No Mandatory Animal ID

Farmers Say No to Animal Tags

The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a program initiated by the federal government to attach a radio frequency identification device (RFID) to each of the approximately 40 million cows, sheep, chickens, goats, pigs, horses, and other animals on 1.4 million U.S. farms, enabling regulators to quickly track and respond to mad cow disease, bioterrorism, and other such calamities.

The program is billed as "voluntary" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but that term is used about as loosely as a staff sergeant's call for volunteers. Already there is talk that states failing to enforce NAIS could lose USDA funding for certain programs, and that farmers whose premises and animals aren't registered could encounter trouble should their animals be shipped out of state and thus be deemed part of "interstate commerce."

Exactly what I was worried about. A "voluntary" program that is coercively "voluntary." You do it our way voluntarily or you will be punished. Isn't that a great way to run our country. The Feds have done it before and they will do it again.

I would be curious to know where the talk is coming from. Almost all opponents of NAIS, including me, have speculated that the Feds will do this but I wonder if there is something concrete or it's just hot air we are spreading.

How to derail this? I guess more letters to local and state politicians against making NAIS coercively "voluntary." It's the wrong approach.

An ear tag never stopped a disease.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in In The News at 04:25 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

We finally hear from the NCBA/Meat Packers on the change to a voluntary ID from the USDA.

Cattle Editorial: USDA Puts Animal ID On Voluntary Track

For several years, NCBA members have consistently held that a national animal identification system is necessary, but can be better accomplished on a voluntary, market-driven, and producer-led basis. While a government-mandated and government-controlled system may seem like an easier and quicker solution, NCBA has never viewed this as the answer. We’ve always maintained that the industry could provide a more secure, confidential, and efficient solution that would be met with much less resistance and mistrust than a government mandate.

You know, Mike John really thinks a lot of himself. He takes all the credit for the NCBA for the USDA deciding to make NAIS voluntary.

As always, NCBA took a pragmatic stance on this issue – aimed not at gaining headlines or publicity, but simply at achieving positive results for cattlemen. That’s the approach that leads to long term success on major policy issues, and positive, productive solutions for the cattle industry.

Excuse me, I remember when the NCBA was all for mandatory NAIS and was a partner with the USDA in pushing it. Then there was enough of an outcry they backed off to a producer led system which still didn't satisfy the critics until they added voluntary to their program. They no more deserve credit for the change than pigs can fly. The producers that complained and made the NCBA change its policy deserve all the credit.

Now that the program is voluntary, what does Mike John say we should do?

At this time, one of the most critical areas in which the livestock industry needs to show improvement is premises registration. USDA Under Secretary Bruce Knight recently reported that 23 percent of premises nationwide are now registered, and the agency hopes to push that figure to 25 percent by 2007. While this represents modest progress, those figures tell me that premises registration needs a significant shot in the arm. USDA has updated its National Animal Identification System User Guide and premises registration materials, which are now available to cattlemen on line at: http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais. Along with its renewed emphasis on voluntary animal ID, these user-friendly tools should help USDA reach out to mainstream livestock producers. There will always be those who dig in their heels on the ID issue, but others simply need thorough, easy-to-access information to help them get started.

The cattle industry can certainly assist in this effort by better explaining the potential benefits of premises registration, as well as further steps that can be taken to register livestock movements and animal tracking data. These tools can help producers – both large and small – take advantage of value-added opportunities and improve their bottom line. But that process really begins with premises registration as a basic fundamental step. This isn’t confidential or sensitive data you’re providing. It’s really just contact and location information that can often be found in a phone book or other local directories.

So now that it's voluntary we should all march down to the USDA and sign up for the first step in giving up our rights, premise registration. If the information can be "found in a phone book or other local directories" as Mike John says, why do we need to go sign our premise up. The USDA has the information all ready and needs no help from us. The only thing they want from us is to voluntarily enslave ourselves to their system instead of standing up for our God given rights to reject their demands.

Mike Johns thinks is the first step to the profit opportunities that an ID program can bring. Show me the dollars. I had a long talk with the guy who buys my calves and feeds them and he was adamant that he did not want the critters to have an ID tag in them. The packers he sell to charge from $25-45 per head to scan the tag which kills his profit margin. If the packer or feeder won't pay for an animal with an ID tag, where is the profit opportunity for me. More money out of my pocket with no more coming in is a loss for me last time I checked So Mike John really needs a reality check.

THERE IS NO PROFIT OPPURTUNITY INVOLVED WITH ANIMAL ID, at this point. Yes, I admit that there might be profit some day but lets not put the cart before the horse. The profit might not be there for all of us. I remember quite a number of years ago the industry started a trend for producers like me to pre-condition calves before we sold them. We were told that this would bring us more money for our calves and that it was the way to go. I have resisted this movement to this day.

The reason why? I can profit fine without it. I sell my calves for the same price pre-conditioned calves of the same weight in my area sell for and I don't have the expense of pre-conditioning. Quality cattle don't need crutches like pre-conditioning or NAIS for a producer to make a profit. We can do it ourselves just fine. If I start losing money because I don't ID my calves then I can make the voluntary decision to register my place and ID my cattle. I don't need Mike John to tell me now is the time to register my place to show the USDA my good intentions.

Is this payoff to the USDA for making the program voluntary? You bet and Mike is trying to sell it to us.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, Mike John justs wants us to think it can.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in NCBA at 04:29 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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?

Posted by Sarpy Sam in In The News, Personal at 05:01 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Government Propaganda at 05:59 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

I've talked about how an ID system should be voluntary and if it was economically viable should not even be required by the government. The free market will provide it. Starting to see it a little now. This article uses the voluntary use of ID tags as an opening to explain how the NAIS system will be great, but I think we need to focus on the fact that voluntarily, due to market pressure, an ID system is being used without the government requiring it of all of us.

Japan reopened its market in July, with the new rules in place.

"It creates an opportunity for ranchers or producers that can verify the age of the calves they are selling," said Todd Clemons, president of Okeechobee Livestock Market in Okeechobee. Local ranchers get a premium of about $20 per animal.

Since April, the Okeechobee Livestock Market has sold 25,000 cattle through online auctions; 80 percent of those were calves with tags that make it possible to verify their age and birthplace.

The calves are shipped to feedlots in states such as Texas, and some are eventually sold to Japan and other export markets.

This is like it should be. The free market working. The rest of the article is a big propaganda piece on why NAIS would be so good for all of us since it would pinpoint "food borne illness." I guess they mean stuff like e-coli in spinach and lettuce. Excuse me, that's right, that will be covered by the FUCK IT program instead of NAIS. That's not an animal so NAIS doesn't apply.

Give it time and maybe voluntarily most animals will have ID. I will point out that the buyer of my calves told me he works with 3 different major packing plants and not one of them wants cattle with ID tags or any kind of source or age verification. They are not concerned about it. In fact if cattle with ID tags show up they charge a $40 per head fee to read the tags prior to slaughter. So the cost of this is on the person bringing the cattle in, not on the packer.

Let's work towards a voluntary system. It's only right.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but the ear tag sure brings out those who want to control every ones life.

Cross posted to Thoughts From the Middle of Nowhere.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Government Propaganda, Opinion Piece, Personal at 04:09 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in NCBA at 04:10 | Comment (1) | Trackback (1)

Voluntary:
1 : proceeding from the will or from one's own choice or consent
2 : unconstrained by interference : SELF-DETERMINING
3 : done by design or intention : INTENTIONAL (voluntary manslaughter)
4 : of, relating to, subject to, or regulated by the will (voluntary behavior)
5 : having power of free choice
6 : provided or supported by voluntary action (a voluntary organization)
7 : acting or done of one's own free will without valuable consideration or legal obligation

Cattle might get individual ID numbers

U.S. livestock might soon receive individual identification numbers in a voluntary plan to prevent the spread of mad cow and other diseases.

NAIS Plan from USDA

• January 2009: Reporting of defined animal movements required; entire program mandatory.

I will point out the news story says the program will be voluntary, proceeding from the will or from one's own choice or consent, and the USDA's plan is it to be mandatory. Who is fooling who here. Do they really think I am this stupid to buy into their propaganda that NAIS will be voluntary? Just keep remembering magical word mandatory in the NAIS plan and don't buy the propaganda. The USDA will try anything to control the lives and property of what they consider to be their serfs, the farmers and ranchers of the US.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure drives the government propaganda machine.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Government Propaganda at 05:17 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Why does NAIS have to be mandatory? Why can't we have a market driven voluntary system? One of the main reasons given for the formation of NAIS is that export markets demand this. If this is the case why not let the market drive the solution?

If foreign countries demand this the meat exporters should pay more money for meat that is source verified via ID. Using beef as an example, this premium would theoretically then be passed down through the feeder to the cow-calf producer and would give the cow-calf man a monetary incentive to source ID their cattle. This would then be a market driven way for all in the supply chain to make a little extra money per animal. The present mandatory system as now envisioned will only cost more money for all but the meat exporters who gain from the system.

That's why the meat exporters/meat packers are so behind this mandatory system. It is only a win-win situation for them and the cow-calf man will be the ultimate loser since the majority of the cost of the system will be on them.

The other big reason for the Mandatory NAIS is for disease track back purpose. A market driven voluntary system will accomplish the same thing as the mandatory one, assuming there is as much demand for source verified animals as we are led to believe, since most animals will be involved because the producers will want the market premium.

A voluntary system will do the same thing as the mandatory one without penalizing producers of the animals. The US is known worldwide for the health of its animal herds so the chimera of disease prevention is just that, a myth to sell the idea to society at large. We need to call the USDA n this myth and demand a voluntary system through our Congressmen. Write, call, visit do whatever you can to bring this issue out into the light of day for everybody to examine.

A ID number never stopped a disease, it just gives the government control over your life and property.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in NAIS at 05:19 | Comments (0) | Trackback (1)