food joint.

# That fast food joint gets its meat from ABC cow factory.

# ABC cow factory buys cows from XYZ feedlots.

# Those feedlots had cows numbered 1q10 through 1q500 in their possession and those cows came from 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.

# Goodbye 15 small farms in suburban Tempe.

# Hello scapegoat for fast food joint, slaughterhouse, and feedlots.

Somebody besides me gets it. NAIS is the USDA/meat packing companies way of doing away with the small farmer and rancher. I might be overstating it a little but that's the way I see it. The author of this opinion piece has insightful vision to see it too.

I do have a serious question though. How does a person get people to care about this issue and do something about it? A few voices yelling and screaming about the issue and people just label you as a crackpot. Whether I'm cracked or not I don't know but I won't silence myself. But how do i effectively communicate my message? I'll think of something and keep working on it.

Remember, an ID number never stopped a disease.

What next: animal mug shots?

"I tell people about this, and they think I've gone nuts."

She's talking about an extraordinary plan under way to register, and track, every livestock animal in the U.S. That's all the cows, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, even llamas.

It's called the National Animal Identification System. It seeks to assign each animal a 15-digit ID number and physical tag such as a radio-frequency device. So far it's voluntary, but it's slated to be mandatory in 2009 for any animal that moves from one property to another (i.e. if they're sold, borrowed, displayed at a fair, or just wander around a lot.)

It's well-meaning. If we know where all the animals are at all times, then we can quickly quell outbreaks of disease, such as mad-cow or avian flu.

But there are more than 10 billion such animals in the U.S. We kill 9 billion chickens a year. Keeping track of them all, even if some are registered in groups, will require massive government record keeping.

Another problem: It's insane. Especially for people who own just a handful of animals.

"it's insane." I hardily agree. Most of the opposition I see to this comes from small producers but there are a lot of big producers out there, like me, who disagree with NAIS too. It's insane to number and count all the animals in the US. What's next RFID tag all the people to keep track of them?

Remember, an ear tag, ID number, or premise ID, never stopped a disease. Proper health and nutrition by caring people, not factory farms, provide disease prevention.