One of the things the government and proponents of NAIS keep reassuring us is that the RFID chips can only be read close up so our privacy is safe. But here’s an interesting article that makes a lie of that:
ZigBeef Offers Ranchers a Long-Distance Cattle Head Count The long-range RFID system promises to provide ranchers, their commercial interests and rodeos an easier method for tracking their animals, through ZigBee technology.
By Claire Swedberg
Feb. 21, 2008—A new active RFID system is set to help ranchers and rodeos track animals from a distance, as well as measure an animal’s movement during a rodeo competition, for instance, when it is difficult to track exactly when a bull came out of its gate, or when it was roped and immobilized. The solution, provided by a startup company called ZigBeef, is being developed to allow cattle ranchers and their financial backers to track each head of cattle on a daily basis. The system became commercially available two weeks ago.
By using a system based on the ZigBee (802.15.4) standard, users can capture an animal’s unique ID number with a handheld interrogator from several hundred feet away. In this manner, says John Hassell, ZigBeef’s president and CEO, ranchers can keep a much more accurate count of their animals, since the active system makes reading easy enough for ranchers to do so daily. The system is being offered as an alternative to the passive RFID tags approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
:
By next year, Hassell says, the company plans to offer the system with ZigBee mesh capabilities so cattle tags can transmit data from one to another, thereby extending the read range depending on how many cattle are spread throughout the area, with one tag sending data to the next, and ultimately to a reader. [Cloud nets just as I predicted. -WJ] In the meantime, he notes, further research and development must first be conducted. “There are a lot of unique challenges with cattle,” Hassell says. “Normally a hop-to-hop environment is stationary,” whereas cattle are constantly moving.
-RFIDJournal
This same technology they want to apply to NAIS will also be applicable to REALID and thus to tracking people and their interactions. Soo… What’s your time out of the gate? Late for work?
Hat tip to Mary.
I don’t mind at all what they do with the big agribusiness farms but I will be having a very bad hair day (and so will they by the way) when they tell me I have to use this “new” device on my farm , on my license, and on me or my kids.
I cancelled my membership with ADGA (American Dairy Goat Association) because they are pro NAIS and I cancelled my trip to see my sister in New Brunswick next year because I don’t want a passport with a micro chip.
Comment Carlene — February 23, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
Well I guess this proves the point,they can…. and if they can they will.
Not only can they track every critter on our property(notice I said our property,not our premises,I refuse to use their newspeak))but with a few refinements they will stick this baby in your new Real ID compliant drivers licence(Or in you physicly) and track how much time you spend on nonais.org or in the “throneroom”,and by communicating with the chip they can tell if you are an “enviromental hazard” and send you a ticket :)
In all seriousness this underscores what they are capable of,again if they can, they will,we must keep at this fight,
as I said yesterday we can beat this,and we must beat this.thanks.
“Live free or die tryin”
Comment LEE — February 23, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
I keep hearing how the USDA is recruiting the 4H and FFA to further NAIS. This is patently false. The leadership of these organizations (government employees) are shoving it down our throats like it or not. My kids used to show livestock in the NC State Fair and other smaller shows. Now they REQUIRE the VOLUNTARY Farm ID in order to register for the show. Because we have opted out of this VOLUNTARY system, my kids can no longer participate in the shows. Why is my address no longer good for them? The Postal Service doesn’t have any trouble finding me?
Comment Laurie — February 24, 2008 @ 4:54 am
I have made a plan to contact all of the State Fair Coordinators in my state and ask them if the animal exhibitors need the “voluntary” Premise ID. If they say yes, then I will let them know that I will not support their so called fair, and will encourage others not to attend as well. I’ve seen them go downhill in my area for years. Eventually, I am sure that without the Premise ID, volunttary or not, we will not be able to purchase grain for our animals, and I know that this is just the start of something terrible. For those of you who live in states that have not made NAIS voluntary, get on the horn ASAP and let your reps know how you feel before it’s too late.
Comment Jo Smith — February 24, 2008 @ 9:05 am
As many people as possible need to contact their legislators and let them know what the economic impact of NAIS will be. How many dollars will be lost in tax revenue if we all stop showing, traveling, buying animals supplies, etc.
The only things they understand is $$$$.
Leslie
Comment Leslie — February 25, 2008 @ 11:59 am
Leslie,
They know very well what they are doing and they have a plan.
Leo Schwartz of Liberty Ark said it best:
“In 1934, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Rexford Tugwell declared, “[Our] future is becoming visible in Russia.” His plan: private agricultural land controlled “to whatever extent is found necessary for maintaining continuous productivity. … We could probably raise all the farm products we need with half our present farmers.” The Constitution, he said, was archaic and would have to be radically overhauled to conform to the Soviet model, using “an enlarged and nationalized police power for enforcement.”
In September, 1995, Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, explained the plan at the UN’s 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing, Red China. “Food is power,” she said. “We use it to change behavior. Some may call that bribery. We do not apologize.” Litvinov, too, had a plan: “Food is a weapon.”
source:
link
Comment Snazy snezy — April 1, 2008 @ 7:50 pm