Several people forwarded me the note from Dr. Smith about her attending the upcoming conference on animal tracking, what you and I know as NAIS. I was asked to write a “NoNAIS.org” response due to my experience with this issue. I hope that this covers the points and that Dr. Smith can carry our message to the powers that be. Here is a copy of what I sent Dr. Smith. Please contact her with your thoughts on animal traceability programs and let her know what message you want her to convey while she is at the conference representing Vermont.
Dear Dr. Smith,
The USDA used to call “Animal Traceability” the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and at many points claimed they were going to literally force it down our throats as a mandatory system. Due to intense public scrutiny and pressure they backed down, first removing the word mandatory and then in February of this year they abandoned it, or so they said in their press release. Congress has eliminated all funding for this program. Vermont rejected this program two years ago. For a lot of history on this issue see:
http://NoNAIS.org
During this saga the Vermont Agency of Agriculture under Kerr tried to force this issue on Vermont and was soundly rebuffed both by the public, by farmers and by the legislature. Kerr had the audacity to literally claim he did not need legislative permission. The legislature stopped him and ordered that he get public input and then the legislature would consider it. Hearings were held here in Vermont and the program was dumped. Kerr ended up deposed by this issue. Small farmers and consumers almost universally spoke out against NAIS and its component programs. This is very well documented. Calling it a new name doesn’t change the game. We still don’t want Premise ID, Animal ID or Animal Tracking. For Vermont specific information see:
Vermont on NAIS
Vermont Says No to NAIS
Kerr Steps Down
Last year the USDA did a listening tour around the nation and just like what happened in Vermont they got a virtually universal “No!” from attendees. They also got thousands of written comments in the Federal Registry and directly to them. Virtually all of the comments opposed NAIS. For details see:
Listening Sessions
Federal Registry
Animal traceability will not lead to better food safety. Even the USDA has admitted that it is not about food safety. That is a ruse to call it anything to do with food safety.
The problem with food safety is not on the farm, the problem starts at slaughter and beyond with the big processors and their high line speeds. Big Ag has problems with feeding too much grain, with antibiotic overuse, with disease, with polluting, with dust and emissions. These are not our small farm issues here in Vermont. If Big Ag wants traceability, let them build their own private system and fund it themselves. American tax payers and small farmers should not subsidize Big Ag’s marketing programs.
For disease tracking we already have systems in place for contacting farmers. There’s an old invention called the radio and several newer ones like the Telephone, TV and more recently the Internet. We don’t need one more expensive bureaucracy eating up our tax dollars and paper work plus tagging increasing the overhead for farmers. There is no benefit to us farmers or consumers.
The fact is small farmers already have traceability. This is actually one small marketing advantage we have over Big Ag. We know where our animals are - they’re out in our fields from birth onward. Consumers buying from us know this too. They can drive by our farm any time and see our animals grazing in our fields. We do not need to add extra layers of government red tape and all the associated costs to accomplish traceability.
Government mandatory traceability is bad for small farms. It produces increased paperwork, costs for tagging and equipment and a waste of our time. Studies show that NAIS and related programs will result in a large increase in the per animal costs for small farmers because they can’t amortize the costs over many animals. Even worse, learn about the disaster in Australia with their 11 million phantom cattle in their similar system where small farmers can’t get paid full price for their meat because the system has failed and the tagging and tracking isn’t working.
Meanwhile, back on the factory farm, Big Ag gets exemptions by doing Group IDs where they don’t even have to tag their animals or do individual animal paperwork. This further lowers their costs and subsidizing their operations while stealing the benefit of traceability from small farms who do it already themselves. Big Ag already gets virtually all of the farm subsidies in this country. Why should we be subsidizing them further? If they want more market share and more profits let them earn it the hard way. Try Capitalism for a change. While we’re at it, cut all farm subsidies and let them see what it is like to compete with small farms on a level playing field. Even our dairy farms would be better off without the milk program which limits the price they can earn per hundred weight. Farm subsidies are a problem. (On a closely related note, the absurdity of taxing farm and forest land as if it were housing developments should be corrected - farm and forest are a benefit and should not pay any educational taxes and minimal municipal tax. Meanwhile, assets like 401K’s, IRA’s and other assets should be taxed if assets like homes and land are to be taxed.)
NAIS is a guaranteed work program for tag manufacturing and other companies in the tracking business. A mandatory tracking program forces farmers to buy products and guarantees the profits for the companies making those products. Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. They screwed that up with the bailout and their “too big to fail” list. Let’s not repeat that mistake.
NAIS is also a work program for expanding government. It will take thousands of new government employees to administer NAIS. Otherwise they’re not going to be able to “Drive every back road” as the USDA said it would do to force NAIS on us. A smaller government would still be too much.
Realize that if the government tags it then they’ll start taxing it. They already do this in Barre, Vermont where they put a tax on chickens and even each honey bee. In England it is far worse where DEFRA has been destroying the rural economy for years. They it illegal for people to keep animals, move animals about or otherwise farm without their permission and paying all of the crippling fees and taxes. They’ve destroyed their rural economy through their kill programs and over regulating. Please don’t do this here in Vermont or in the USA.
In the end, there is no benefit to the consumer, the taxpayer or the small farmer. NAIS and any new program like it are a waste of money and time. You can call it what ever you want but a boondoggle is still a boondoggle.
What puzzles me is why we have to keep fighting against this. People overwhelmingly do not want NAIS or anything like it. In polls over 92% of the people say they don’t want NAIS. They said so in Vermont with a resounding “No!” at the listening sessions in 2006. They said so with a resounding “No!” around the nation in 2009. There are tens of thousands of comments in the Federal Registry and almost all of them say “No!” to NAIS. How many times must we say “No!” before we stop getting raped? No means No. It is that simple.
I hope that you will take this message to the powers that be and oppose the new animal traceability program. We don’t need it. We don’t want it. We have told them over and over before.
Sincerely,
Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm, LLC
Orange, Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog
Save 30% off Pastured Pork: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa
Butcher shop story: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
Literature: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/lit
Dr. Smith’s full press release:
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:20:19 -0400
From: Julie Smith DVM PhD julie.m.smith@uvm.edu
Subject: Vermont Weighs in on New Traceability Framework
Some of you have probably seen the Dairy Herd Management article about the new approach to traceability being proposed by USDA. I am planning to attend a symposium at the end of this month where the new standards will be discussed. Please direct any comments or questions on this issue my way.
Thanks!
Julie
*Vermont Weighs In on New Traceability Framework*
The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was replaced by a new framework for animal traceability to support disease control efforts as announced by USDA on February 5, 2010. Public meetings have been held across the country this summer with more scheduled for August. Transcripts of past meetings are available on the USDA website: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/meetings/meeting_summary.shtml
The US Animal Health Association and National Institute for Animal Agriculture are hosting a joint forum on animal disease traceability in Denver, August 30-31, 2010. The goal of the forum is to foster and facilitate discussion among State and Tribal animal health officials, animal producers, livestock marketers and handlers, and meat processors regarding standards being developed by USDA’s Traceability Regulatory Working Group. More information on the forum and how to register can be found on the NIAA website: Registration
The preliminary standards are expected to be released in mid-August, ahead of the forum. Dr. Julie Smith, University of Vermont Extension Dairy Specialist, will be attending the meeting and would like to represent the views of Vermont dairy farmers. Please convey your comments and questions to Julie by phone at 802.656.4496 or e-mail at julie.m.smith@uvm.edu.
