There is an interview Jolley: Five Minutes With Neil Hammerschmidt at CattleNetwork.com. Mr. Hammerschmidt is the Coordinator for the USDA’s proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
Choice quotes from Mr. Hammerschmidt:
In order to achieve the most effective tracing system for disease control, animal health officials must be able to determine where animals are managed and raised, and the places where livestock commingle from multiple farms and ranches (markets, harvest facilities, exhibitions, etc.).
Over time, I anticipate that RFID or other automated technologies will become widely used and will improve the effectiveness and practicality of collecting animal movement records. USDA has already found RFID technology to be of merit when testing cattle for bovine tuberculosis, and we will continue to expand its use in other disease programs. As the value of RFID is demonstrated for management and marketing opportunities, an increasing number of producers are adopting the technology. Advancements in RFID technology will most certainly continue, and USDA encourages its use today and recognizes the merit it will bring to traceability down the road.
the animals should be identified prior to their sale or movement to another premises (i.e., ranch, market, feedlot, etc.), or prior to being commingled with animals from other premises.
While the reasons behind the programs are different, there are obvious opportunities to use NAIS-compliant numbering systems and identification methods to support future COOL requirements.
the confidentiality of the producers’ production information will not be compromised as a result of their using a PIN and/or AIN tags in QSA and PVP programs.
The “sport” or “competition” horses that are taken to numerous exhibitions, competition events, and other activities of that type are more of a concern. In these situations, the horses often move significant distances, and in the event of a contagious disease, can quickly spread a disease from region to region. Maintaining accurate movement records of these horses that are readily available to animal health officials is critical in the event of an equine disease outbreak.
Individuals that have horses for recreation, including trail rides, can benefit from registering their premises and should do so.
The Swine ID Implementation Task Force has also offered recommendations for identifying cull sows and boars with premises ID eartags. Those recommendations are now being implemented in NAIS to offer improved traceability of those animals.
No program of this magnitude can be successful without producers working cooperatively with Animal Health Officials. NAIS has evolved through industry and producer feedback, and it will continue to do so. Practical and affordable solutions to the “traceability challenges” are best achieved through constructive producer input and criticism. We welcome it. Share your recommendations with industry organizations, the appropriate species working groups, and animal health officials to enhance and improve NAIS.
be proactive—participate in NAIS.
Go to the link at the top to read the entire interview.
Also of interest at the top of the article was an advertisment for Premises101.com which read:
Register your premises before July 1st 2008 and be entered to win a $1,000 Visa gift card.
:
Drawing terms and conditions: To be eligible for the $1,000 Visa Gift Card giveaway, individuals must register their premises through IMI Global, Inc. or www.premises101.com prior to 5pm (MST) June 30th, 2008. Upon the registration of multiple premises by one individual, only one name will be added to the drawing. There is no opportunity for multiple entries into the drawing. The winner will be drawn at random on July 1st, 2008 and contacted prior to 5pm (MST) that evening. There can only be one winner.
Interesting linkage between the article and advertisement. So whois premises101.com one might ask:
Registrant:
IMI Global
221 Wilcox St.
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104
United StatesRegistered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: PREMISES101.COM
Created on: 18-Jan-08
Expires on: 18-Jan-09
Last Updated on: 18-Jan-08Administrative Contact:
Weaver, Cory cweaver@imiglobal.com
IMI Global
221 Wilcox St.
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104
United States
(303) 895-6330 Fax —Technical Contact:
Weaver, Cory cweaver@imiglobal.com
IMI Global
221 Wilcox St.
Castle Rock, Colorado 80104
United States
(303) 895-6330 Fax —Domain servers in listed order:
NS21.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS22.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
and whois imiglobal.com one might ask:
Registrant:
IMI Inc.
P.O. Box 1291
Platte City, Missouri 64079
United StatesRegistered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: IMIGLOBAL.COM
Created on: 03-Sep-98
Expires on: 02-Sep-09
Last Updated on: 31-Mar-08Administrative Contact:
Weaver, Cory cweaver@imiglobal.com
IMI Inc.
P.O. Box 1291
Platte City, Missouri 64079
United States
816-858-4796Technical Contact:
Weaver, Cory cweaver@imiglobal.com
IMI Inc.
P.O. Box 1291
Platte City, Missouri 64079
United States
816-858-4796Domain servers in listed order:
NS2.ASPWEBHOSTING.COM
NS1.ASPWEBHOSTING.COM
This leads us to a little bit more information - Basically IMI Global.com is a USDA “IMI Global is the recognized leader in providing Agricultural Industry Solutions for Identification & Traceability”.
In other words I suspect they’re getting bonuses for signing up premises. Your tax dollars at work, against you.
It is always interesting where the threads lead… I wonder if Cory Weaver of IMI Global has a license to hold that sweepstakes?
Interestingly, following the (303) 895-6330 phone number Mr. Weaver gave leads to GenXLearn.com and to this real estate listing which also has the name Weaver associated with it. The GenXLearn.com and the 2239badger.com both also leads back to Cory Weaver in the whois directory.
Following Weaver’s other phone number 816-858-4796 leads to all sorts of interesting things including:
- a $14,830,037 SEC filing dated June 20th, 2006 with more info here and here;
- a UCDavis Fact Sheet on Tag Target Groups;
- a company in a different state (MO) with the same phone number and different person.
- and lots more… …ever so convoluted are these people.
Googling Cory Weaver gives us a Spock of:
Cory Weaver Vice President of Information Technologies With IMI Global since 1999, Weaver is the Company’s systems project leader. Weaver was previously with SYS-TEC Corporation, where he implemented inventory management systems for the U.S. Airforce and Navy. He holds a B.S. degree in Business from Heidelberg College and is a Certified Network Engineer.
Googling his email address brings up petsupplyverified.com, imiuniversity.com and some other similar links. Busy guy.
This lead me to the IMI Global Management Team web page and guess what. We have completed the circle because down at the bottom is:
Rob Cook
Director of CattleNetwork.com Cook joined IMI Global as director of CattleNetwork.com in 2005. He is the founder of Cattlefeeding.com and a former assistant general manager of Brookover Company, a large cattle feeder. Cook holds a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics and Animal Science from the University of Nebraska and a J.D. in law from Creighton University.
Note that Mr. Cook is also the founder of Cattlefeeding.com which leads us back to IMI Global. Circles within circles.
If you’ll remember, we started this saga with an interview on CattleNetwork.com of the USDA’s Mr. Hammerschmidt and on that same page is an advertisement for a separate company, IMI Global, promoting the USDA’s agenda, which is also headed up by one of the people from the CattleNetwork. Both the CattleNetwork and IMI Global are likely getting paid a premium for premise ID signups - otherwise how would they be able to afford to give away $1,000?
Watch the money flow… There’s a lot more to this story and the skien is well tangled.
Other things of interest is the president of IMI Global, John Sanders leads to a phone number that leads me to the National Agriculture Marketing Association (NAMA) and Leann Sanders of IMI Global was with McDonald’s Corp - one of the great evils pushing hard for NAIS.
Following John Sanders I find that in 1999 the name appears as the Missouri (MO) director of Agriculture at a WTO hearing:
WTO Listening Session
Des Moines, Iowa
July 12, 1999Speaker: John Saunders
Director Missouri Department of AgricultureSECRETARY JUDGE: Thank you, Mary Jane. And now the we’ll hear from Missouri.
MR. SAUNDERS: Thank you, Secretary Judge. I’m John Saunders, Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, and I would say at the outset I wanted to thank Secretary Judge and her staff for helping to put this forum together. I think we can see the importance of it by the size of the crowd and the representations of the states. I would go on to say a big thank you to Secretary Glickman and his staff. Mr. Secretary, we work very closely with your staff and FSA and FAS particularly and also NRTS, and they’ve been very responsive, I can assure you, to the needs of our farmers in Missouri.
:
[If you want the whole text, go read it. The question is the revolving door. Might just be a common name… -WJ]
:
So for these reasons, the impact as well as the fairness issue, I continue to believe that the enhancement of current export activities and the development of new and emerging markets is one of the key components of the profit potential for agriculture regardless of whether we’re from Missouri, Kansas, or Iowa or any of the states in this great nation.Also I mentioned the fact that you all are here. I would commend everyone for your interest in this and certainly would thank our Missouri delegation, both the General Assembly members as well as officials and agribusiness people who have come here today to testify and be a part of this. So I thank you all.
Perhaps it is only a coincidence, or two, or three… Is there a revolving door between government bureaucratic positions and corporate offices who benefit from how regulations are set? If nothing else, CattleNetwork and friends are not unbiased interviewers but rather promotionalists of the USDA’s agenda for the furtherment of their own private corporate interests. Beware the messenger.
Hat tip to Google.