This is where the rubber meets the road

If you are like me, a homesteader growing a few animals for personal use - eggs, meat birds, pigs, turkeys and a horse - you might not have given any thought to the Omnibus Spending Spree, er, Bill and if it might affect your right to own animals. Surprise! It will. Read on.



Links:

Http://www.rules.house.gov/111/LegText/111_omni2009.htm See: "Division A"

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:2:./temp/~c111zkqFeo:: (HR 1105 - Text - make sure the " :: " is in the address bar)

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?r111:@OR+(+@1(H.R.+1105)++@1(H.+R.+1105)++) (Congressional Record entries - be sure the "++)" is included in the address bar)

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:1:./temp/~c1119xtt9W:: (H Res 184, related legislation - be sure " :: " is in there)

Excerpt:

The bill includes $129,180,000 for Animal Health Monitoring and surveillance, including $14,500,000, an increase of $4,713,000, for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Given this investment, coupled with the almost $128,000,000 that Congress has already provided for NAIS, APHIS is expected to make demonstrable progress with effectively implementing the animal identification system. Accordingly, APHIS is directed to meet the following species traceability objectives that are derived from the agency's final 2008 animal disease traceability business plan:

--Cattle: By March 1,2009, identify 30 percent of the nation's cattle population to premises of origin within 48 hours of a disease event.

--Goats: By October 1,2009, identify 90 percent of goat breeding herds to their birth premises within 48 hours of a disease event.

--Poultry: By July 1,2009, achieve 98 percent traceability in the commercial poultry industry through the identification of commercial production units in the required radius within 48 hours of a disease event.

--Sheep: By October 1, 2009, identify 90 percent of sheep breeding flock to their birth premises within 48 hours of a disease event.

--Swine: By February 1, 2009, achieve 80 percent traceability in the commercial swine industries through the identification of commercial production units in the required radius within 48 hours of a disease event.

In addition, APHIS is directed to meet the following program administration milestones that are similarly derived from the final 2008 animal disease traceability business plan:

--By February 1, 2009: Publish proposed rulemaking to consider establishing the seven-character PIN as the national location identifier standard and establish the "840" Animal Identification Number as the Single version for the numbering system.

--By February 1, 2009: Incorporate the NAIS-compliant premises identification number format into existing Federal disease program activities.

--By May 1, 2009: Publish proposed rulemaking to consider using a premises identification number, in the NAIS-compliant format, for import/export facilities, the destination of imported livestock and the Location of exported animals prior to the assembly.

There is concern that APHIS removed a key outcome milestone from its final animal disease traceability business plan that assessed the agency's progress on integrating tracking databases maintained by States and private organizations. APHIS is directed to submit a report to the Committees that explains why the agency dropped this important milestone from its final business plan. APHIS is further directed to
provide an update on its current progress with fully integrating the Animal Trace Processing System with non-Federal tracking databases.

APHIS is directed to submit a report to the Committees within one week after each of the milestone dates outlining the status of each species traceability objective and program administration milestone and the reason the deadline was not met.

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Find your Senator here and call his/her office. Ask for the Ag Policy Advisor and have a converstation with that person. Make nice, but be firm.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Act now, today, right this minute.

The House managed to pass this “Omnibus 2009” in 24 hours and we have no

reason to believe that the Senate will not as well.

What are you going to do? We as living human beings do not go to the polls to elect officials to represent Multi-National Corporations or Lobbyists paid by groups attempting to get their piece of the pie.

THE LARGEST UNPAID LOBBY GROUP IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS SITTING IN THAT CHAIR IN FRONT OF THE KEYBOARD – YOU ARE IT.

Buy my book and send it to the Ag Policy Advisor that you are going to get to know today. What better way to educate someone about NAIS. Click through the link on the right side bar.

Swallow Peanuts but Choke on Raw Milk - Excellent Article

Tim Rowland

Swallow peanuts, but choke on raw milk?

February 22, 2009

It's rich to hear state health departments and the federal Food and Drug Administration shake a warning finger at the Maryland General Assembly over the dangers of raw milk.

It is equally quaint to hear the farm bureaus raise the same complaints, considering that many of their dairy-farmer members grew up drinking the stuff.

The message is that any milk that hasn't been cooked beyond recognition under the watchful eye of government regulators is unfit for human consumption - and as regulators guard the front door with shotguns to prevent a dairy breaking and entering, tons of bacterially poisoned peanut butter are slipping in through the back, which should be proof enough that it's the producer, not the product, that makes the difference. [read the rest here]

But before you go....buy my book. Or look at it anyway. Click through on the right sidebar. It is an excellent resource for people who don't know about NAIS, and, if I might say so, a very good read. Signed copies still available, drop me an email.

A Blog Award! They like me, they really, really like me

My friend on American Way Farm gave me an "Excellence in Blogcasting Award" and now I am to pass it on.

My list:

#1 Queenacres Homestead - Susan has an awesome poultry group on Yahoo and she is a sister in the Lord.

#2 Home-Steeped Hope - For the recipes, info about Amish Friendship Bread, common sense remedies, and oh! Mary is a sister in the Lord.

#3 Maine Momma - my daughter-in-law, photographer of excellent natural talent. You should look at what she does. She has a Flickr thing going on also and sells photos.

Before you go, please take a moment to click through any of the links to see my book. It is selling very well, but more people should be reading it to understand about NAIS. If you'd like a personalized copy, drop me an email. henwhisperer @ gmail . com (remove the extra spaces).

Now you can Look Inside the Book! Click through and read some my novel, First They Came for the Cows: An Activist's Story. I am told by those who have read it that it should be used as a resource for educating consumers about what NAIS means.

Go see for yourself. :-)

They say 'traceability' like it is something achievable

By Marti Oakley

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to improve the safety of food, meat, and poultry products through enhanced traceability, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 3, 2009

Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. NADLER of New York, and Ms. DELAURO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

H.R. 814 called the [Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act of 2009] or, [The Trace Act of 2009] is nothing less than the federal intent to mandate the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and of course “and for other purposes”.

SEC. 26. TRACEABILITY OF LIVESTOCK, MEAT, AND MEAT PRODUCTS.

(a) Definition of Traceability- In this section, the term ‘traceability’ means the ability to retrieve the history, use, and location of an article through a recordkeeping and audit system or registered identification.

(b) Requirements-

(1) IN GENERAL- Cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses, mules, and other equines presented for slaughter for human food purposes, and the carcasses or parts of carcasses and the meat and meat food products of those animals, shipped in interstate commerce shall be identified in a manner that enables the Secretary to trace-

(A) each animal to any premises or other location at which the animal was held at any time before slaughter; and

(B) each carcass or part of a carcass and meat and meat food product of such animals forward from slaughter through processing and distribution to the ultimate consumer.

(2) TRACEABILITY SYSTEM- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a traceability system for all stages of production, processing, and distribution of meat and meat food products that are produced through the slaughter of animals described in paragraph (1).

(c) Prohibition or Restriction on Entry- The Secretary may prohibit or restrict entry into any slaughtering establishment inspected under this Act of any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or horses, mules, or other equines not identified as prescribed by the Secretary under subsection (b).

Apparently USDA was inefficient in its efforts to forcibly overtake the US food supplies and the federal government has found it necessary to intervene and make mandatory the implementation of NAIS on all levels.

SEC. 26. TRACEABILITY OF LIVESTOCK, MEAT, AND MEAT PRODUCTS.

(g) Relation to Country of Origin Labeling- Nothing contained in this section prevents or interferes with implementation of the country of origin labeling requirements of subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.).’.

Isn’t this section a hoot! No mention is made of the labeling law passed in 2005 requiring the country of origin to be listed on the label of foods, or, the listing of cloned, genetically altered or mutated foods. A law which this same government has refused to enforce in deference to corporate donors who know the garbage they are packaging and selling isn’t fit for human consumption.

H.R. 814 is clearly nothing less than the federal legislation converting NAIS from a bad a idea to horrendous plan for seizing food production from any source in the US and handing it over to Frankenfood industrialized factory farms on behalf of the bio-pirates who have apparently bought and paid for this legislation.

Ms. Degette, Ms. Bordallo, and Mr. Nadler should all be removed from office. In fact anyone supporting or voting to pass this latest piece of anti-American garbage should be run out of the country.

When will we stop abiding traitors, corporate whores and world government advocates in the government of the sovereign United States? Our House and Senate on both sides are filled with individuals who have neither patriotism nor loyalty to this country and who work to dismantle our Republic, our freedom and our way of life.

The three “public servants” sponsoring this bill are just a small trio in what has become the wholesale destruction of our nation perpetrated by one corrupted congress after another.

What will it take for the American public to stand up and say “enough!”.

http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_814.html

© 2009 Marti Oakley

NAIS - Congress Briefings Askew by USDA

NAIS~~~ Congress Briefings Askew by USDA

By Darol Dickinson

There is ocean front property in Arizona, you can have it free, but at some future date you may have to pay some amount of property tax and other ownership assessments may be enforced from time to time. Does this sound like an illusionary Bernie Madoff investment?

In a letter dated July 20, 2008, Jere L. Dick of USDA--APHIS wrote, "According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, there are 1.4 million US livestock raising operations that derive at least $1000 annual revenue from livestock sales. More than 475,532 premises, approximately 33% of this total figure---had been registered with NAIS."

USDA has had a long respected history of integrity, honest calculations and trusted service to all livestock owners. Now, to implement their NAIS program all the ethics have been truncated. Many who recall the USDA uprightness of record, are now appalled at the extraordinary degree of political deviousness USDA uses to promote their esteemed 100% computerized animal numbering program---NAIS.

The 2007 US Ag Census was released Feb. 4. Although the product and type operation of a ranch, dairy or grain farm is totally different, USDA calls them all the same generic name, "farms." Census data shows the USA is home to 96,347,858 cattle with 963,669 cattle farms. There are 9.3 million sheep and 83,134 sheep farms. There are 3,140,529 goats and 144,466 goat farms. There are 67,786,318 hogs at 75,442 hog farms. There are 296 million turkeys, 349 million laying hens, and 2,187,509,325 total domestic fowl at 213,432 farms, assuming the census process carefully counted them all.

For horse population, Kathie Luedeke at the American Horse Council in Washington DC stated there are 1.96 million people who own 9.2 million horses in the US, a number no one disputes.

For totals, this comes to 2,373,284,030 head of livestock, fowl, etc. They reside at 3,410,142 US farms. NAIS enforcement plans also include not just the above numbers, but a total of 33 different species [including] cervidae, buffalo, camelids, alpaca, deer, ratites, marsupials, elk, etc. Obviously the 2.3 billion number is just a start in the scheme as no census numbers are available on the huge domestic game bird business. An unknown total non-census number is much farther beyond published Feb. 4 data.

For the Ag census, only US farms with sales of $1000 or more annually are counted. Reliable sources estimate there are 411,400* farms with less than $1000 annual sales, who would be required to comply with mandatory NAIS. This could include inventory of small animals, 4-H projects, fancy poultry, hobbyist, entry level and want-to-be farmers.

The largest expansion category for the 2007 census was cattle owners of 1 to 9 head up from 179,346 in the 2002 census to 232,849 farms. Small farms are growing in numbers faster than all other sizes. Much of this is due to subdivision of land holdings mostly near cities. This additionally increases numbers of owners of smaller inventory groups.

NAIS premises enrollment encourages more than one premises sign up per farm owner. This is designed to multiply current enrollments for USDA and increase annual licenses fees once the program is mandatory. Owners of a diversified operation could spread their risk of a forced livestock "depopulation" if USDA suspected a disease. Owned or leased farms could be divided into a number of different units. If NAIS becomes mandatory one concerned rancher plans to enroll 18 farm units to protect family livestock assets from a complete business devastation in case of a USDA inflicted quarantine or depopulation.

The USDA official press releases and staff tells Congress, the media, the Senate, and the public, a number of 1.4 million livestock raising operations exist in the US. Yet, the 2007 US Ag census, plus the American Horse Council data and farms with below $1000 in annual sales clearly reveal the more correct number is at least 3,821,542 farms raising livestock.

Today the USDA alleges over 500,000 premises are NAIS enrolled. Many of these are multiple unit enrollments, livestock auction facilities who own no cattle, custom feed lots, rodeo arenas, USDA employees, state DOA extension agents, livestock owners who are unaware they are enrolled and producers who are in the process of "Opt Out." Some youth have been forced to "enroll their property" before a single goat or lamb could qualify for government controlled state fair competition.

Western Horseman Magazine is the largest circulation of any livestock publication in the world. In their online poll, June of 2008, it was tabulated with thousands of votes; over 91% of animal owners, if given a choice, would refuse to comply with any component of NAIS.

Calculating the actual number of all real farms, total NAIS alleged enrollments minus the multiple enrollments and adding the under $1000 income farms, the percentage of enrolled farm owners in the US is not 33%, but in fact less than 9.8%.

The USDA has doled out over $138,000,000.00 all authorized by Congress, for cooperative agreements and sign up incentive NAIS programs. Their 28 USDA branches including the Farm Service Agency, County Extension offices and USDA licensed professionals have dedicated untold multiple hours to coerce new enrollments in NAIS. The cost to USDA per NAIS enrolled farm owner is well over $360 each.

NAIS is the result of looking for trouble, not finding it anywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying costly bogus remedies. Never has such a USDA grandiose plot been attempted with less user approval, less convincing value, and such distorted numbers used to spin the program.

During the Houston Stock Show, USDA Deputy Enforcements Secretary, Bruce Knight spoke, trying to cajole Texans (Texas is one of the lowest percentage premises enrolled states) on NAIS said, "Registering is easy. It’s free."

Hello "Bruce" Madoff? Any ocean front property in Arizona available, perhaps 1.4 acres?

For more information on NAIS go to www.naisSTINKS.com.

* Twenty one formal requests to Congressmen, the Sec of Agriculture and USDA staff; all refused to answer in a 60 day period.

First They Came for the Cows is available on Amazon.com

It's very exciting. Locate the Amazon box on the right sidebar and click through it.

Perhaps you'd like to preview First They Came for the Cows. You can read two excerpts, one here and one here.

Want a signed copy? I've got those, so let me know.

Some churches are using First They Came for the Cows for their book clubs. Good Christian fiction can be hard to come by, you know?



Upcoming events:

There will be a book signing at L.A.C.E. in Barre, Vermont in February, but date still TBA.

Dung beetles

Do you know what a dung beetle is?

Here is a clue: A dung beetle, with a shovel-like head, rolls a dung ball with its hind legs. Most dung beetles search for dung with the aid of their strong sense of smell. Some of the smaller species, however, simply attach themselves to the dung-providers to wait for their reward. After capturing the dung, a dung beetle will roll it, following a straight line despite all obstacles. Sometimes dung beetles will try to steal the dung ball of another beetle, so the dung beetles have to move rapidly away from a dung pile once they have rolled their ball to prevent it from being stolen.

The answer to the question is this: anyone in Congress.

This rant has to do with 2 new bill being introduced in Congress right now that create a backdoor NAIS. These 2 bills are HR 814 and HR 875. Click through to NoNAIS.org to read about it.

Oh, but before you go.... order my book. If you have had trouble getting people fired up about NAIS, First They Came for the Cows is the thing to have them read. As one person who posted a review on Amazon said, "This book should be in the foyer of every church..." Click through the link on the right sidebar. Thanks!

Sent to the White House

National Animal Identification System, (NAIS) that thousands of livestock producers have opposed for close to a half dozen years, is still being demanded by USDA, and USDA branches. Like a creeping fungal spore it moves on with unrestrained funding. Why does this numbering plot have a life without death? No economic facts, no logic, no legal barrier stops this horrid scheme as it moves with perverted "cooperative agreements" to number all farm livestock and farm properties.

Nearly 2000 years ago it was written in the Holy Bible that in the last years of history a numbering system would be used so that no person could buy or sell without an enforced number. Real ID and NAIS perfectly fit the prophecy of Revelation 13. It is a battle of the unjust against the just. Some would say it is only a coincidence, yet others are certain a massive plan is in play to number all livestock and then number all people. A federal plan to control people like herds of cattle moving through the check out counter of life.

It is easy to oppose NAIS on purely non-Biblical reasons, but equally easy to see the handwriting on the wall. Every livestock owner should oppose NAIS. Every Christian should oppose NAIS. Every human who consumes food should oppose NAIS. Every USDA employee should oppose NAIS. Every veterinarian, every President, every Congressman and every Senator should oppose NAIS.

Posters of the graphic can be printed from www.naisStinks.com. The link for other posters is http://www.naissucks.com/index.php?con=flyers. Thank you for opposing NAIS and the distribution of information.

Brad Headtel, www.naisSTINKS.com.

Hopefully, that fired you up. Now go here to make your comment about the new numbering system. The cutoff for comments is in March. There are some incredible comments, as well as some questions that USDA must answer before they can go forward. Well, that's the law anyway. We know USDA will do what they want, skew the results they way they want, all that. If there ever was an unlawful agency, USDA is it.

But before you go, order a copy of my book, First They Came for the Cows: An Activist's Story. Look at the right sidebar and click through the Amazon link. This novel is a great way to help people understand what NAIS means for ordinary people.