Relayed from Dona:
Below you will find the official public hearing notice from DATCP about their proposal for the next implementation phase of the federal National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in Wisconsin. We strongly encourage you to participate in these hearings if you can and to spread the word to others who will be affected by this draconian state surveillance program that is unprecedented - at least in U.S. history.
If you can not attend in person, you can also submit written comments to DATCP. Better yet is to contact your elected officials, write a letter to your local paper, call into talk show radio, and otherwise publicly express your opposition to this program. Based upon our experience organizing farmers and their allies, if even one person speaks up there are about a dozen others who feel the same and then find the courage to add their voice, too.
DATCP’s Hearing Dates and Locations:
Monday, January 7, 2008
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Fox Valley Technical College
1825 N. Bluemound Drive, Room A160
Appleton, WI 54912
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
2811 Agriculture Drive, First Floor – Room 106 (Boardroom)
Madison, Wisconsin 53718
Thursday January 10, 2008
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Department of Natural Resources West Central Region Headquarters
1300 W. Clairemont Avenue – Room 158
Eau Claire, WI 54701
As many of you may know, Wisconsin has become a national battleground state on NAIS. DATCP and its partner WLIC (which actually administers the program as a private subcontractor) have received millions in taxpayer funding to bring this program into existence, and now many bureaucratic jobs and corporate contracts depend upon its implementation. When over 10% of WI dairy farmers refused to voluntarily register their premises, the state was unable to make good on their threat to pull milk licenses since the state’s economy could not afford to criminalize so many productive farmers overnight.
Nonetheless, DATCP is now denying milk licenses to new dairy farmers, including many Amish who strongly oppose NAIS for religious reasons, even though grass-based Amish dairy operations are one of the fastest growing segments of the entire industry. The proposed rule change would also allow the state to register farmers against their will and without their knowledge. Worse yet, we know that DATCP/WLIC intend to move towards mandatory RFID chipping, phase two of the federal NAIS program, despite recent scientific studies revealing that RFID chips cause cancer, and thus pose a health threat to both livestock and people. A farmer in MI recently had sheriff deputies under state orders enter his land to place RFID chips in his cattle against his will. And then there is the disturbing story of the Faillace family in VT, documented in the book “Mad Sheep,” where a USDA led SWAT team invaded their farm to seize and destroy all of their animals wrongly suspected of harboring some prion type disease.
Family Farm Defenders has been an outspoken critic of NAIS for years now, and recently helped form an organization called Free Wisconsin Pastures with the purpose of filing a lawsuit against DATCP/WLIC/USDA if necessary to stop this absurd program from destroying the future of farming in our state.
For more info on this effort, please visit our website: www.familyfarmdefenders.org and look under NAIS
Of course, we would rather NOT have to take this issue to court, which is why it is so paramount that family farmers and others concerned about the future of agriculture in WI exercise their democratic freedom to express their opinion and let our elected officials and DATCP bureaucrats know that NAIS is not acceptable in any form.
Please pass this information along to others and thank you for your support.
- John Peck
executive director
Family Farm Defenders
1019 Williamson St. #B
Madison, WI 53703
tel./fax 608-260-0900
I sent this around this morning to all of our customers to BEG for help with this.I hope that EVERYONE sends it around to everyone else that they know.
We don’t want to loose our farm but if this goes though,
we will have no choice but to close our doors forever.
It will indeeed be a sad day.
Some of our animals are seniors that we wanted to just let them live their lives out in peace until God calls them home. With this, we won’t be able to.
God help us all!
Comment Cindy — December 30, 2007 @ 9:12 am
Fill suit against (the persons)trespassing and threatening the lives of your animals.
Comment Scott — December 30, 2007 @ 9:54 am
One of the proposals forwarded in the hearings will be to require all livestock haulers to record premise id numbers from farms where the pick up livestock and the numbers of where the livestock is delivered. It also requires that the haulers record individual id tattoo markings on all goats that have them.
Comment Paul-Martin:Griepentrog — December 30, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Reply to #3. This is a link to the Wisconsin Premise Id regulation. If you can, check with a lawyer to verify that this is the latest regulation and exactly what is and is not confidential information.
ATCP 17
For example, it sounds to me that a premise id in itself is not confidential and the DATCP can share that information with anyone (very bad and dangerous idea, in my opinion), but is the landowner legally required to give this information to a livestock hauler? And since the premise id would now let the livestock hauler associate it to the owner’s name and address (information that is in the database and is confidential) could the premise id still be supplied by the DATCP?
BTW, from reading the latest USDA NAIS business plan, I think the way this situation should be handled is:
Location #1 sends a move-out entry to a tracking database for each head of livestock.
Livestock hauler sends a move-in entry, with its own premise id (not location 1’s premise id) to a tracking database for each head of livestock.
When livestock hauler arrives at location #2, hauler sends a move-out to a tracking database for each head of livestock.
Location #2 sends a move-in entry to a tracking database for each head of livestock.
That way no one needs to know anyone else’s premise id.
Comment Ann Nelson — December 30, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
I hope the people of WI consumers, farmers and anyone and everyone) step up and take a stand to protect their rights.
is there anything non WI residents can do to help?
I am crossposting this to animal forums I know of.
please keep us updated.
Comment Denise — December 31, 2007 @ 8:39 am
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
DECLARATION OF EXTRAORDINARY EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF AN ATYPICAL T.S.E. (PRION DISEASE) OF FOREIGN ORIGIN IN THE UNITED STATES [Docket No. 00-072-1]
To: Garfield.O.Daley@aphis.usda.gov
CC: phyllis.Fong@usda.gov; bse-L@aegee.org;
Re: FOIA APPEAL 07-566 DECLARATION OF EXTRAORDINARY EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF AN ATYPICAL T.S.E. (PRION DISEASE) OF FOREIGN ORIGIN IN THE UNITED STATES [Docket No. 00-072-1]
November 13, 2007
Greetings Garfield O. Daley, Acting FOIA Director, and USDA et al,
I recieved the following from my FOIA appeal # 07-566 today ;
USDA
Nov. 7, 2007
Terry S. Singeltary, Sr.
Post Office Box 42
Bacliff, Texas 77518
Dear Mr. Singeltary:
This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal under FOIA number 07-566 that you filed on July 11, 2007, for records relating to bio-assays of sheep imported from Belgium (copy enclosed). …
snip… see full text ;
http://foiamadsheepmadrivervalley.blogspot.com/
SCRAPIE USA
http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/
NOR-98 ATYPICAL SCRAPIE CASES USA
http://nor-98.blogspot.com/
TSS
Comment Terry S. Singeltary Sr. — December 31, 2007 @ 10:11 am
I was watching The Sound of Music on TV the other night, and I found myself drawing an eerie parallel between pre-WW2 Austria and where we are now, when the Nazis in the movie kept saying that “nothing has changed in Austria.”
It has also occured to me that the Amish are like the canary in the mine. They are the first to drop, but the rest of us will follow if we don’t stop this.
Comment Barbara — January 1, 2008 @ 7:53 am
MR PECK,a class action lawsuit will probably the only thing that will get their attention.it is time to draw the line and challenge them in the courts. stop it now,it stops everywhere,if we dont it will spread like fire. NOW IS THE TIME ,and i would hope we will all pitch in.MR PECK,make the call.
Comment nick — January 1, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
I called the WI Dept of Tourism to let them know what the WI Dept of Ag is going to do to the Amish by registering their premises against their will…I asked them what would happen if they no longer had the Amish as a tourist attraction? She wrote down everything I told her and said she would refer it to the head of marketing research. I told them I would not visit a state where the citizens were treated like those in communist lands.
Comment SUSAN — January 2, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
ooops-forgot names to contact in the WI dept of tourism.
David Sheeler -marketing research
Mark Richardson- deputy secretary
Wisconsin Department of Tourism
201 West Washington Avenue
PO Box 8690
Madison WI 53708-8690
1-800-432-8747 or 608/266-2161
I really do not know how much impact we have by letting depts of ag know we oppose NAIS other than letting them know we oppose it as a matter of record
but when we warn those businesses who may really hurt when NAIS is implemented I think they may have other avenues to pursue to get something done about NAIS
i.e. no more Amish life style= no more tourists= no more tourist dollars for hotels, restaurants, gas stations, souvenir stands, etc= some very angry merchants who contact their state dept of commerce who contacts the dept of ag to ask why their bottom line has been drastically reduced. cut into their profits.
Comment SUSAN — January 2, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
If I understand our Constitution correctly we have the freedom to practice our religion (or not). If the Amish (and others) believe
Nais inhibits that right a reasonably logical person would conclude…oops sorry, forgot we aren’t dealing with logic here…This is all about “protecting us” I keep forgetting that. Wonder if there are any judges left with any common sense if this goes to court?
A previous post referenced the potential economic loss if the Amish have to close up shop…I agree the loss of Amish farms will have a tourism impact but it’s a damn shame that to get attention we have to look at the $ impact and not the loss of rights to get any attention.
Not to further bum out the good people of Wisconsin, but recently I saw a blurb on TV where some towns in Wisconsin are finger printing speeders.
Can you say “fascism”?
Gif me zee papers now dumkoff!
You guys will be in my thoughts…whatever is in the water your legislators are drinking please don’t let it travel east to N.H.
Let us know how you make out…if you guys fall, ANY of us could be next!
Comment Bob Constantine — January 2, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
I have just recieved a form from the USDA, all in caps (Maritime Law) demanding to know every single thing that is grown here. Not just animals. Plants, fruit trees, nuts, EVERYTHING. It also demands to know how much land we have, what or who has any connection to it. How are you all handling this? This seems to me connected to the Federal Reserve (Maritime Law).
Comment Cindy Ginart — January 3, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
In response to 13: We just received a USDA Census, too. This is the second such packet we have received in the 10 years we have been on this farm.
We DID NOT (don’t know if that is Maritime Law) return the first one five years ago and WILL NOT return the second.
We DO NOT receive any farm subsidies. Consequently, it has nothing to do with us.
All information collected by USDA, SOIL CONSERVATION, WATER SHED MANAGEMENT, ETC. is a marketplace commodity INVENTORY directly responsive to the global economic system controlled by the BIG BOYS who play with money all day and couldn’t figure out how to remove the fuzz from a peach if they were starving to death.
Comment donna — January 4, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
I should have said in response to 12:
Comment donna — January 4, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
#7 Notice how close NAIS looks like NAZI!
Comment Kevin — January 4, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
I did some research on the topic”Maritime Law” the only thing that I can find is a vein of laws related to shipping and transport on the seas,
I may be slow but I can’t seem to make the connection from USDA to the sea other than to suggest we drown them all like rats:)
It’s time to treat all these facist demands for info just like the census and deep six them.
Mass refusal to co-operate with the corporate/govt machine is a nessesary step,call it peaceful resistance.
These overlord wannabees are outside their cages and deserve nothing from us,except contempt,lets give them plenty.
“Live free or die tryin”
Comment LEE — January 4, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
the fine is less not to fill it out than to lie about it.saw this on a farm show the other day.typical goverment stupidity.
Comment nick — January 4, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
I attended a hearing concerning proposed changes in Wisconsin law concerning NAIS and premise registration. The DATCP now wants the authority to register any unregistered livestock premise, period. And to penalize the premise owner for having not registered. I agree with LEE in comment #16
Comment Gerard — January 8, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
I don’t think you know this but I wrote a novel, a fictionalized account of the activists fight against NAIS. It was for November National Novel Writing Month. I’ve been working for the last several days to finish it up and get it to an editor. Yesterday I needed some background info about the enforcement measures so I called WLIC. They sent me to the ag dept. I ended up talking to the Public Information Officer for a bit. When she took that tone with me I had to say that we’d have to agree to disagree since she was never going to convince me that premises registration is the right thing to do.
Anyway, my point to telling you this is that when I asked her about those rules they are trying to put into place, I asked her how they were getting the Amish to go along with it, Mark of the Beast and all that. She said she couldn’t pretend to know what that meant. She told me that the elders were the ones who asked that they be registered by DATCP. Their logic, according to the PIO lady, was that if they, the Amish, didn’t actually sign up themselves then it was the same as not signing up.
Do I believe it? Nah.
I asked her about the enforcement procedures. You’ll like this! First, they send a letter asking you to sign up. Next, they make a visit to educate you. Third, they send someone to help you sign up. They can take you to court to make you sign up. They can fine you up to $5,000 for failing to comply. I asked her what would happen if after all that someone still didn’t want to sign up. She seemed confused by that and didn’t have an answer. Love it when I ask questions they can’t answer.
Comment Henwhisperer — January 9, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Henwhisperer congrats on your book…How much for a signed copy?
So if it goes all the way to the $5,000 fine and you don’t pay up, what then? Waterboarding?
Comment Bob Constantine — January 9, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
The following is a e-mail from Dr. Paul McGraw in response to question regarding the duplication of state activity in regard to the USDA Scrapie program and the changes proposed in the recent hearings.
Two years ago, in order for WI to be a scrapie consistent state with USDA, we were required to change the sheep and goat identification requirements for movement of sheep or goats in WI. These changes were made with the support of the industry in the last rule that went into effect well over a year ago. By being a consistent state it makes it easier for sheep and goats to move to other states. The only change in the current proposed rule in chapter 12 is a two word change in the sheep section, stating that the id would be recorded “if any”. We also added the goat section to read the same as sheep. This was missed in the previous draft. I want to point out that the recording of the ID by a trucker, dealer, or market was already required and has been required for all livestock (with a few exceptions) in the event of a disease that needs to be traced. This has been a long standing requirement and is not new or in any way related to NAIS or premise registration. ______
Comment Confused — January 13, 2008 @ 5:38 pm