In an attempt to assist the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, state health officials, veterinarians and others in the case of an animal disease outbreak, USDA is implementing a National Animal Identification System.
This system requires that livestock owners maintain records on each animal housed on their premises, and in the case that an animal is transferred from one location to another, those events would need to be recorded.
The identification system allows quick and easy trace back, so that if we find an animal infected with disease, we can expeditiously track down any offspring, siblings or herd mates of the infected animal in order to test them for the disease. This rapid trace back could slow or potentially eliminate the spread of the disease, thus protecting our livestock and our people.
As with most advancements, there are a few drawbacks to the implementation of a national system, however the obvious benefits far outweigh these concerns. As a matter of fact, the biggest problem with the NAIS is that we haven't implemented it sooner.
I feel compelled to bring up animal identification today because I recently learned of a grassroots attempt to kerfluffel the whole thing by making wild accusations and allegations, which are not rooted in fact.
Started by Walter Jeffries of Sugar Mountain Farm in Vermont, NoNAIS.org is in his own words, "... my effort to spread the word of how harmful the USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is to small farmers, homesteaders, pet owners & consumers."
OK, I might be willing to go a round with you on the impacts to livestock farmers as the NAIS will entail more accurate record-keeping and the need to identify each animal with some sort of identification such as an ear tag. These tags will require a minimal investment, and for farmers with exceptionally large herds, I could see where that might amount to what some would consider a significant investment.
However, I don't agree with Jeffries that it's a conspiracy from ear tag manufacturers to require farmers and ranchers to spend money. To hear him tell it, these ear tag manufacturers got together and secretly lobbied USDA officials to come up with a way to require livestock owners to buy as many tags as possible to ensure these companies would stay in business.
Let's think about this. We know we need to keep track of our livestock for the treatment and prevention of disease. Hmmm....how should we do it? Well, according to the "logo" on NoNAIS.org we could simply stamp a barcode right on their foreheads. Yes - that's it!
Oh darn. It appears as if those bar codes aren't as easily scannable as we had hoped when tattooed directly to the animal. So I guess we'll have to figure out a way to apply the code to something else, and then attach that to the animal. But what to apply it to? Hmmmm......that is a tough one. I've got it! How about an ear tag?
Now, if you're concerned that an ear tag isn't appropriate for all animals, horses or certain breeds of goats for example, USDA thought that one through too and is considering identification methods on a species-by-species basis, so the identification method used will be consistent with standard practices for that species.
Let's address some of the other issues Jeffries brings up.
He says that the NAIS will help large farmers by potentially opening up major export markets, but hurt small farmers. Boy, I've heard a lot of concerns about world trade and potential impacts for farmers, but I don't know that I've ever heard the benefits of opening export markets being targeted solely to large farmers. They may benefit from increased market access to a larger extent than smaller farm owners, but that doesn't make it a curse to small farms.
His next argument is that the price of meat will go up because of having to support the increased costs of raising animals and the cost of maintaining the NAIS. He goes on to say that the price of vegetables will also increase because of the use of manure fertilizer. Thus, large companies will consolidate into larger companies, small farms won't be able to compete, competition will die and ultimately the sky will fall in.
OK, so I made up that last part. But he did state that the price of vegetables will rise due to use of manure. I'm really struggling to connect the dots on that one. We're not fitting these animals with gold-plated ear tags, and they're still going to produce cow chips, not diamond chips, so where is he getting this stuff? Our animals will continue to produce the same amount of manure, tagged or untagged, identified or not.
He goes on to say that pet-owners are going to suffer from the hassles of paper work, premise registration and ID fees. And, did you know that you won't even be able to take your horse for a ride without more paperwork?
Correction - if you take your horse for a ride and your horse is co-mingling with horses from other premises, then it needs to be recorded. In much the same way, if you raise animals specifically for show purposes, such as a 4-H or FFA project, you will need to register your premise and ID the animal, as it will be co-mingling with the other animals at the show. So if one of those animals tests positive for disease a couple days after the show, you can easily be notified that your animal was exposed.
Jeffries says this means that county fairs, who are already on tight budgets, are now going to be forced to cancel their livestock shows and fairs of the future will just be a midway with lots of food vendors.
Yes, county fairs will need to remain vigilant of issues concerning animal disease prevention and keeping track of what animals enter the grounds, but it's hardly cause for alarm. Might I suggest you grab a funnel cake and chill out?
The next group of the population he addresses are the homesteaders - those folks who raise a handful of animals for their own food or enjoyment. Yes - if you have pigs, cows or chickens living in your backyard, no matter how few, you have an animal premise that must be registered. But just because one of your cows bursts through the fence and crosses into the neighbor,s yard, you don't have to fill out a mountain of paperwork. Perhaps if after busting out of your pasture, the cow then clears the fence to hang out with your neighbor's cows, you might want to record it. If I only had a nickel for every time that happened.
You know Jeffries, the problem here isn't the NAIS. The benefits to NAIS clearly outweigh the costs and keeping our food and feed chains safe is of utmost importance.
The real manure producer here is you, with this load of propaganda that you're spreading. Case in point - read this comment from a visitor to NoNais.org after reading Jeffries take on the ills of NAIS -
"I am just a city person but I hate the idea of NAIS. If NAIS goes through it means I won’t be able to buy eggs and meat at the local farmers markets or the prices will go up a lot and farmers will go out of business and I have read that will mean the housing bubble will collapse so the value of my house will fall which could cost me a $100 grand! I don't see any thing at all good about NAIS. Please stop NAIS!"
I'm going to lose my house because of NAIS - are you kidding me?
There are throngs of other comments alluding to this just being one more step in our government's attempt to invade our privacy and turn into Big Brother.
Unless you're secretly housing killer goats, I don't really think it's going to be a problem. The government requesting a weekly copy of your bank transactions is an invasion of privacy. The government asking if you own a llama is hardly a crime.
The bottom line is, you've spent a heck of a lot more money on this ridiculous web site than you would have in buying a few ear tags, and at the end of the day, you're still going to have to go register your premise, because folks like me are much more concerned about food and feed safety than we are about you and your top secret herd of goats.
The National Animal Identification System is being implemented with good reason, thorough research and sound science. Unlike most of your allegations and accusations, NAIS makes sense.
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