As a last ditch effort to hear favorable comments on NAIS the USDA scheduled an extra, special, session in Omaha, Nebraska, home of Big Beef. What they got was scorching heat from farmers and ranchers who don’t want the government telling them what to do as reported by Art Hovey in the Journal Star:
LA VISTA — As a long procession of critics pounded away at the federal government’s floundering animal identification initiative Tuesday, federal veterinarian Dave Morris sat in the back of the room, mostly expressionless and sometimes occupied with his cell phone. It would be easy enough to believe that Morris, of the national program staff in Riverdale, Md., was texting somebody to “Beam me up, Scotty.”“I think this one was consistent with many of the others,” he said later of the 14th and final listening session held across the country. The government’s long listen is aimed at overhauling a widely unpopular program launched five years ago.
:
To [cattle producers], the livestock identification plan is a government invasion that’s likely to become mandatory, add to their cost of production and infringe on their ability to run their operations as they see fit.
:
“For all us producers, this is our livelihood. We know these cows. We have health records on these cows.”Although she tried to refuse a number, Stec said, she got one — and her cows got ear tags with government numbers, too — as a state and federal veterinary team conducted TB tests at her ranch.
:
Vinton worries animal identification will lead to situations in which he and his peers will be blamed for meat contamination problems that aren’t their fault.
:
The Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation and Nebraska Farmers Union also testified Tuesday and suggested the problems dogging the identification program could be, and should be, fixed.
:
-JournalStar
The FB continues to not ‘get’ it. We don’t want to fix NAIS. We want to eliminate it. When I fix a pig it isn’t going to reproduce. We don’t need the government fixing farmers.
Well, the listening sessions are over. The USDA has been told loud and clear that NAIS needs to be killed dead with a silver bullet, a stake driven through it’s heart, the head severed and the blood drained. We don’t want this this zombie resurrecting itself and coming after us in the future. Time to kill the monster.
With the govt you have got to stay one or more steps ahead…NAIS will probably die in the USDA but be given to the FDA.
Comment esbee — July 2, 2009 @ 11:52 am
H.Jay Platt has the most outstanding 19 page comment at the USDA website for Nais comments…on page 21 2009-0027-0469.l (guess it is comment #469) Everyone must read it; it is a long read, but he has done his homework.No one can say Nais must go on, after reading this. Get this to all these government people and congress people…heads of the state ag depts, etc…Wow! what a job he did.
[Go here to see comments. Enter 21 in the page box. Platt is at the top. Here is a link directly to the comment download into Word. -WJ]
Comment The Phantom — July 2, 2009 @ 5:56 pm
walter there is a very good article in the june 25 copy of livestock weekly about the alb.nm.listening session. david boswer is the writer.it might be worthy to post it,but i dont have the knowledge to get that done.can you help? your friend,nick
[Here’s the weekly issue but it requires a password. -WJ]
Comment nick — July 4, 2009 @ 5:14 pm