No Mandatory Animal ID

Animal ID program remains voluntary for now

Facing wide opposition, Congress recently announced that the National Animal Identification System will be left voluntary at the present time.

“It will help the trust issues that some farmers and ranchers have raised about the national animal identification system,” Bruce Knight, undersecretary for marketing and regulation, is quoted as saying when making the announcement. “I’m certainly hoping to move beyond some of the very emotional debates on animal ID.”

Knight said that perhaps the debate against the system has only been an impediment to the process.

The program would require every location housing a single chicken, duck, turkey, cow, pig, goat, horse, or any other animal to be registered in a government database, where it’s assigned a number and GPS coordinates. Animal movements would be monitored on a national level with radio-frequency ear tags, retinal scans of eyes or DNA testing. The tracking system would pinpoint an animal’s movements within 48 hours after a disease was discovered.

Interesting article but I note a few things I would like to point out.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is the driving force behind NAIS and believes NAIS should be mandatory with every animal in the United States. Over the next 2 1/2 years the USDA had hoped to get 100 percent of premises registered.

Back to Colin Peterson. I didn't realize he was the whole driving force behind NAIS. I don know he still wants to make it mandatory. I've read quite a few places on the web where Peterson is a Conservative Democrat. I don't think it is a conservative sentiment to take away peoples freedom like he wants to with NAIS but what does this dumb cowboy know.

Alan Cassell, a member of the Knox County Cattleman’s Association and Black Angus farmer, said he thinks that animal identification is a good idea in the long run once the issue of cost is resolved. Originally, the idea was that the state would absorb part of the cost, although officials have changed some of their views about this.

The USDA now hopes to have all animals registered by January 2008, and to have full implementation of the system by January 2009. When asked whether he was pleased with the decision of Congress to bump the implementation goal to 2009, Cassell said, “Stretching it out over a length of time holds no bearing over the issue that it has to be done sometime.”

Cassell believes that, for most people who keep good records and manage their livestock well, it will require minimal outlay to make the transition from current records to the new identification system.

I think Cassell needs to get his head out of his ass and smell the cow shit. I damn well manage my livestock well but it would cost me a significant amount of money to move to an NAIS program, not a "minimal outlay" like he says. I would be curious to know what planet he lives on that he calls greater than $10,000 a "minimal outlay."

The last interesting item.

The identification program will not address imported meat products that enter the food supply chain.

So Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico or any other country can ship meat here and they don't have to meet the requirements of NAIS. So lets ask the question of what happens to these foreign products when they get here. For the most part they get mixed in with US beef by the packer so it becomes indistinguishable from an American product. Then lets say there is some contaminate found in it down the road further in the chain say at the restraunt level. Then what happens.

They trace the meat back to the plant then NAIS kicks in and they target all these American producers as the problem for the contamination and liquidate their herds for them. The authorities never once consider that it might be the foreign products that were introduced by the packer, since they can't be tracked, or the packer itself as the problem. They will just use NAIS to persecute American meat producers.

{sarcasm}Yep, NAIS is really going to help the US meat producers{/sarcasm}, help them right out of business thanks to our own government. {sarcasm}We really need it all right,{/sarcasm} if we want all our food to come from foreign countries.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but the ear tag could destroy American agriculture. Is that what you want to happen?

Knight vows NAIS will never become mandatory

According to Dow Jones, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight promised Wednesday to keep the national animal identification system (NAIS) a permanently voluntary system. The Dow Jones article said Knight wants to end debate over whether or not the NAIS will ever become mandatory, because that worry is only impeding progress on implementing a voluntary system.

The Dow Jones report comes as USDA issued a 65-guide to the NAIS Wednesday. In an interview with Brownfield late last month, Knight also assured producers the NAIS would remain voluntary.

So, we have assurances and promises from Bruce Knight that NAIS will remain voluntary. What good is this promise? How can I be sure the next administration won't decide to make it mandatory? Hell, how can I be sure Johanns won't disavow Knight and decide to make it mandatory?

A government official's promise has absoultely no value in the real world and means nothing. Even if Congress were to pass the Emerson/Talent bill to make sure it stays voluntary it means nothig, the law could be changed down the line.

Knight's promise is really so much hot air since incoming House Agriculture Leader Collin Peterson has stated that he will work to ensure NAIS is mandatory which would blow Knight's promise to shreds.

We need to keep working on our Representatives on this issue with all the new members coming in. We can stop this if we try hard enough.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but if we work hard enough we can make sure the ear tag remains voluntary.

It's always interesting to hear what Secretary of Agriculture Johanns has to say about NAIS. But I found an interesting story about the questions he is not answering about NAIS. I thought I would share these facts.

For example, Johanns repeatedly dodged questions about whether USDA's intent was to make and maintain NAIS as a voluntary or mandatory program. He stressed it's a voluntary program today and believes a voluntary program is preferable.

You will note that the draft plan has it as mandatory and he appears to be dodging the question on whether it will be or not. He keeps saying that he would "prefer" it to be voluntary , but no assurances are coming from him.

Johanns also demurs from questions aimed at assessing what level of voluntary participation is required for effective animal-health trace-back.

This is when it would become mandatory, if there is not enough voluntary participation. At what level will this happen? He won't commit.

Similarly, Johanns will not provide an answer about the system's cost, other than alluding to the $83 million USDA has already poured into it. One reason may be no such estimate exists, despite repeated requests from the industry for a cost-benefit analysis.

In a separate one-on-one interview, Chief Veterinary Officer, John Clifford, was more specific, implying producers will be responsible for purchasing and applying NAIS tags. He pointed out no state is currently charging producers to register their premises with NAIS, which is a prerequisite to obtaining official NAIS tags.

He doesn't want to talk about what it will cost the industry and producers. Some of his underlings are, but not Johanns He just keeps spouting how much the USDA has spent. So, since the USDA has spent money on it we are going to be forced to do it? Sounds like Johanns plan.

Other key questions still unanswered:
Who guarantees confidentiality? For obvious reasons, producers are unlikely to provide any NAIS data if they believe it could be accessed by anyone other than state and federal animal-health officials. Johanns said, "I agree with livestock producers who believe information about your livestock is your business, period."

Again, in a separate interview, Clifford was more specific. He explains USDA has protected producer info from prying eyes and the Freedom of Information Act via the Privacy Act. However, state animal-health officials and others continue to emphasize the need for legislation at both levels aimed at protecting NAIS data specifically.

What about working group recommendations? Each livestock species devised its own working group to make NAIS recommendations to the Secretary of Ag. Those from the Cattle Industry Working Group were submitted months ago and have yet to receive approval or denial from USDA. That means anything beyond premises registration remains speculation. In turn, that means few producers are likely to begin tagging cattle with NAIS tags until species-specific recommendations are adopted.

Is it all for all and one for all? Cattle and swine are more advanced in NAIS development than any of the others. Some other species are just getting started, while others continue to dig their feet in against elements of the program. It's difficult to imagine cattle producers embracing a program like NAIS if other species are allowed to sit on the sidelines.

Do you know what you're talking about? The cooperative effort between the livestock industry and the state and federal animal-health officials charged with protecting those industries emphasized the need for a national system for animal health purposes. Yet Johanns continues to harp on his belief the market will drive NAIS adoption, that there are already economic incentives in the domestic and international markets to provide ID.

All kinds of questions left unanswered by Johanns. Why is that? Scared because he doesn't want the industry figuring out what that this is against there interests? That's what I think, he doesn't want to be caught in a lie but can't tell the truth. Pretty uncomfortable position.

This final one really takes the cake. It has nothing to do with Johanns comments.

Perhaps the most positive outcome of the meeting was a public display of the livestock industry's ongoing resolve to develop and implement a national animal ID system for the purpose of protecting the nation's livestock. In an informal survey of the 600 meeting participants, 78% believe such a system is so imperative to protecting the livestock industry that it should be made mandatory.

In the opinion of the author of the piece, it is a positive outcome that some 78% of people at the conference think it should be mandatory. That is not the feeling out in the country. But what do you expect the outcome of the survey to be at a conference designed to promote NAIS. People that don't believe in it were not going to attend, only the full fledged supporters were there.

Keep those letters and phone calls going. Let your elected Representatives know how dangerous this is and how it needs derailed. Working together this can be stopped.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure has Johanns avoiding the hard questions.

So what is my favorite organization to hate, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), up to now. First they say they are abandoning the private database concept of National Animal Identification System (NAIS) when talking to the foes of NAIS, R-CALF, and then turns around and tells the U.S. Animal Identification Organization, the people who are setting up the private database, to continue it's work to build a consolidated database of all animals as envisioned. Sounds like they are trying to blow smoke up my ass if you ask me. Tell the foes of it what they want to hear and then continue on just as you are doing.

This whole NAIS issue needs to stay on the front burner where it can be seen by everybody and I am doing all I can to do this. NAIS does not mean food security. It means the death of small farmers and ranchers every where who can't afford the cost and abuse this system will bring to all of us, big and small. 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.