No Mandatory Animal ID

AUSTRALIANS ANGERED OVER IDENTIFICATION RULES

Australian beef producers have hit out at the imposition of a mandatory livestock identification system, which they say erodes the sector’s competitiveness. The producers are angry that they have a mandatory system when other leading beef producers are introducing voluntary systems.

They seem to be upset that the US has not instituted a mandatory system and that puts them in an uncompetitive position. I have said all along that NAIS will not help the common cattle producer at all and it will only cost us money for no return and Australia producers are showing just this.

The big question is if we can keep it voluntary. The drive for COOL is bringing up the possibility of NAIS being mandatory again. I think that would make the American cattle producers more than a wee bit upset, it would cause a down right revolt. Let's work at making sure NAIS remains voluntary by writing your congressmen. Together we can crush this thing.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in International at 04:20 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in International at 04:57 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

AUSTRALIANS ANGERED OVER IDENTIFICATION RULES

Australian beef producers have hit out at the imposition of a mandatory livestock identification system, which they say erodes the sector’s competitiveness. The producers are angry that they have a mandatory system when other leading beef producers are introducing voluntary systems.

The USDA keeps pointing to Australia as the system we should emulate when it comes to National Animal Identification System (NAIS) but the Australians don't appear to be very happy with their system. The articles main concern deals with the statement I've read from the USDA that states "there won't be a mandatory ID program by 2009, as previously announced."

I hate to tell the Australians, but that statement doesn't mean there won't be a mandatory system, it just means there won't be one in 2009. The USDA might wait until 2010 or jump up the time frame and make it 2008. Mandatory NAIS is way to important to the meat packers for the USDA to abandon the whole concept unless a lot of pressure from people is laid at their feet. Contact your Congressmen out the NAIS issue and let them know your concern. Maybe together we can get this stopped.

Remember, an ear tag never stopped a disease, it just makes the Australians mad at us.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in International at 04:38 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Livestock ID system not working, says agent

The largest cattle agent at the biggest saleyards in Australia says the National Livestock Identification System equipment is not up to scratch and needs to be replaced.

It has been five months since Queensland's Roma saleyards spent $300,000 upgrading their facilities to cope with the new electronic ID system .

Elders agent Mick Connell says the equipment is not scanning tags properly and it is taking up to a third longer to process cattle.

The USDA keeps holding the Australia system up to us for NAIS. More and more I read and see on TV where the Australia system is broke and needs fixed. So, the USDA is going to saddle us with a broken system just to make the meat packers happy and enslave the farmers and ranchers. How lucky we all are.

Remember, an ID number never stopped a disease, it just cost us producers a lot of money.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in International at 19:16 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

R-CALF Mtg: Australian Cattleman Tells Of ID Shortcomings

From cattle producer Athol Economou's perspective, Australia's national animal identification system is virtually useless, and the true costs are unknown.

Economou, also a representative of the Australian Beef Association, made his remarks Friday at the R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America's annual convention in Denver, as attendees were being brought up to date on the construction progress of the U.S. traceback system.

Many U.S. producers are wary of the new system, and Economou's comments didn't do much to calm their fears.

Under the Australian program is mandatory, Economou said, and was initiated independently by each state over time.

To sell an animal, the animal must have the property identification code on an ear and tail tag plus a vender declaration that includes what the animal has been fed and its veterinary history, Economou said. The vender declaration says the seller believes the animal is wholesome or it states the seller doesn't know.

Each time an animal is sold, the information must go to a central database, Economou said. In theory, the current owner is responsible for keeping up the information flow. Buyers and packers are required to inform the database either of the purchase or of the slaughter.

This isn't the first time I've read about how Australians aren't happy with their system and to watch out in designing ours. The funny thing is that the USDA keeps holding up the Australian system as an example of what we want to do in the US. Beware the NAIS. It's the government getting in our pockets and freedom for their benefit, not ours.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in NAIS at 05:43 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)