NoNAIS.org

Farm Bill Status Check

walterj — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:21:42 +0000

If you’ve been following the Farm Bill travesty check out this article in Grist for one view of the latest.

Hat tip to Bonnie.

Derry Brownfield Ditched

walterj — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:09:53 +0000

Sad footnote to history promoted from comments:

There is an additional very interesting story linked to the above Brownfield Ag News for America page dated April 29.

Derry Brownfield is an ‘old time’ cattleman who has had a daily ‘talk show’ on Learfield Communications for 35 years! The network was begun by Derry Brownfield in combination with Clyde Lear - hence the name Learfield. Lear bought Brownfield out in 1985, but the Common Sense Coalition talk show has continued until now. May 30 will be his last broadcast on the Learfield network.

WHY?

On the April 16 show, Brownfield’s topic was seed industry concentration in America.

Apparently, Monsanto did not like Derry’s tone. Pressure was brought to bear.

monsantorules

Derry’s listening audience is in an uproar. [As rightly they should be… -WJ]

Funny that the ‘Brownfield Network” is the posted source for the court ordered release of FSA information, as well. He stepped on some pretty big toes it looks like.

Hat tip to Donna.

USDA Releases Farmer Data

walterj — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:31:58 +0000

Promoted from comments:

FSA forced to disclose detailed farm information

Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 4:16 PM

by Peter Shinn

On February 15th, by a two-to-one vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia court ruled USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) must, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), provide its compliance database, its geospatial information system database and 11 other databases to Multi Ag Media, LLC, a publisher of dairy magazines and seller of custom lists to ag marketers. And Monday, April 28th, USDA delivered those databases.

An FSA press release described the databases as “complex and statistically detailed,” allowing the revelation of “details of farming operations at specific geographic locations. Associate FSA Administrator Glen Keppy addressed the issue with members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting who gathered at USDA headquarters Tuesday for their annual Washington Watch event. According to Keppy, the legal decision opens up a treasure-trove of data about any farmer who has participated in virtually any FSA program since 2005.

“So it’s the information that when a farmer - when I go in and sign-up for various programs - the information that’s on record with that program,” Keppy said.

About the only thing the court decision allowed FSA to hold back from the databases is personally identifying information protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, things like Social Security numbers and names. But USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Ag Services Mark Keenum told Brownfield, which ag producer belongs to which file in the database won’t be hard to figure out.

“These individuals that want this can take these identification farm numbers and can match it up to the property and can determine who this information is specifically attributed to,” Keenum said. “You can get it down to the person and exactly what that person’s doing.”

Keenum and Keppy both expressed dismay at the outcome of the legal ruling. Keppy added that he’s worried on both a professional and personal level.

“The Agency is very concerned and I as a farmer am very concerned,” Keppy said. “When I go into the county or local [FSA] office, I expect some confidentiality.”

The company that requested the information under the FOIA, Multi Ag Media, LLC, appears to want the information to more effectively target ag producers for its marketing efforts. The company, on one of its websites, bills one of its subsidiaries as “the nation’s leading agricultural database marketing firm.”

But now that USDA has been forced to disclose the FSA databases, there’s nothing that will keep anyone else from getting that information who wants it. And although the court’s decision did not apply to any information gathered through the National Agricultural Statistics Service or National Animal Identification System, Keenum predicted Monday’s release of FSA-related data would call into question by producers any future USDA assurances of confidentiality.

“It does cause, I think, some concern out there in the countryside in farmers in what’s going to be protected and, you know, what’s not going to be,” Keenum said.

Hat tip to Hen.

Hammerschmidt Interview

walterj — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:44:48 +0000

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 States

Registered 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-08

Administrative 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 States

Registered 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-08

Administrative Contact:
Weaver, Cory cweaver@imiglobal.com
IMI Inc.
P.O. Box 1291
Platte City, Missouri 64079
United States
816-858-4796

Technical Contact:
Weaver, Cory cweaver@imiglobal.com
IMI Inc.
P.O. Box 1291
Platte City, Missouri 64079
United States
816-858-4796

Domain 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, 1999

Speaker: John Saunders
Director Missouri Department of Agriculture

SECRETARY 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.

KY Goes Voluntary

walterj — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:07:47 +0000

From Liberty Ark:

Kentucky Strikes a Blow for Independent Farmers

For Further Information, contact:
Karin Bergener,
bergener@config.com
330-298-0065

In an overwhelming statement in support of farmers and against creeping federal control of all food production, Kentucky became the third state to pass a law making participation in a national animal identification system (NAIS) voluntary. House Bill 495 passed 88-6 in the state’s House and 37-0 in its Senate and was promptly signed by Kentucky’s governor.

“This is a great victory for all Kentuckians,” states Judith McGeary, a national anti-NAIS activist and president of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. “Kentucky is the first state to not only make NAIS participation voluntary, but also enact a provision protecting its citizens from being coerced into NAIS. Many states have been using unfair tactics to force farmers to register their farms and animals. Kentucky’s law forbids discrimination against people who choose not to participate in NAIS.”

Under NAIS, a program created by the United States Department of Agriculture, and being implemented by each state individually, anyone who has even one of 29 species would register his home, farm, apartment, or other place where the animal is held. The next step calls for individually tagging each animal, with a number that is registered with the state. The third step would require animal owners to report every time they take their animals somewhere the animals will be in contact with animals from other properties. Chief on the list of species are equines (mules, donkeys, horses), poultry (chickens, ducks, geese, guinea hens, etc.), bovines (dairy and meat cattle, oxen), sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas, llamas, elk, bison, and deer. Federal agencies, such as USDA, will have access to the data. USDA describes the program as “voluntary at the federal level” but has funded mandatory state programs. Kentucky’s new law protects against a mandatory state program, unless the federal government meets statutory rule-making requirements. USDA has to date not embarked on such rule-making for NAIS. Kentuckians can now turn their sights on Congress, to ensure NAIS is voluntary.

NAIS will impact everyone from pet owners to full-time farmers, hobby farmers, homesteaders, and horse owners, to consumers of local foods. “The effort to stop NAIS in Kentucky was a great example of the breadth of people involved. We worked together with organizations such as the Kentucky Community Farm Alliance and the Weston A. Price Foundation, along with many concerned individuals, to explain to the Kentucky legislators why this bill was so critical to so many people,” explains McGeary.

NAIS has outraged farmers and other citizens across the country. Various states have used coercion to force farmers to register their farms (called “premises” under the program), making registration a prerequisite to obtaining state farm assistance such as obtaining hay in drought stricken areas. In Colorado and Illinois, 4H youth are required to have NAIS-compliant registrations for the places where they keep their animals – and Colorado children were told to register the farms, whether they belonged to their parents, or friends or neighbors. In many states, farmers who participate in long-standing disease control programs found out their states took the data from those programs and dumped it into NAIS databases without the farmers’ knowledge, and the states reported those registrations as “voluntary.” In New York, horse owners found out an annual test resulted in their farms being listed in NAIS, when they received a letter congratulating them for registering. New Yorkers who have asked to be released from NAIS received letters from the state asking them if they were sure about what they were doing.

Randy Givens, a member of the Steering Committee of the Liberty Ark Coalition, formed to fight NAIS, says, “We are all excited about Kentucky’s victory. Arizona was first, and then Nebraska enacted its statute, and now these Kentucky activists have raised the bar for everyone fighting NAIS. They’ve shown us what’s possible.”

Mother Nature Fails to Tag Wildlife

walterj — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:05:16 +0000

In recent news it was announced that the government vets are being frustrated in their attempts to implement NAIS and promote animal health by none other than Mother Nature herself:

Minnesota recently had its bovine TB status downgraded. And Holland had this advice for cattlemen in neighboring states like South Dakota.

“Follow the rules - make sure they get a health certificate and a permit - that’s the main message that producers need to know,” Holland emphasized. “Because if they do that, get a proper health certificate and a permit for entry, then they’re going to be taking the safeguards that are needed to protect their herds from TB.

USDA has been trying to eradicate bovine TB in the U.S. since 1917. On its web site on bovine TB, USDA said those efforts have been hampered by the spread of the disease from wild deer and elk to cattle.
-BrownfieldNetwork

Those dang wrascally wabbits… Perhaps John Weimers will volunteer to drive every back road and tag them all himself.

NY Dept of Ag Volunteering Farmers

walterj — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:11:51 +0000

The NY Department of Agriculture is apparently following MA, ID and several other states that have ‘volunteered’ their citizens for NAIS:

At the moment, NAIS is ‘voluntary’. It’s so voluntary that I recently received (without requesting it) a Certificate of Registration, complete with my address (it looks like a diploma). “This certificate recognizes your completion of premises registration for the National Animal Identification System. The number below will be a permanent national number and will be needed in future endeavors relating to the NAIS program.” This was was sent to me from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Division of Animal Husbandry. I DID NOT REGISTER FOR NAIS.
In small print (on the back of an accompanying form that I am supposed to fill out with quantity of each type of animal), it states that, ‘if I decline to participate in the National Animal Identification System program I must sign on the signature block below…’ and return the form to the NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets. It is such a voluntary program that it automatically signed me up, gave me a number, and did NOT give me a stamped return envelope. I think that was a little sneaky. I do a lot of volunteer work, but “I” do the volunteering.
-TimesUnion FarmLife

Go read the original on Teri’s blog where there is more discussion.

Hat tip to CJ.

IL Drops Premises ID Requirement

walterj — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:25:49 +0000

[Illinois has dropped the requirement that all livestock be tagged and registered (per NAIS) for fairs and showing. From the horse’s mouth… -WJ]

From: dstocker@uiuc.edu
Subject: RE: Premises ID
Date: April 13, 2008 10:08:38 PM EDT
To: walterj
X-Spam-Status: No

Mr. Jeffries,

Yes, we received notice on Friday that the Department of Agriculture has made the Premises Identification Number voluntary for the 2008 Illinois county, 4-H, FFA, and State Fairs.

I have not seen a news release announcing this as of yet — my information came from the State Fair office, a division of the Department of Agriculture. I passed on the exact information that was given to me.

Deb Stocker

NOTE NEW OFFICE ADDRESS AS OF APRIL 1, 2009!
******************************************
Debra Stocker
Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development
University of Illinois Extension State 4-H Office
1902 Fox Drive, Suite A
Champaign, IL 61820
217/333-0910
FAX: 217/333-9287
dstocker@uiuc.edu
*****************************************

[Hopefully this is a trend and we’ll see CO and other overly aggressive states follow suit. After all, NAIS is voluntary… -WJ]

Update: New news article here.

Hat tip to Sharon.

Tagging Cops

walterj — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:40:49 +0000

In Britain they are accellerating their human tagging plans with this latest little item:

Every Met police officer to be ‘tagged’

Every Metropolitan police officer will be “tagged” so that senior officers can monitor their movements on a tracking system, it has been disclosed.
:
The electronic tracking device, called the Automated Personal Location System (APLS), means that officers will never be out of range of supervising officers. According to the service provider Telent, the technology “will enable operations centres to identify the location of each officer at any time they are on duty, whether overground or underground”. Although police chiefs say the technology is aimed at “improving officer safety” and reacting to incidents more quickly, many rank and file believe it is simply a Big Brother-style system to keep tabs on them.
:
“They are keeping the exact workings of the system very hush-hush at the moment although it will be similar to the way criminals are electronically tagged. There will not be any choice about wearing one.”
-Telegraph UK

NAIS, REAL ID, APLS… 1984 redux.

Hat tip to Doreen.

Business Plan Comment Period

walterj — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:36:01 +0000

A notice from the powers that be:

Usda To Complete Comment Period For A Business Plan To Advance Animal Disease Traceability

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is conclud- ing its comment period for the draft Business Plan for Advancing Animal Disease Traceability. Comments will be accepted through April 15, 2008. Following a review of public comments received, APHIS will consider any changes needed and finalize the plan.

APHIS released the draft business plan for com- ment on December 19, 2007. The plan supports the National Animal Identification System’s (NAIS) long- term goal of 48-hour traceback, as well as providing benchmarks to guide the program as it moves toward optimum traceability.

To improve traceability, USDA applied a business plan model in an effort to:

• Identify areas of weakness and opportunity,

• Establish benchmarks against which to measure success and

• Communicate a vision for the future of traceability. The draft plan provides a comprehensive look

at the country’s current traceability status, including a breakdown by species. It details seven strategies that will provide the greatest amount of traceability progress in a short amount of time. These strategies involve state and federally regulated and voluntary animal health programs, industry-administered animal management and marketing programs, as well as various animal identification techniques. The draft plan allows these varied components to work in harmony. It provides for standardization of data elements in existing disease programs to ensure compatibility, greatly enhancing disease tracing and emergency response capabilities.

By drawing from already existing systems and data, it reduces the cost and the amount of time and effort needed to implement a national animal identification system.

The draft plan is available on the NAIS Web site at www.usda.gov/nais. Comments on the plan or other aspects of the system can be provided by sending an e-mail to animalidcomments@aphis.usda.gov or by writing to the NAIS program staff. The address is:

NAIS, USDA, APHIS, VS,
4700 River Road, Unit 200,
Riverdale, MD 20737

The NAIS is a modern, streamlined information system that helps producers and animal health offi- cials respond quickly and effectively to events affect- ing animal health in the United States. NAIS utilizes premises registration, animal identification and animal tracing components to both locate potentially diseased animals and eliminate animals from suspicion of disease. It is a state-federal-industry partnership, and the program is voluntary at the federal level. For more information on NAIS, go to www.usda.gov/nais. Note to Stakeholders: Stakeholder announcements and other APHIS information are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS home page at http://www. aphis.usda.gov and click on the “Newsroom” button. For additional information about this topic, contact Wayne Maloney at (301) 734-7255 or by email at wayne.maloney@aphis.usda.gov.

Action to take: Send comments to the USDA. It is easy - just email them to animalidcomments@aphis.usda.gov. Please also leave copies of your comments below in the comments section of this post.

You can read the USDA’s Business Plan on the web in PDF. The primary point of the Business Plan is to bring ’stakeholders’, e.g., anyone owning livestock, into compliance with NAIS by making it difficult to impossible to market livestock unless you participate in NAIS. This is Mafia style voluntary. In order to make marketing claims for your meat you’ll have to join NAIS. e.g., Organic, Naturally Grown, Naturally Raised, Antibiotic Free, Hormone Free, Monstersanto Free, etc. By forbidding non-complying producers from being able to describe their products they will destroy the independent producers allowing Big Ag to take over the last 15% of the market. Speak now while you still can - email the USDA and oppose government implementation of NAIS.

Bonus Points: CC your Senators and Representatives at both the state and federal levels.

MO NAIS Legislation Progress

walterj — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:53:09 +0000

From Doreen:

Last Monday, the 31st of March, there were over 150 people at the capitol regarding family farm issues. It was a good rally and there was television coverage as well as newspaper. Then I had to leave to go to the NIAA convention in Indianapolis….I will be writing up a piece on that detailing what we learned there, but let me assure you, while they definitely hear us and are having lots of difficulty getting this to be accepted, they are pushing every button and pulling every string available to bring it to full fruition. We CAN be a beacon, but a most of the weight rests on you. You MUST call our representatives.

To that end, SB 931 [1, 2] has been assigned to Rep Brian Munzlinger’s Agribusiness Committee. We have two friendly committee members in Guest and Kelly, the others are wild cards. Munzlinger, the Chair, has been a Farm Bureau guy, but is not as intractable as Rep Quinn. I was told that he is interested in getting this issue settled in Missouri this session and is for getting NAIS to be voluntary in our state.

Here is the link for the Ag Business Committee. All members need to be called and especially Rep Munzlinger. Ask that they give 931 a hearing and make the bill stronger against NAIS.

Here is the list of all House Members. They need the same message. Please support SB 931, but make it stronger against NAIS:

I’m asking for a commitment from all of you. If you will commit to making 5 phone calls per day until this bill is passed, we can throw a serious wrench into NAIS in the entire nation and bring the issue to light at the Federal level. To date, I have 12,500+ signatures from Missourians saying they will not comply and asking that the Missouri Legislators halt NAIS. If everyone of those people would make ONE phone call, the state would definitely hear us and do what has to be done.

The Missouri cattlemen have received grant money from the NCBA who got it from the USDA and they will be holding meetings and doing a mass mailing to those who have NOT registered for NAIS. We have to get this legislation in place so people can have some recourse if they are in and want to get out….Details on that are grueling to say the least.

If you will commit to doing so, please send me an email stating that that commitment. Remember that your freedom is your responsibility, and no one else can preserve it for you. Trust that the proponents of NAIS are NOT backing down. It isn’t time to rest, yet. I will continue to fight for you and for the freedom of the children and grandchildren of the proponents of NAIS…..Will you?

Thank you and God bless and Keep you,

Doreen

USDA Updates Business Plan

walterj — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:55:20 +0000

From our beloved leaders at Oo-say-Duh:

BUSINESS PLAN GUIDES NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

Release No. 0089.08
Contact:
Billy Cox (202) 720-8998
Clara Lau (202) 720-8998

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 - USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today released a draft Business Plan to further the implementation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). AMS encourages participants in voluntary marketing programs such as the USDA Process Verified, the Quality Systems Assessment and the Non-Hormone Treated Cattle Programs to meet the inherent animal identification requirements by using NAIS.

“The AMS Business Plan will allow for integration of the National Animal Identification System with AMS audit-based marketing programs,” said Bruce Knight, under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs. “NAIS is a voluntary partnership among producers and government. This immediately provides the producer a twofold reward for a single investment. It ensures trace back of their animals for herd health reasons and provides benefits for marketing value-added animals domestically and internationally.”

Currently, all AMS partners that have approved marketing programs are actively encouraging the use of premise registration and NAIS compliant Animal Identification Numbers for these marketing program participants. Using NAIS, producers would at the same time meet the requirements for animal identification and traceability for these AMS marketing programs. Further, use of NAIS along with enrollment in these voluntary AMS marketing programs ensures that cattle are eligible for the AMS Export Verification Program for Japan with an opportunity for significant premiums for cattle producers.

NAIS would single out product derived from these cattle so that it can be labeled properly when presented for sale at U.S. grocery stores, for American consumers. This helps meet the objectives of the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program by identifying the origin of cattle upon arrival at harvest facilities. Contingent upon the publication of a Final Rule implementing COOL for meat and poultry products, AMS and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will coordinate efforts to develop a COOL “safe harbor” for NAIS participants: packers that rely upon NAIS to determine the origin of their livestock and poultry will subsequently be recognized by the Department as demonstrating compliance with the COOL program’s record keeping requirements.

Additional information about NAIS is available at usda.gov/nais and AMS voluntary marketing programs at ams.usda.gov/ARCAudits

[Translation: The USDA will make NAIS mandatory by depriving small farmers of the ability to sell their products unless they comply. See this. This hurts consumers because it limits choices to government approved farms. Tag manufacturers and factory farms rejoice as usual. -WJ]

Mini-recap of NIAA Annual Meeting

walterj — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:01:08 +0000

From Sharon working on Project X:

They have heard us but they quite plainly do not care. Bruce Knight, after I said to him, “stop the sham. Call it mandatory, that’s what it is,” looked at me and said, “It is voluntary.” and he got mad when he said it. What they are doing is vertical integration of the markets. If you buy or sell you must have an official 840 ear tag. Some are for visual reading, some are for scanning. They have problems and they know it but it isn’t stopping them. I suddenly understood why they are saying it is voluntary. They can’t say it’s mandatory and have it be linked with COOL.

We can expect a final Business Plan in May. In the last part of the ID meeting yesterday they broke everyone out into for groups, the old Delphi Techinque. They had for areas of discussion, and I’ll give the details on that after I get back to Vermont, that was meant to help them smooth out some rough spots in the business plan. In my section the question was about how to get local providers to help people climb on board. Of course, vets are a big source of information. My point in this paragraph is that some genius mentioned that if the government would subsidize the tags it might encourage some farmers to sign up. I had to say it, “If you all want NAIS so bad, pay for your own durned tags.” Of course, they left that out of the recap at the end, so I took the microphone and said it again.

Robert Fourdraine of the WLIC spent about an hour and 45 minutes with Doreen and I, talking in the lobby. He seems to believe that we think that each animal is going to have to be chipped, that is the misinformation that he says we keep spreading. “For gosh sakes, you don’t have to tag each chicken.” When I told him that I had pictures and a powerpoint presentation that John Wiemers did in KC in 2006 that shows different thoughts on how to tag individual chickens, he got mad. See that’s what these people do, get mad when you don’t agree with them.

Patrick Webb from the National Pork Board said he wanted to talk to me (that’s cuz I’m always shaking my head with a long face) and then sat me down to give me the details on the 12.4 kilometer depopulation zone, “but of course, we don’t ever want to have to slash and burn,” he said in a fatherly tone.

So they are still trying to achieve critical mass of 70% in rather short
order:

Poultry 98% commercial flock and NPIP by 2009

Swine near 100% commercial by 3/09

Sheep and goats 90% by 12/09 (through scrapie)

Equine, competition horses 90% by 1/09

Cattle 70% id’d before leaving or by harvest

They want 6 - 10 million animals with 840 tags by the end of the year.

There are 15 databases being used now and they want to bring the disease databases in and standardize them, actually the word the speaker used was “mine” as in datamining.

There will be new CVI for interstate movement that must have a premises id put on it.

That’s all for now. I’m tired, been a long week and a long drive today with 400 more miles tomorrow.

I’ll get my notes together and type them all out. I’ve got articles to deliver as well. Doreen will be working on writing her experience and from a sounder knowledge base. I’m just the mouthpiece… ;-) I met with Ed Shaffer and told him, “look at my face. I am the face of tens of thousands that will not comply.” He said, “it’s voluntary, you don’t have to sign up.”

That’s all for now.
Sharon

[Thank you to everyone who contributed to Project X making it possible for Sharon and Doreen to attend the NIAA Annual Meeting to find out just what the government and Big Ag are up to this spring.]

Destron Fearing

walterj — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:36:03 +0000

Destron Fearing from Digital Angel, maker of implantable micro-chips. Gah! Sounds awful. What a product name.

Joseph J. Grillo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Angel, said, “We continue to support the livestock industry groups and USDA as they implement NAIS for livestock producers on a voluntary basis. We believe this system is extremely valuable for developing prompt animal traceability standards and improving the country’s ability to respond to a massive disease outbreak utilizing our Destron Fearing livestock and equine identification products. The more efficiently and thoroughly we can respond to an animal disease outbreak, the quicker we can contain the disease, reduce animal and financial losses, and return to business as usual.”
-FoxBusiness

The rest of the press release reads like Digital Angel is the one writing the USDA PR. Imagine that… Perhaps they are also the ones who thought up the infamous Kill Zones documented on page 31 of the GAO document 05-214 they talk about depopulation (killing) of both diseased and healthy animals, both domestic and wild, in 10-km zones around infections. This is one of the big issues that concerns a great many small stakeholders and is alienating people.

Should USDA officially confirm the presence of a disease, such as FMD, the affected herd and all cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and susceptible wildlife—infected or not—within a minimum 10-kilometer zone around the infected farm would be killed.
-GAO Report 05-214 page 31

The Digital Angel press release in FoxBusiness also mentions:

Digital Angel (www.DigitalAngel.com) is an advanced technology company in the field of identification solutions and tracking of high-value assets. Digital Angel’s products are utilized around the world in such applications as pet identification using its patented, FDA-approved implantable microchip; livestock identification and tracking using visual and RFID ear tags; and global positioning systems (GPS: 20.04, +0.36, +1.82%) search and rescue beacons for use on aircraft, ships and boats, and by adventure enthusiasts. Digital Angel is the controlling stockholder of VeriChip Corporation (NASDAQ:CHIP).
-FoxBusiness

Notice that little line about GPS. The USDA will want that for tracking and targeting all life forms incase they decide to do a search and destroy mission in your neighborhood. And, as they’ll likely say, with their finger on the red button, “Have a nice day!“

USDA Triple Tagging

walterj — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:19:47 +0000

One of our sows* had a three headed piglet recently which I had posted about on our family farm blog.

Well what do you know but I almost immediately got a phone call from the USDA in Washington, DC informing me that I would have to do triple tagging of this piglet, one for each head. Apparently the regulations are written such that each head in a herd is to be counted and the aren’t about to make an exception for a three headed pig.

The problem is the piglet only has two ears between the three heads so I told the nice USDA lady on the phone that there was no place to put the third ear tag. She said that didn’t matter, I would have to buy one of those micro-chip injecting systems ($1,500) or get the vet to come out to do it ($150). You can guess which way I’m going on that one!

She said what ever I do the tags must be serialized such that the numbers for the three heads are in order reading from left to right. Apparently there is a new regulation that when animals are having their chips read they have to be done in order to avoid confusing the computers because the USDA databases are recorded in stone - something called Read-Only-Memory which is written into silicone crystals. The nice lady explained that this is why they couldn’t remove people from the databases - apparently it is a security ‘feature’ to stop terrorists from creating phantom animals in the databases like happened in Australia.

The other thing the USDA lady mentioned is I must track the three Animal ID’s separately - that if any one of them left the farm I had to report that. Frankly, I think they’ll be sticking pretty close together.

So to assure compliance I called the vet and he’s coming out with a chip injector so we can get this little guy properly recorded into the national herd. He’s also bringing his camera, since mine broke. Hopefully tomorrow I can have some photos up showing this amazing three headed piglet.

Update 2:46 pm: The vet came this afternoon to tag the piglet(s?). Fluffy, as my younger son wants to call him after the three headed dog in the Harry Potter books, is doing fine. The vet took photos and is going to email them to me later tonight. The vet said that it may be possible to surgically correct the birth defect removing the extra two heads so that Fluffy can grow up to be a normal pig. Alternatively I have bids from NECI for making a three salad head cheese and from Barnum and Bailey Circus. He’s so unique I am not sure if I can part with them though. Still, the offers are tempting…

Update 5:01 pm: I just got the photo back from the vet of my son holding Fluffy. I’ve posted the photo on my other blog.

This is just so amazing!

*Sow Name: Winnie, USDA Animal ID #840123999102666, Monsanto Patent #5193200198666, Serial Number #6660199913002991, Firmware version#3.14159265358979

ISPs Censoring Email

walterj — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:20:00 +0000

I’ve received notes from quite a few people who stopped receiving the NoNAIS News email updates when a new post appears here on the NoNAIS.org blog. Sadly, I have no control over this. What is happening is that certain ISPs are being over zealous in their spam control and filtering their user’s incoming email. This is especially a problem for people on Comcast.net, AOL.com and Verizon.net. Recently someone with an email account through Centurytel.net alerted me to this issue on their Internet Servers Provider (ISP).

The solution is two fold:

f you are able to do so add the following email addresses and the domains to your white list. This may solve the problem and is something many people can easily do themselves.

walterj@sugarmtnfarm.com

walterj@nonais.org

Complain to your ISP and ask them not to block email from NoNAIS.org and SugarMtnFarm.com

No, sadly this is not an April Fools joke. Your ISP is really censoring the email you get.

Bruce Tells All

walterj — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:02:42 +0000

Latest speech from our beloved learless feeder:

Animal ID and International Trade

Bruce I. Knight,
Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Houston,TX
March 4, 2008

Good morning. I’m glad to be here today. Your stock show is one of the best in the U.S.—a true summit for cattle producers in the Americas.

The U.S. National Animal Identification System—NAIS—is a critical tool for protecting herds in the U.S. against animal diseases. Increasingly, it will be vital to marketing our livestock, particularly beef—both here and abroad.

This morning I want to tell you where we stand on animal ID, how we plan to move this program forward and why it matters—whether you raise beef, horses, sheep or goats in Texas or in Mexico or in another country that’s one of our trading partners.

We are developing NAIS as a modern, tech-savvy, up-to-date system for responding to outbreaks of serious animal diseases. NAIS is designed to cut losses, reduce delays and retain markets. Ultimately, we hope to put traceability data within USDA hands within 48 hours of an outbreak. [Note that is 48 hours after detection. The tags are removed at slaughter time. The meat doesn’t reach the stores for weeks. Consumers then buy and don’t use it immediately. Remember all these recalls that extend back years??? 48 hours is a joke. -WJ] The goal is to significantly reduce the time needed to conduct disease investigations. [Tags don’t prevent disease. The sooner the government realizes that they sooner they can stop wasting all this money that is really to benefit the Big Ag exporters who want in on foreign markets. NAIS does not benefit American consumers or the vast majority, naye, 92%(1, 2) of American farmers. -WJ]

In the U.S., animal ID is a cooperative effort among states, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and industry. It’s one of USDA’s top priorities—as our new Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, made clear when he spoke to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association recently.

I’m pleased that over the past 18 months, the discussion on animal ID in the U.S. has changed. It’s no longer about whether or not animal ID is a good idea. It is a good idea—and I think almost everyone now acknowledges that. [Bruce, get your head out of the sand. 92% of American farmers oppose NAIS. It is only desired by government lackeys, Big Ag, tag manufacturers and associated vendors. -WJ] Today, we’re talking about how best to implement it and how quickly it can be operational. And I want to share with you what we’re doing. [So there we have the truth of the matter… The USDA is moving forward with NAIS despite tremendous opposition and their previous assurances to the contrary. -WJ]

Premises Registration

Our first step in developing NAIS is to encourage U.S. farmers and ranchers to register their premises. Registration tells us who’s raising livestock, so if there’s a problem, we can reach producers.

To date, we have more than 451,000 premises registered—out of 1.4 million. We are working hard to increase that number. [Bruce is ignoring the reality that the USDA lowered the estimated number of farms in order to make their numbers look better. By the USDA’s definition for NAIS there are really 8 to 20 million premises. A much higher number that makes their existing registrations look pitiful. Furthermore, existing registrations include many non-farms such as auction houses and slaughter facilities which artificially boost the USDA’s numbers and lies. -WJ]

We’ve developed cooperative agreements with major industry groups—including the National Cattlemen’s Foundation—to promote and secure registrations.

State registrations reflect state priorities and export commitment. Twelve states have more than 50 percent of their premises registered.

When it comes to Texas and registrations, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that among the 50 states, Texas has the third highest number of premises registered—about 30,700. The bad news is that’s only 16.4% of your premises—and ranks you 33rd out of 50 states in getting your producers to sign up. [Yeah, Texans! Keep resisting the Borg! -WJ]

If you’re from Texas—or anywhere in the U.S.—and you haven’t yet registered your premises, I urge you to do so. To make this voluntary system work, we need everyone’s participation. [Right… voluntary but with 100% participation. Not happening, not in this reality. Especially not when 92% of farmers oppose NAIS. -WJ]

Registering is easy. It’s free. It’s the right thing to do to protect your herd health. As a rancher, I’ve done it, and you should do it, too. [It’s free and easy, so is drowning. So is hanging yourself. It is also suicide. NAIS is free now but it will be turned into one more government fee based program to raise funds for greedy government money grubbers. There are already calls to force producers to pay for the program that is being foisted on them. If Big Ag wants NAIS so bad let them pay for it, get the government out of it and leave the rest of us alone. -WJ]

Traceability

As part of our effort to move NAIS forward, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has developed a business plan—a roadmap for increasing traceability. The goal, as I mentioned earlier, is 48-hour traceability when there is an emerging event. The business plan sets priorities, focusing on areas where we can accomplish the most to reach critical mass—getting 70% of the animals in a species identified and traceable to the premises of origin. [That is a bit of a drop from their previous 100% traceability. I can believe 70%. That is about the number of animals owned by Big Ag. Let them create, fund and run the program since they want it. No need for government involvement. No need for our taxes to be wasted creating jobs for bureaucrats so they can have retirement pensions and 100% health benefits at tax payer expense. NAIS is a make work program for the rich and connected. -WJ]

The business plan relies on seven strategies. I want to talk with you this morning about just one of those—the first one. This is our effort to prioritize species.

And guess what heads the list. Right … beef cattle. 3 Our top priority is the primary food animals—cattle, sheep and goats, swine, poultry—plus competition horses because they move around a lot. The highest priority within that category is breeding stock, particularly beef and dairy cattle.

We set the priorities based on:

• Potential for a disease event of significant economic impact

• Risk of disease to human health

• Current traceback capabilities

• Economic value, and

• Potential for disease to spread to other livestock species.

Further, these days fewer beef producers are participating in disease programs as eradication efforts have been successful. So, getting cattle operations involved in NAIS is critical to traceability.

Last week I met with our state NAIS coordinators and the APHIS Area Veterinarians-in-Charge. I was meeting with them on how to improve the system that we use to effect traceability. We are looking to our vets to reach critical location points where animals are commingled—like auction barns, feedlots and fairgrounds—and rodeos! We have a lot of ground to cover, but we are determined to succeed.

Additional Efforts on NAIS

I want to share a couple of other efforts that we’re involved in regarding animal ID. One is a benefit-cost analysis of NAIS that researchers at Kansas State University are conducting for us. [Kansas State University found that NAIS is totally uneconomical and over priced. (1, 2) It amazes me that the USDA trots this study out. I suspect the think people won’t actually go read it. Australia also found that NLIS, their version of NAIS, has turned into a financial nightmare for livestock producers as well as producing 11 million phantom cattle they can’t find. -WJ]

To the best of our knowledge, no other country has studied this. [Australia… See above. Bruce, this is your job. Please take it seriously. At least tell the truth. -WJ] It is a massive undertaking, [Yes, okay, so that is the truth, NAIS is a massive undertaking and one that will kill many small farmers. -WJ] but necessary to advance the U.S. ID system. [Wrong. -WJ] We believe this study will provide empirical evidence that animal ID is worth the effort we’re putting into it—and that producers put into it also.

Even as we’re encouraging livestock producers to register their premises and then take the next step and tag their animals, we’ve determined that APHIS will do the same. So, we’ve purchased 1.5 million “840” official ID tags for use in our animal disease programs. [Your and my taxes are being spent to subsidize our competition. Gee… Thanks, Bruce. It isn’t like they don’t already get enough subsidies to compete against independent producers. If they want the program, let them buy their own dang tags and manage their own program. -WJ]

We’re also working on coordinating efforts at USDA. The Agricultural Marketing Service is working on a business plan to integrate NAIS with our marketing programs—organic, “naturally raised,” “grass-fed” and export verification programs.[Thank you for raising that topic, yes, just like Organic the USDA is stealing the term Naturally Raised so that Big Ag can distort it and take advantage of consumer confusion. There already is a private Certified Naturally Grown program and the government should not be competing. Bruce, your a henchman being used by Big Ag to take over that last 15% of the market they don’t control. -WJ]

APHIS is also drafting proposed regulations that would require the first point of import and the first point of export to be registered premises. This will be an significant step in improving traceability. [Ah, so one more way that the USDA will make NAIS mandatory. They’re taking away our ability to bring in new breeding stock. -WJ]

International Trade

Animal ID will be an important tool in our arsenal to address disease outbreaks in the U.S. quickly and effectively. But it’s also crucial for trade. [Exactly. Trade done big big corporations who don’t want to pay their own bills. Virtually all farmers sell locally and do not export. Only a tiny percent do exports so you want to force all of us to increase our expenses just for the benefit of the few big cats who want fatter pocket books. -WJ] I know Dr. Lambert spoke earlier about the value of trade, so I’ll just hit the highlights, then we’ll draw the link to NAIS. [Buy Locally. -WJ]

Two weeks ago, Secretary Schafer announced a new projection for U.S. agricultural exports in Fiscal Year 2008—$101 billion. That’s up $10 billion over the November 2007 forecast—and $19 billion over last year’s mark. It means U.S. producers have been blessed with 5 straight years of record exports.

Beef and veal exports rose more than 20% last year—and are expected to rise again this year. Mexico is our top export market for beef, with Canada in second place. That’s at least partly due to NAFTA—the North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1994. Over the past 13 years, our exports to these two countries have grown from $10 billion to $25 billion per year. More recently, CAFTA—the Central American Free Trade Agreement has boosted U.S. exports to our neighbors.

Also important in promoting two-way trade are bilateral agreements. Congress approved an agreement with Peru in December that will be worth $700 million in agricultural exports from the U.S. once it’s fully effective. The agreement immediately eliminates tariffs on high quality beef and sets an 800-ton Tariff Rate Quota on standard beef, with 6% annual growth.

Three additional agreements are awaiting Congressional approval. Like the Peru agreement, all of them are supported by more than 40 major U.S. farm organizations. Together, agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea will be worth nearly $2.5 billion when fully implemented. Each reduces tariffs on beef—further opening opportunities for U.S. producers and producers in their countries.

Trade and NAIS

So, how does animal ID link with trade? Well, our competitors who have a traceability system—Canada and Australia, for example—are touting their systems as a reason to buy their beef. [Actually, Australia is having a very bad time with their version of NAIS. It is a complete disaster and farmers their are complaining that it is driving them out of business. But that is probably what you want, Bruce, so your corporate masters can take over the market. -WJ] And our customers are demanding it. [Consumers are actually looking to get to know their local farmer. They don’t need tags and tracking, they don’t need NAIS or government interference increasing food prices. Our customers know who we are because we’re their local farmers. No need for NAIS. No need for trade. -WJ]

At NCBA a few weeks ago, Dr. Gary Smith, a professor at Colorado State University, made it very clear: If you’re producing for the global market, you must have a high quality beef product to sell. But to gain access to the market, you must be able to demonstrate traceability along with a concern for animal welfare. [But that is the whole point, we are not producing for the global market. We are producing for the local market. NAIS and Premises ID should not be pushed on anyone. If Big Ag wants it for exports, let them create and fund their own system but leave us out of it. Small local farmers, tax payers and consumers should not have to pay for their profits. -WJ]

He said that by the end of this year, the European Union, Japan and South Korea will have mandatory “farm-to-fork” ID and traceability within their borders. Once they require traceability for products produced at home, they can demand it from others that want to export to them—and they will. [Yes, and like a lemming you too can jump over the cliff. I’ll watch. Europe, Japan and South Korea are not the United States. Maybe it is hard for you to tell from up there in your corner office but thems the facts. -WJ]

Other countries, which don’t yet have their own traceability systems fully in place and therefore can’t, under WTO rules, require it of other countries, will still prefer to purchase from sources that can demonstrate traceability. Dr. Smith cited Canada, Taiwan, some South American countries and most Arabian Gulf nations as examples of countries that are interested in traceability. He pointed out that not every single U.S. producer will have to demonstrate traceability—only those in supply-chains that want to sell abroad.

But the sooner producers in the U.S. and around the world get on board with animal ID, the more options they will have to market their livestock. In other words, traceability is the key to international sales and market expansion. Animal ID will open doors for producers everywhere.

COOL

Let me just touch on a related issue—Country of Origin Labeling. U.S. law calls for labeling for most red meat and produce on September 30, 2008. (Congress has 6 delayed this date twice.) Labels for fish and shellfish have been required since April 2005. [So just why has the USDA been blocking the implementation of COOL? COOL hampers trade. Ah… -WJ]

While we’ve been concerned about the burden imposed by COOL, we intend to implement it fairly, with the least possible cost and lowest possible burden on everyone. Animal ID will make it easier to trace origins.

Both the House and Senate farm bills currently under consideration would make some changes in COOL, such as providing for three possible labels—domestic, foreign, and “may be of mixed or multiple origins.” We need to quickly get the regulations ready for implementation this fall—and we need the farm bill completed quickly to do that.

Opening Markets for Live Animals

As we seek to expand markets for U.S. beef, we’re looking to open markets for live animals as well as meat. Once we received the “controlled risk” designation from OIE—the World Animal Health Organization—last May, we sought to encourage our trading partners to accept live animals, semen and embryos as well as meat. This has been somewhat more difficult since these products have been viewed as riskier and import requirements may be more stringent.

Over the past year, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Turkey, Morocco and Albania have opened their markets to the U.S. In addition, we’ve resolved all BSE issues with Canada—I’ll talk more about that in a minute. And I understand that Mexico and Canada last week signed an agreement permitting import of Canadian breeding cattle by Mexico (and we’re disappointed that the agreement failed to recognize OIE standards.)

We still have some issues we’re working on with Mexico. Right now Mexico has restrictions on import of U.S. dairy heifers over 24 months. We’d like to see full alignment with the OIE guidelines, which would permit us to export older animals as well.

On another matter, APHIS is continuing to work with Mexico on TB eradication. This poses a real problem for us—and it’s another example of the importance of traceability. [So stop the random importation, do quarantine, etc. We already have rules for that. No need to waste billions of dollars on NAIS. -WJ]

Last year we proposed a 5-year plan that would encourage the Mexican TB Eradication Program to achieve equivalency with the U.S. program by the end of 7 2012. This is important because over the past five years—Fiscal Years 2003 to 2007—of the 166 confirmed cases of bovine tuberculosis detected in U.S. slaughter facilities, 120 were determined to be of Mexican origin. That’s more than 70 percent.

Later this year, APHIS will propose a domestic TB rule for cattle and bison at the same time it proposes an import rule—harmonizing the two. The import rule will include proposed TB status classifications for Mexican states and zones as well as Canadian provinces and Australian states.

In addition, as Dr. Lambert mentioned, we’ve been working with Andean countries to encourage acceptance of live animals—particularly Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. At the same time, we’re moving forward with a final rule that designates parts of Argentina as FMD-free. However, that is increasingly picking up resistance in the U.S.

Harmonizing with OIE

Even while we’re encouraging our trading partners to follow OIE rules, we need to make some changes in U.S. rules to align them with international guidelines. We took the first step toward harmonizing our regulations by publishing the Minimal Risk Rule, which normalized trade with Canada. It went into effect mid- November last year. [You are the BORG… Theme music… Great… Bruce, you’re a gas. -WJ]

The next step is to amend all of our BSE import-related regulations to make them consistent with international guidelines. We plan to publish a comprehensive BSE proposed rule this coming August or September to harmonize our standards with OIE.

We need to lead by example, stressing the importance of OIE standards, to open markets as we encourage other countries to open theirs. At same time, we’re promoting similar action—and acceptance of the OIE designation of “controlled risk”—by our trading partners. We all need to base our trading rules on sound science—and then follow them.

Conclusion

In closing, I think it’s clear we live in a shrinking world marked by expanding opportunities. Now is the time to position ourselves, no matter where we live, to take advantage of newly emerging markets as well as to renew and enlarge trade with old friends.

Animal ID is a tool that producers can use not only to track and improve the quality of their herds, but also to demonstrate to our trading partners our commitment to providing high quality, healthful products.

[In closing, it is clear we live in a short sighted world filled with bureaucrats and corporate lackeys who want to pump their hind ends by padding their master’s pockets. Now is the time to position ourselves clearly, no matter where we live, to take every opportunity to fight against the BORG, er, I mean the DORK, er, USDA that is, as they try to Hormonize and Assimilate us with their old cronies. -WJ]

Hat tip to Gisela.

Ride for Farmers

walterj — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:55:22 +0000

From Linn Cohen-Cole:

CONTACT: Ride for Farmers
rideforfarmers@comcast.net
404 291-1999
404 321-0433

Who: Ride for Farmers - American farmers and their friends

What:Paul Revere warning to wake Americans to Monsanto’s contamination of USDA, FDA, politicians.

Where:Across Pennsylvania, from Grove City through Clarion, Jefferson, Indiana, Clearfield, Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Dauphin, Lebanon, and Lancaster counties.

BEGINNING AT:
Joseph Jenkins, Inc. Contracting, Consulting, Publishing, Retail Sales
143 Forest Lane, Grove City, PA 16127 USA
Toll free phone: 866-641-7141; Fax: 814-786-8209; Cell: 724-967-2504
web: josephjenkins.com
email: joe@josephjenkins.com
Jenkins farm is along I-80 in western PA, Venango County, 29 miles from the Ohio border
Forest Lane is not viewable by Mapquest but is on the west side of Old Beech Road, -mile south of E. Gilmore Road.
Ride ends in Lancaster County

When:START DATE: March 29th at high noon
END DATE: April 21st on Monday, over 3 weeks later.

Why: To expose Monsanto, its Clinton connections, and its destructive impact on family farmers and our food

HEADLINE: Ride for Farmers across Pennsylvania to expose Monsanto/Clinton connection and the corporate threat to our family farmers and our food and health.

A Paul Revere’s ride to wake the American public with another desperate warning - Corporations are destroying American family farming and our food. A series of volunteer relay riders will be participating.

The imposition of NAIS - the National Animal Identification System - pushed by Monsanto (and others) through the USDA - is a last straw for many family farmers across this country who are already being crushed by corporate control of the USDA and FDA and corporate Farm Bills. Some farmers have begun selling off herds to escape the totalitarian control inherent in NAIS (information from Family Farm Defenders). There are already established animal ID’ing laws on the books.

NAIS is to farmers what NSA-spying is to American citizens, vast overreaching for other and hidden (in this case corporate) purposes they will have no escape from. It also gives businesses (and the largest ones) complete oversight of its competition’s (family farmers’) holdings and movements.

This ride is meant to help Americans finally recognize that family farmers - their last bulwark against dangerous things happening to food itself, and the only decent custodians of farm animals - are in actual peril.

The public is as yet unfamiliar with Monsanto and its connections to the Clintons and what has flowed from that.

Monsanto and Clinton are only one dreadful example of how corporate corruption of our government not just frustrates real democratic life but is a literal danger to Americans’ lives. Monsanto is the largest genetic engineering corporation in the world and is a giant and frightening presence for farmers, and Hillary Clinton’s involvement with it is not a “gotcha” moment but about real and disturbing things that happened that affect every single one of us, and which she has never renounced.

The Ride For Farmers encourages media to look at every candidate running and hold them all accountable for their Monsanto and all corporate connections.

INFORMATION:

Monsanto en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto made Agent Orange, PCBs, nuclear weapons components, pesticides, … With that diverse background in death, it now is handling our food - genetically engineering hormones, making steroids, patenting GE seeds of every kind, cloning animals, while blocking “free speech” and fair competition (or it looks like that to me, when someone can’t say what’s good about their product), suing farmers, …

The connection to Hillary?

Historic: Her former-employer, the Rose Law Firm’s clients include Monsanto, world’s largest GE (genetic engineering) corporation; Tyson, world’s largest meat producer; Walmart, the world’s largest retailer. Rose is home to the industrialization of food. Current and Future: Her long-time adviser, including for PR, and chief campaign strategest, is Mark Penn, who works for Burson-Marsteller - Monsanto’s PR firm - which also represents Blackwater. link

Favors: Walmart invited her onto the board on (and Tavis Smiley, whose show is funded by Walmart, had her on the night before Super Tuesday), aTyson executive helped her do a $1000,000 trade just before Bill’ governorship, and others at the firm backed Bill for Governor, then for President (donating $100,000). link

Bill did some nice things for Tyson’s and Monsanto during his administration:

Tyson: USDA immediately significantly weakened chicken waste and contamination standards, easing Tyson’s poultry-factory expansion. (www.financialsense.com/ editorials/engdahl/2006/0828.html). His USDA head, Espy, was indicted for bribes, money laundering, and much more. Tyson was the largest corporate offender. link

Monsanto:

1. Monsanto people were put in charge of food, … link

2. FDA okayed Monsanto’s rBGH (bovine growth hormone), first GE-product ever approved.

3. Despite bovine illness/death, FDA didn’t recall or warn. link

4. When dairymen labeled milk “rBGH-free,” USDA threatened to confiscation.

5. With organic milk as the last way around unknown danger, FDA sought new “organic” standards - to include genetic engineering of plants/animals [good for Monsanto], food irradiation , sewage sludge fertilizer [good for Tyson]. link

USDA backed down after a public response 20 times greater than to anything before. link

American food:

Oils: Indian sheep died eating from Bt cotton fields. link. Our children eat Bt cottonseed oil in peanut butter, cookies.

Grains: 49% of corn acreage planted in Bt corn in 2007. www.ers.usda.gov/Data/BiotechCrops/adoption.htm French study indicates it causes kidney and liver toxicity. link. Monsanto controls US’s two main crops, soy (90% GMO, 90% of traits “belong” to Monsanto) and corn, the largest crop (60% GMO, nearly 100% Monsanto “owned” traits). link
Scientists say GE-corn may cause diabetes.
link

Meat: Steroids bulk athletes, Monsanto steroids fatten animals, our fattening children eat steroid-laced meats. FDA allowed “known TSE-positive (Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy - Mad Cow Disease) material to be used in pet food, pig, chicken and fish feed.” Monsanto’s GE-hormone increases risk sick cows are entering US food chain. link

Poultry: USDA weakened waste/contamination standards. Waste from transnational poultry industry is now implicated as the source of bird flu. link The poultry industry is using the crisis to push out small farmers. link

Milk: Scientific studies indicate Monsanto’s rBGH increases risks of breast cancer by up to seven-fold, increases colon, prostate cancers risks. Canada, 29 European nations, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa ban U.S. rBGH dairy products. Bill’s USFDA put no restrictions, warning labels, or any labels. link

Sweeteners: FDA granted blanket approved to Aspartame despite serious health concerns link while working to keep Stevia, a natural sweetener, out of the US, despite over 900 studies indicating no health concerns. link

Moves to increase control over laws, education, information, shut off honest and democratic avenues of resistance :

Terminator genes: Plants become sterile after one season, requiring farmers to repurchase, and pose an apocalyptic risk of breaking out into nature. GE breakouts have contaminated maize link and weeds, already. link

NAIS: Monsanto, meat-packers, and USDA (link)
are pushing a National Animal Identification System, a corporate database tracking all small farmers’ livestock. link

Consumer Protection: FDA and USDA employees, Ohio consumer advocate, connected to Monsanto. link
How many more consumer groups are being undermined?

Spying on farmers: Monsanto Pinkerton agents to go onto their property to check the farmer hasn’t collected GE seeds - Monsanto’s patented “intellectual property.” Monsanto uses other means as well, to check up on farmers. link

Education: Monsanto is moving to control the land grant colleges and what is taught there? link id=3462&name=Donald-Danforth-Plant-Science-Center

Media: Monsanto funds a public television series about agriculture link
while threatening media from airing news about its products. link

Suing farmers: Monsanto sues farmers for accidental cross-pollination and wind spread link Monsanto has a $10 million budget and 75 person staff to prosecute farmers. link

Court influence: Monsanto, through the Genome Project of the Department of Energy, has brought a delegation of Indian judges to the US to be “educated” (not “influenced,” the director says) about genetic engineering
Transgenics: US team meets CJI. Gargi Parsai, The Hindu. 5 January, 2001. New Delhi
and approached numerous other countries as well. link

Laws Monsanto is pushing:

+ taking all control over GE planting, from farmers, communities to give to a single state committee. link
+ blocking labeling of milk and other GE foods link despite knowledge of problems. link
+ undermining saving of normal seeds bureaucratically overwhelming and a privacy invasion. link
+ through the Farm Bill, holding a break in USDA crop insurance hostage to farmers’ buying Monsanto GE seeds. link

Monsanto is one of the largest agri-businesses in the world. Industrial Agriculture has given us:

Cattle living in filth, 12,000-year-old seed loss, poultry industry implicated in bird flu, Mad Cow disease, bee colony collapse (there is none for organic beekeepers) link, poisoned soil, depleted water, Superweeds (link link

And global warming. link link

Bees and farmers, dead. They are our canaries in the mine.

Monsanto uses child labor in India, link

Blacks, our poorest group, have to eat Monsanto’s steroid/hormone/antibiotic-filled GE food.
Latinos’ central food is corn; its GE version is toxic to the kidney and liver, and has contaminated normal corn in Mexico.
National Black Farmers Association (once 1,000,000 strong, now down to 18,000 farmers because of USDA discriminatory policies, is boycotting all Monsanto products.
Babies and children are drinking rBGH milk.
Women fearing breast cancer don’t know the association and doctors have not begun warning.
Animals are suffering.
Children are eating Bt-corn in processed food, soft drinks, and candy.
Farmers are desperate, some selling herds to escape more corporate driven USDA policies.

CLOSURE:

for additional information
contact: Ride for Farmers
rideforfarmers@comcast.net
Ph/Fax: 610-926-0238
404 291-1999 or 404 321-0433

WHAT: AN HISTORIC RIDE ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA by farmers and friends of farmers during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary to bring attention to the TERRIBLE PLIGHT of American family farmers, and opposing the corrupted, destructive government/corporate connection embodied in the Clinton/Monsanto (hidden) relationship.

SUMMARY: The Ride for Farmers is to warn Americans about Monsanto corruption of the USDA, FDA, our agricultural policies, our farm bills, and our politicians, and the danger is poses to farmers and farming itself, and to our health through GE-food.

HISTORY: This ride is a natural outgrowth of family farmers and ranchers’ rage over NAIS, over genetically engineered and patented seeds, over increasing USDA regulations over food safety which simultaneously ignores the sources of the problems - the huge and filthy confinement of animals, the giant slaughter houses working as insane speeds, the immense increase in pesticides, feed with sick animals ground up into it, the great lagoons of contaminated feces - while destroying family farmers who have clean farms and natural conditions for animals. America has Sinclair Lewis conditions all over again - and MORE - but the USDA/corporation ignores those and fools the media, while pushing for regulations that do nothing to stop the filthy conditions, and which push honest family farmers - the only decent farming left - off a cliff.

American family farmers are at a breaking point but see this corrupted government - as represented by Monsanto/Clinton - and can’t go to the USDA or the FDA or expect adequate help from Congress, so they are going to Lancaster County, the home of Amish Farmers who have always done their best to leave free of government control, some of whom are now selling herds to escape NAIS.

The promise to our farmers of a free country for all, of protection from the control and power of the rich over the ordinary man, has been broken. The Ride for Farmers is going to Lancaster to share with the Amish the broken dream of being left to farm in peace.

DISCLAIMER: The Ride for Farmers are not involved with any political party or any organization or backing any candidate, only exposing one especially disturbing connection. Most of our politicians are deeply connected with and bought off by corporations. Perhaps this ride will put all politicians connected to Monsanto on notice and will make all politicians become aware of the American public’s rising anger at how our government is being run by large business interests, not by or for citizens.

The material presented in our brochures and in the press release is public knowledge. We collected it into organized form. We are citizens who have read on these subjects and are including only a tiny portion of the horrifying things we have learned.

For instance, we now know that genetic engineering is many orders of magnitude different from “normal” business in its potential biologic ramifications and that it makes real the warning of Pandora’a Box - letting irretrievable things rush out into nature. Only the stark change to the world from nuclear fission and fusion offers a harrowing enough parallel.

The information and opinions are based on a vast amount of material we did not include. We are ordinary citizens who may be wrong but are acting to inform others as best we can, giving them references so they can decide for themselves. We feel we are all brothers and sisters and it is our obligation to share as much information as possible on the injustices to our farmers and on any health hazards, with others. We wish the media had done it for us and hope it will now focus immense attention on these subjects.

Perhaps things are swell out there and rBGH is fabulous and TSE-laced feed is great, and genetic engineering is the best thing since manna. But we are scared for our families and have not only a right to speak up but a moral obligation to do so, because we are part of a human family. And human beings since time immemorial, have warned each other about dangers to do with food. Over-warning is forgivable but silence in the face of concerns is never so. And since the food is not labeled and no one knows, it becomes more urgent to put out as much of the missing information as possible.

Monsanto has been allowed immense influence and has done the things with that power that “appear” to be seriously threatening to our farmers and the American public. It is up to Americans to decide for themselves.

We see the industrialization of every tender and beautiful part of the natural world is coming back to haunt us. We hope, for all our children’s sake, we are not too late to pull back from having altered plants and animals and farming itself, to their very core. We believe things have become contaminated, not least of which, our government, by money and by arrogance and by a “science” that reassures us that Bt-corn is “just like normal” when wild geese and deer say otherwise in not eating it. link

We see family farmers as the last honest men standing when it comes to food, needing and greatly deserving our support and protection now.

Who Loses, Who Wins?

walterj — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:00:28 +0000

There is a good article about NAIS’s winners and losers at World Change Cafe by Barbara L. Minton.

Naturally Raised Update

walterj — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:14:47 +0000

There is an interesting article about the Naturally Raised issue in the Desmoines Register:

Outrage hits ‘naturally raised’ USDA meat labeling plan
By Philip Brasher

Washington, D.C. — Meat that’s labeled “naturally raised” could be coming to supermarkets alongside “natural” meat.

The U.S. Agriculture Department already allows meat to be called “natural” so long as it’s minimally processed and doesn’t contain artificial ingredients.

Now, the Agriculture Department is proposing to let packers label beef, pork or lamb as “naturally raised,” so long as the livestock were never given antibiotics or synthetic hormones or fed any animal by-products. USDA officials say the new labeling would give shoppers more choices in the meat case.

But the proposal, which has drawn 44,000 mostly negative comments, has outraged consumer advocates and many livestock producers, who say the rules don’t go far enough because livestock could still be kept in conventional confinement operations and qualify for the new label. Meatpackers themselves are divided over whether the new labeling is a good idea. At least one company fears the label would make conventional products look bad.

Paul Willis of Thornton, who manages a network of farmers who supply what they consider naturally raised hogs to Niman Ranch Pork Co., called the rules a “travesty,” saying they don’t go far enough.

Niman Ranch hogs are raised outdoors rather than in conventional confinement operations, and without antibiotics and added hormones. Niman Ranch believes the labeling rules should prohibit sows from being kept in crates, a common practice in conventional swine operations to prevent fighting among the hogs.

” ‘Naturally raised’ has to distinguish how the animals are raised and what their environment is,” Willis said. “A pig has to have bedding and be able to socialize and things like that.”

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, a group that fights large-scale livestock farming in the state, said the USDA’s proposed standards “fall far short of what consumers and farmers who care about how their feed is produced believe ‘naturally raised’ does and should mean.”

Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, told the USDA the new label “falls significantly short of consumer expectations.”

One of the nation’s largest pork processors, Hormel Foods Corp., doesn’t like the rules either.

Meat that doesn’t qualify as naturally raised “will appear to be somehow ‘unnatural,’ ” said Phillip Minerich, vice president of research development for Hormel, based in Austin, Minn.

He also questioned whether the USDA has the legal authority to define the term “naturally raised” and said the rules could run afoul of international trade agreements.

Kerry Smith, an official with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said consumers “will know if they see naturally raised livestock (on a meat label) what it means.”

Smith said the department developed the proposal in response to requests from the meat industry and after holding a series of public meetings.

“We proposed the standard based on the information we received,” she said.

The term “natural” can continue to be used under the existing rules: minimal processing and no artificial ingredients. That description applies to virtually any fresh or frozen cut of meat. So a package of meat could be labeled “natural” but not “naturally raised.” She said it would be up to the food industry to educate consumers about the difference.

Consumers have been taking an increased interest in how their food is produced, as shown by the double-digit growth of the organic industry for more than a decade. Sales of organic food totaled almost $17 billion in 2006, or nearly 3 percent of overall food sales, according to the Organic Trade Association. USDA economists said a majority of Americans now eat organic food at least occasionally.

Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest beef processor, told the USDA that the department’s definition would make it clear to consumers what the term “naturally raised” means. When the company surveyed 1,600 consumers last year, no single definition for naturally raised was cited by a majority of the respondents cited.

The organic food industry doesn’t like the USDA rules either, arguing like Hormel, that the department exceeded its legal authority in coming up with the definition.

The USDA’s standards for organic meat require that the livestock be fed organic feed and have access to the outdoors. Antibiotics and synthetic hormones also are prohibited.

“I’m not opposed to a natural label, but I think it should include how the animals are raised as well as how they’re fed,” said Ron Rosmann, an organic farmer from Harlan.

Smith said the USDA hopes to finalize the rules this fall.
-Desmoines Register

Hat tip to Bonnie

MRSA Found in Stores

walterj — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:35:57 +0000

Canadian researcher finds Staph superbug in commercial pork products

TORONTO - Canadian researchers have found antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria in pork products purchased in retail stores across the country — a discovery that raises questions about how the contamination occurred, how frequently it happens and whether it has implications for human health.

Just under 10 per cent of sampled pork chops and ground pork recently purchased in four provinces tested positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, lead researcher Dr. Scott Weese reported Wednesday in a presentation to the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

The bacteria would be destroyed by proper cooking, so Staph food poisoning is not a major concern, said Weese, an expert on zoonoses, the pathogens that pass back and forth between people and animals.

But he wondered whether people handling meat with MRSA on its surface would end up inadvertently “colonizing” themselves. People who carry the bacteria on their skin or in their nostrils are at greater risk of going on to develop a Staph infection, which can range from a hard-to-heal boil to pneumonia to a potentially deadly bloodstream infection.
-Times Transcript Canada East

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a particularly nasty strain of disease which is difficult to cure because it has evolved protections against common antibiotics. This was caused by the low level feeding of antibiotics to animals and other incomplete uses that allowed the strongest bacteria to survive. Thank Big Ag and their lobbyists with their narrow minded tunnel vision that only lets them see the short term profits. They’ve endangered us all for another nickel of profit.

Don’t expect the government to help. NAIS certainly won’t.

What can we do as farmers? Commit to not creating an environment that will encourage the evolution of diseases. This means not using low levels of antibiotics but rather using them only for life saving disease prevention at therapeutic levels. Don’t overcrowd animals - confinement operations produce a large breeding pool for bacteria and viruses. Raise livestock outdoors on pasture where the sun and natural environment work to produce a healthier herd. Use intensive rotational grazing techniques to rest the soil and pastures.

What can we do as consumers? Don’t abuse antibiotics - that’s the obvious. They shouldn’t be used in low levels and only as needed for the full course of a disease treatment, be it livestock, pets or people. This applies not just to agriculture but also to our families - it doesn’t work to throw antibiotics at viral infections as commonly happens. In the store front, fight back against Big Ag by boycotting them. Don’t buy their products if at all possible. Find other sources of food, both meats and plant, that don’t use antibiotics, toxic chemicals, herbicides, pesticides and the like which will damage our environment and threaten our health. Vote with your dollars for sustainable, healthy food sources.

What else can you do? Grow some of your own food. Grow some for your neighbors. Everyone can participate. It’s spring time. Plant a seed for food security and better health.

Hat tip to Mary.

Forced Sterilization

walterj — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:34:23 +0000

Parade is doing a survey asking if pet owners should be forced to sterilize their pets. Go vote.

Hat tip to Chris.

NoNAIS.org Server Moving

walterj — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:01:33 +0000

Due to unending problems with my long time web host VONetwork.com who was recently bought by another web host in India RealValueHosting.com I am working on moving my accounts to a new web host. Ideally I’ll be setting up failover/dual-homing to deal with such problems in the future.

I apologize for the recent lack of news. The problems from VON/RVH have wasted a great deal of my time so I haven’t been able to post much. That should be soon resolved.

In the meant time, keep up the good fight. Feel free to post in comments anything you thing should be brought to people’s attention.

-WalterJ