http://nonais.org Protect Traditional Rights to Farm Sat, 10 May 2008 16:21:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The magazine Western Horseman is doing a Yea-Nay poll about the USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The poll is on the lower left side of their web site. Currently the tallies are: 631 oppose NAIS 94.3% 22 unsure 3.3% 16 favor NAIS 2.4% These numbers are remarkably similar to previous polls done ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/05/10/western-horseman-nais-poll/ 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. http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/05/09/farm-bill-status-check/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/05/06/derry-brownfield-ditched/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/05/01/usda-releases-farmer-data/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/20/hammerschmidt-interview-by-jolley/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/19/ky-goes-voluntary/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/17/mother-nature-fails-to-tag-wildlife/ 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). ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/16/ny-dept-of-ag-volunteering-farmers/ [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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/14/il-drops-premises-id-requirement/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/12/tagging-cops/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/07/business-plan-comment-period/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/06/mo-nais-legislation-progress/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/06/usda-updates-business-plan/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/05/mini-recap-of-niaa-annual-meeting/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/02/destron-fearing/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/01/usda-triple-tagging/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/04/01/isps-censoring-email/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/31/bruce-tells-all/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/28/ride-for-farmers/ There is a good article about NAIS's winners and losers at World Change Cafe by Barbara L. Minton. http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/28/who-loses-who-wins/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/27/naturally-raised-update/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/24/mrsa-found-in-stores/ Parade is doing a survey asking if pet owners should be forced to sterilize their pets. Go vote. Hat tip to Chris. http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/22/forced-sterilization/ 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 ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/22/nonaisorg-server-moving/ The government is using the recent meat recalls to justify NAIS. The media is picking up on this and giving false reports to promote the idea that NAIS is good for consumers. NAIS, the National Animal Identification System, has nothing to do with consumer food safety. The tags are cut off ... http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/03/12/government-propaganda/