Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

Some real interesting news about National Animal Identification System (NAIS) over at my other site. Go check it out if you want to see how the NCBA is just jumping on the bandwagon I advocated months ago. It's interesting.

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is-full of surprises. Isaac Bashevis Singer

USDA RELEASES BSE PREVALENCE ESTIMATE FOR U.S.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced USDA's estimate of the prevalence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States.

"Our enhanced BSE surveillance program has been an enormous undertaking, but well worth the effort," said Johanns. "We can now say, based on science, that the prevalence of BSE in the United States is extraordinarily low. The testing and analysis reinforce our confidence in the health of the U.S. cattle herd, while our interlocking safeguards, including the removal of specified risk materials and the feed ban, protect animal and human health."

Four to seven animals is all they figure have BSE in the US. That's really good news. These statistical analysis always seem a little like witchcraft to me but i know most of the time they are valid.

The bigger question this brings up is, if the prevalence of BSE is so low in the US, why do we need the national Animal Identification System (NAIS) to track all animals? The original justification was the BSE crisis. If there is no BSE crisis, why track all the animals? I will tell you, to benefit the big corporations at the expense of the producers in this country. That's all NAIS is about. Animal health is not the driving force, it is the lie being used by the USDA/meat packers to drive this agenda.

Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived. Sissela Bok

Crossposted to No Mandatory Animal ID

I think Mike John, President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), really needs to get a clue about what cattle producers want.

Livestock National ID Sign-ups S-l-u-g-g-i-s-h

The president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says in states where premises identification is not mandatory, enrollment has been painfully slow in establishing what will eventually become a national age, process and source verification system.

This, despite the fact many producers may already have the information needed for animal certification. "A very small percentage of producers have actually received a premises number," says 2006 NCBA President Mike John. "I don't know why that is. Every state has access to a Web-based premises allocation system. If people are worried about the government having access to that information, it already does."

If Premise Identification enrollment has been slow, maybe there is a reason for it. Like people think it's an unreasonable Government intrusion into their business. Of course in states where it's mandatory it's going well according to Mike John. Yea, you take a large stick and beat producers over the head and tell them they have to enroll in this "voluntary" program administered by the Meat Packers, through the US Animal Identification Organization, or they will be fined and wonder why enrollment is going well.

Mike John just doesn't get that he is a shill for the Meat Packers and is not working for the best interests of the Cattle Industry. I plan on being in the cattle business and I will wait until the USDA/NCBA/Meat Packers (they are all one outfit) forces me to get mine through law and do it under coercion. It's wrong and everybody knows it but whether we can turn this train or not is still in question.

Force always attracts men of low morality. Albert Einstein

Cross Posted to No Mandatory Animal ID

My friend in New York has a great picture up of what exactly happens to the type of tags the USDA wants us to use in this NAIS scheme. I couldn't agree more, I see this all the time with my cattle.

She then continues in another post about the Tags and how they stay in and how badly they are needed.

And tagging doesn't carry a lot of weight anyhow. We have a pen with eleven yearlings in it. All were tagged with the same type of tagging system the government advocates. THREE still have their tags! THREE!

Mine aren't even bunk fed and we have the same problem. Missing and lost tags.

And then there is the fact that about twenty years ago an animal from here triggered a test at the state when we sent her to the auction. There was nothing wrong with her, they had just changed the test and it was so super sensitive that there were a lot of false positives. You know what? They were on our farm testing the whole herd the next day. No forty-eight hour trace back, more like eighteen! They don't need a new system to trace back cows. They just want more control over our personal property.

I couldn't agree more. Why is this necessary when there are perfectly adequate methods now for this. A couple of years ago I was getting a load of old cows ready to go to market. One of the things I do is brand inspect them to make sure they all belong to me before I ship them. I recognized them all so it was not a problem but I went the=rough the formalities anyway. Low and behold one of the cows did not have my brand on her. In fact, she had absolutely no brand on her at all. I knew the cow well, she had a real wild eye to her and had been giving me trouble for years so I knew she was mine but I had no brand to prove it.

After consulting with the brand inspectors about what to do I shipped her to market as a stray so that they could try to identify who she belonged to. Within 12 hours they had positively identified the cow as mine and sold her in my name. How did they manage this? Through the existing brucellosis tag, and ear mark. Easy and no fuss or muss. No complicated ear tag needed. The existing laws and procedure in the state handled it no problem. So why is NAIS needed?

I still say it's a scheme by the meat packers to blame their problems on the small producers pure and simple. Maybe it's a test run for ID'ing all humans in the US too. Who knows or cares. NAIS needs opposed and now. We need to derail this before it goes any further. Mandatory Animal ID is wrong. If a producer wants to voluntarily do it thinking he is going to make more money that should be his choice, not something he is forced into by the government.

Remember, an ID number never stopped a disease.

The view only changes for the lead dog. Norman O. Brown

I would like to point out a new Blog I started up.

No Mandatory Animal ID

You've heard me ranting and raving about USDA and NAIS so I decided to dedicate a little effort that way. Take a look see and tell me what you think.

A civilization that only looks inward will stagnate. We have to keep looking outward; we have to keep finding new avenues for human endeavor and human expression. John L. Phillips