October 19, 2005

Agri-News article about NAIS

Hen's note:

I'm getting Google News Alerts for NAIS so that I can read what is being written all around the country, which is precious little!

I wrote to the author of this piece asking that the small farmer not be forgotten in this Big Brother scheme. I'll ask you to do the same. If you want a copy of my comments to the author, write and I'll send them to you.

One other note.... it's come to my attention that Horses are going to be included in the id and do you know why? Horses aren't legal for consumption in this country, but they are good enough to be food in other countries. As I gather info I see that the USDA doesn't want to miss the boat in increasing export revenue, so horses will need to be tracked in case they get "lost" and find themselves in line to be slaughtered.

Those feds, they think of just everything, don't they?

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Producer -- Time has come for national ID program

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

By Jean Caspers-Simmet

Agri News staff writer

MADISON, Wis. -- Colorado dairy producer Greg Marrs says his farm is not his father or his grandfather's farm.

While his ancestors didn't an animal identification system, today's producers do.

"We need an identification and traceback system, and we need to get started right now,'' said Marrs, who has dairy operations at Pierce and Johnston, Colo.

At World Dairy Expo earlier this month in Madison, Wis., Marrs spoke in support of IDairy, a group of six dairy organizations working to facilitate a national animal ID system.

Representatives from the American Jersey Cattle Association, Holstein Association USA, Inc., National Association for Animal Breeders, National Dairy Herd Improvement Association, National Milk Producers Federation and Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association came together to form IDairy. The groups are urging dairy producers to register their farm premises as the first step toward a national animal ID program.

Marrs said his father's cows stayed at the same location their entire lives. On his farm, animals move a minimum of 10 times. Today there's a constant stream of traffic in and out of his farm. In his father's day, a visit from anyone outside of the family was big news.

Animal identification is something that all livestock producers must participate in, Marrs said.

"We cannot wait for the government, other industries or an animal disease to force dairy farmers into an animal identification system,'' said Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. "We need to come together as an industry and protect the dairy sector through national animal ID.''

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture decides on the logistics of a national ID system, IDairy will take steps to further the dairy industry along in the process.

IDairy hopes to have all dairy cows identified prior to the 2009 goal set by USDA.

In order to accomplish this, IDairy has three phases, said John Meyer, CEO of Holstein Association USA. The first is to have farmers register the premises where they have livestock. They can find out how individual state registers premises by going to www.idairy.org. In Minnesota, farmers contact the Board of Animal Health. In Iowa they work through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

Next, farmers have to identify each animal. IDairy supports the use of radio frequency identification device ear tags. The third phase is the transfer of data from the individual systems to a national database.

IDairy will soon be able to track how many premises are registered and provide information to farmers to make each step of this process as seamless as possible, Meyer said. Down the road, IDairy will provide tag criteria and instructions on the best method of identifying each animal.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:22 PM

    this whole is assinnine. do the american people have no rights anymore. i have many chickens and birds and they are nothing more than pets. i only use the eggs to eat. no govenment is going to tell me what i can have

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sadly, our rights are eroding faster than any other time in history.

    I'm with you....there is no way on my God's green earth that I am going to let them id my food animals or my pets. Not a chance.

    Just so you know, many products that you buy in the stores already have id chips in them. The tracking capabilities have reached new heights.

    Thanks for posting a comment. Come back often for updates to the NAIS.

    Hen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:45 PM

    Thank you Patriot Act.Because of you our rights are snowballing into the world of nothing. Would the USDA have dared a NAIS if it were not for you, you Un-patriotic SOB
    Ripley1997

    ReplyDelete

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