NoNAIS.org

When they find out about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) some people say to me, “I just won’t register.” Yes, you might get away with that but I would not suggest taking that as a policy. The reason is quite simple. The fines can easily be $1,000 or even more per incident per day. Each unregistered animal you have could count as a separate incident. How many chickens do you have? 10? Well, that comes to $10,000 per day in fines. Lets say they wait and enforce the rule on you after three months. That is 93 x $10,000 = $930,000 in fines for non-compliance. They will take your home, your land, your livestock, your vehicles, your savings, everything. Without a home you won’t have a farm or a place to come home to after work. You probably won’t have a job - few homeless people can keep their jobs. You would be destitute. Ask yourself, “Do you really want to start over from scratch at this point in your life?”

Simply thinking, “I won’t register” is not good enough. You must fight NAIS now while you still have the chance to have an effect. Leave comments with the USDA. Write Neil Hammerschmidt, the USDA Animal ID Coordinator. Write your state department of agriculture. Write your legislative representatives at both the state and federal levels in the House and Senate. Write your governor. Write the President or call him at 1-800-696-6322 where you can leave comments with a live operator. Write letters to the editor to your your local newspapers. Put a bumper sticker on your car. Hang up posters. Pass around handouts.

Spread the word. The more people who know about the harmful effects of NAIS the more people who will get upset and do something about it. Don’t be lazy and think you can just get away without registering. Sticking your head in the sand won’t make the NAISties go away.

An odd thing happened on the way to the meat market… Our faithful, trusty USDA is blocking producers from testing beef for Mad Cow Disease (BSE). But wait, isn’t the USDA is using fears of BSE as a justification for NAIS? Is this why they are stopping Creekstone Farms from testing to prove their beef is BSE free?

What a strange government we have. They are creating problems for small farmers with NAIS and refusing to let vendors test to prove the justification don’t exist in order to justify creating unnecessary mandatroy expensive, complex bureaucratic programs like the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Turns out the USDA profits from this whole mess on both ends in the form of more bureaucracy, fees and fines as well as a share of the patent on the BSE test.

How do you spell Conflict of Interest? — U. S. D. A. — I knew you could do it!

Do note that this is an old issue that just keeps on coming back to haunt us.

Thank you KZYX listeners for dropping by! I appreciate your taking the time to learn more about how the USDA’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS) would hurt small family farmers, homesteaders and pet owners. Ultimately consumers will pay the price as choice becomes limited and prices go up when control of our national food supply is consolidated into the hands of fewer and fewer large corporate factory farms.

Here are some ways you can help make a difference:

Get Informed

The government’s most powerful tool in this battle for our rights is secrecy and apathy. Lets change that and take back our great country!

1. Read the Handout. It explains the background and dangers of NAIS in a one sheet summary including web links to supporting documentation.
2. Check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) at left which answer the basics.
3. See additional articles from this site and others - see links in the left and right sidebars.
4. Extra Credit: Read the 84 pages of USDA draft regulations for NAIS. See the Technical Documents section of the right hand sidebar of this page.

Stay Informed

By staying informed you are empowering yourself against the government and big corporations that would steal away your rights and freedoms.

1. Get email alerts from NoNAIS.org in the top of the right hand sidebar.
2. Subscribe to the NoNAIS.org RSS feed or;
3. Bookmark NoNAIS.org and come back often to check out what’s happening.
4. Extra Credit: Join a NoNAIS discussion list - see right sidebar for national and state-by-state lists.

Speak Out

Let legislators, bureaucrats and other folks know what you think about NAIS. If they realize that this is a hot button topic they’ll want to be sure to come down on the right side of the fence - the people’s side.

1. Sign a petition. This is the easiest thing to do but probably the one most likely to be ignored by the government.
2. Give feedback to the USDA.
3. Email Neil Hammerschmidt who is the USDA Animal ID Coordinator.
4. Email or write your state legislative members. This carries far more weight than a petition. See the sample letters below. Paper letters have much more of an impact than email and it only costs 39¢ for a first class stamp. Even a simple postcard will do the trick.
5. Email or write to your Congressional representatives in the House and Senate.
6. Extra Credit: Organize a rally to get media attention, speak at a meeting or on a talk show.

Spread the Word

To break the government’s lock of secrecy we need to inform more people about NAIS. Once people find out about how the USDA is sneaking this through they get upset and want to stop it. So spread the word!

1. Link to NoNAIS.org on your web pages and blogs. See these instructions. This also helps NoNAIS.org’s search engine page ranking.
2. Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. This helps spread the word so that other people know about the dangers of NAIS, can find this web site and take action. See the sample letters below.
3. Pass out the NoNAIS handout to people you know, leave it at gatherings, libraries, general stores, etc.
4. Hang-up the NoNAIS Poster and hang it up on bulletin boards. This is an eye catcher that includes tear off tabs with contact info to get people to come to NoNAIS.org to find out more about NAIS. A postal address is included for people who lack internet access.
5. Become a mobile billboard - Put a bumper sticker on your car or hang the NoNAIS Poster. If you want you can even print your own bumper stickers using the artwork here.
6. Extra Credit: Place ads in your local newspapers and advertising papers using your own ad design or one of these ads. Local sales paper ad spots are often very inexpensive running $10 to $150 per week depending on ad size and newspaper circulation. This will reach a great many people.
7. Bonus Credit: Tattoo NoNAIS.org across your forehead. Note: this is only for extremists over the age of 18, not recommended if you work for a Fortune 500 company, permanent tattoos are, keep off the grass, void where prohibited…

What ever you do, do not voluntarily signup for Premise ID. It is a slippery slope down into fascist Big Brother government. Many people are being “voluntarily” signed up without their permission so watch out for suspicious questionnaires in the mail or by phone. In most states, you are not required at this time to sign up for Animal ID or Premise ID, two of the components of NAIS. Know your rights.

Feel free to use the sample letters below which you can copy to your email program or word processor, print, sign and send. For a more powerful message, modify the letter to fit your views or, best of all, write your own letters for the greatest impact.

Sample Letter #1:

I am very opposed to the National Animal ID System. It is an invasion of our privacy and our rights. The real reason for the system is to give profits to the big meat exporters. Disease prevention can be better achieved through simple bio-security procedures without having to trample all over the Constitution. Please stop the USDA and states from implementing Premise ID, Animal ID and Animal Tracking. NAIS should be kept 100% voluntary. At the very least, we need an exemption for small farmers, homesteaders and pet livestock owners. Please go to http://NoNAIS.org to learn more about this unreasonable regulation.

Sample Letter #2:

I am concerned that USDA’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is going to destroy the wonderful Buy Local movement that has just been getting its feet off the ground. The burden of NAIS is going to be overwhelming for small farmers who sell directly to customers.

There is no need for tracking their animals nor is there any need to track the animals of pet owners (horses, etc) or homesteaders who are raising their own food. There should be exemptions for these groups. NAIS might be a good idea for those big, horrible factory farms and for big farms that sell into the commercial food distribution system, but it is a bad idea for local farmers.

People interested in learning more about NAIS should go to http://NoNAIS.org

“Should I sign electronic petitions?” Yes, but I do not have a lot of faith that they will be much good. I don’t think that the government listens to electronic petitions or puts much weight in them. Still, go ahead and do it because it is easy to do and maybe something good will come of it. However, do not just do that. Also take other actions as outlined above.

“Can I send money to NoNAIS.org?” No, I am not accepting donations at this time. I have some ideas for printing up masses of bumper stickers and decals to get the word out, but that project is in the future. Your voice and actions are what count most. Protecting our freedoms is a long haul project so be prepared to write letters every month to keep the ball rolling. If you really want to spend money, buy ads in newspapers, on Google and other places that will help spread the word. Some people are already doing this with great results.

Talk about NAIS. Get other people interested. Spread the word. The government has conspired with big business to keep this quiet too long. We must speak up and be heard. What we need is the power of the voice of the people. The force of people speaking up and rejecting this absurd usurpation of our rights, our freedoms. Take a stand now while you still can. Lets once again make this be “America, the Land of the Free and the Brave!”

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
in Vermont