The following post was written by staff member Stephanie Wurdock.With the arrival of the H1N1 outbreak this year, national concern has arisen regarding the ease and speed at which a disease can move through a population. Alarm accompanies virtually all new strains of disease and rears its ugly head on a relatively regular basis. While diseases that affect humans are often the main focus, they are not the only cause for concern in the community. In 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognized a concern for disease outbreak in the agricultural community, as well. In response, the USDA introduced the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to safeguard the health of livestock and poultry and the economic interests of those industries. The Kentucky Horse Council, http://www.kentuckyhorse.org/nais (last visited Nov. 1, 2009).
NAIS creates a partnership between the affected industries and state and federal governments whose main task is to form a fast-acting disease response network. United States Department of Agriculture: National Animal Identification System (NAIS), http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). Once implemented and enforced, NAIS will provide the USDA with the tools to (1) pinpoint the origin of harmful disease, and (2) impede the spreading thereof. Whenever there is an outbreak of disease, animal health officials will, within 48 hours, be able to identify which animals are involved, where those animals are currently located, and what other animals may also have been exposed. Id.
Producers can participate in NAIS in any or all of three ways: premises regulation, animal identification, or animal tracing. Premises regulation operates by requiring producers to identify the geographic location where their animals are raised, housed, or boarded. USDA: About NAIS, http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/about/nais_components.shtml (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). Currently 14,000 of 61,000 premises in the state of Kentucky are registered. Kentucky Department of Agriculture: Office of State Veterinarian, http://www.kyagr.com/statevet/nais/index.htm (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). Producers register their premises by completing a Premises Identification Number (PIN) application on their state department of agriculture website or by contacting their state or tribal NAIS administrator. USDA: Premises Regulation, http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/premises_id/index.shtml (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). The application process is free to the producer and protects his private and confidential business information. Id.
Because a single report of disease such as Bovine Tuberculosis or Equine Viral Arteritis can rapidly halt the movement of animals and raise questions about their health, it carries significant negative consequences for the owner. Id. Some of these consequences include lower selling prices, lost jobs, and decreased income. Premises regulation takes the unaffected producer out of the equation and allows him to maintain the luxury to move his animals freely. Id.
Animal identification is the second way in which producers can participate in NAIS. During this process, an identification number is assigned to either an individual animal (Animal Identification Number, AIN) or a group of animals (Group/Lot Identification Number, GIN). See supra USDA: About NAIS. The AIN or GIN is attached to the animal using either an ear tag or injective responder, and it remains associated with that animal throughout its entire lifetime. Id.
The final way a producer can participate is through animal tracing, a process that allows the USDA to access animal movement records and locate at-risk animals. Id. The main component is a network of Animal Tracking Databases (ATDs) that makes it easy for producers, the state, industry, and the USDA to define the scope of a particular disease and locate infected animals. USDA: Animal Tracing, http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/animal_track/index.shtml (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). This is perhaps the least developed component of NAIS.
NAIS is important for the agricultural industry because it plays an important role in monitoring, eradicating, and controlling harmful diseases such as Bovine Tuberculosis and Equine Viral Arteritis that can have widespread consequences. USDA: Why NAIS, http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/why/animal_disease.shtml (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). The program is not, however, well received by many members of the agricultural community. These producers, owners, and associations debate the program's value in consideration with its significant costs. See supra The Kentucky Horse Council.
Some of critics' concerns are that full implementation will be too expensive for small operations to afford, will be too difficult to manage, and a will be a sneaky opportunity for the government to tax non-commercial animals. Id. Websites such as "NoNAIS.org," launched in 2006, characterize the program as a "violation to the traditional right to farm." NoNAIS.org, http://nonais.org/ (last visited Nov. 1, 2009). They focus on the possibility that there would be no exceptions to the registration requirements. As a result, every Mom and Pop operation would eventually be ordered to register as "farm premises" which would entail considerable paperwork and the payment of fees. Some negative consequences, they argue, would be higher food prices, forced registration of non-commercial animals (pets), tedious record-keeping and inordinate costs to small farmers who cannot qualify for Group/Lot Identification. Id.
In order to address these concerns and encourage participation, the USDA has implemented a phased-in approach. And, although there is speculation that the voluntary program may someday become mandatory, no such steps have been taken to reach that result. See supra The Kentucky Horse Council.
During this time, while NAIS is still voluntary, the state of Kentucky and the federal government must weigh the potential costs and benefits of the program in light of the entire agricultural community. They must consider the realistic outcomes for American producers and owners, both large and small, and determine whether or not it would be possible for NAIS to enjoy the same success as it has in other countries such as the European Union, Canada, and Australia. See supra Kentucky Department of Agriculture: Office of State Veterinarian.
Yes, NAIS is still voluntary but, make no mistake, the plans are to make it mandatory so that every individual livestock owner will not only have to pay to implant an electronic ID tag in each animal(horses, cattle, sheep, pigs,llamas, donkeys, geese, chickens, etc.), they will also be FORCED to register their premises. Can you tell us where in the US Constitution that this privacy invading big government intrusion in our lives is granted?
ReplyDeleteActually, Premise ID which is the first part of NAIS is mandatory in Wisconsin. It is unfortunate that articles like this delude people into thinking that the government is cuddly.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the author make it sound like we are imagining that USDA wants no exceptions to the registration requirements? They have said so themselves. The only exceptions will be those people that they can't find. The Draft Plan and subsequent documents make it quite clear that they expect the owner of any livestock animal to register the property where that animal resides -even if it isn't their own property. They aren't even allowing First Amendment religious objections.
ReplyDeleteNAIS is unworkable in the real world. It relies on total compliance, animals that cooperate, error free data entry, and a computer system that never fails. And even if all that were possible, it doesn't prevent a disease from spreading. It merely gives false reassurances that the disease is contained.
The real purpose of NAIS is to allow faster international trade by lowering import standards.
What that means in practice, is that USDA knows they will allow a diseased animal to cross our borders. Rather than try to stop disease at the borders, NAIS will "close the barn door after the horse is loose" and try to figure out which way it went.
A phased in approach to disaster and loss of civil rights does not encourage me to sign on.
I'm also not encouraged by Australia's ruined ranchers, or the EU's governmental control of everything.
I wonder how much the author got paid by an industry group, or perhaps USDA, to write this article?
ReplyDeleteSuccess in Australia? No. Please, do some research before you write an article so that you do not, like you have done here, embarrass yourself.
I appreciate and am excited by your passionate responses to my blog article, even if some of you suggest that I am backed by the USDA and caught up in some delusion of government-regulated bliss. The purpose of the KJEANRL blog is to incite relevant scholarly dialogue among those in the agricultural, natural resources, and equine communities. I am thrilled to see such dialogue unfolding.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear from your responses that NAIS is an extremely controversial and important issue in the agricultural community. It is also clear that my research, which in the interest of time depended mostly on the USDA and KY Dept. of Agriculture websites, may not have presented the anti-NAIS viewpoint as thoroughly as desired. I apologize for that but encourage you to let your voices be heard.
The Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agricultural & Natural Resources Law invites unsolicited articles and essays focusing on the topics such as NAIS and I encourage you to submit your work on this issue. More information on submissions can be found under the “Submissions” tab on the KJEANRL blog.
Sincerely,
Stephanie M. Wurdock
Nais should be mandated period.While these small farmers are complaining and worrying about a 2 dollar tag other countrys are moving forward with animal id.They say they can sell to their neighers and who needs usda,but what neighbor can the people in Manhattan NY buy from,Brooklyn?They are cutting their own throats.Even S America is moving forward with animal id.Get a grip farmers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous has shown that he has no respect for the Bill of Rights or his fellow Americans. NAIS affects ALL livestock owners, including those who keep animals for personal use. We don't need to identify our animals to satisfy a buyer, or to manage our herd.
ReplyDeleteThe Cost Benefit Analysis that was finally done shows a tremendous amount of bias in its findings. It is full of assumptions and ignores the effect on small producers. The major benefit of NAIS is for importers and exporters. Small producers are just expected to suck it up and pay for something they don't want. For a detailed review of the Analysis, see http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/files/FARFA-comments-USDA-090520.pdf
As a horse owner, that $2 tag you refer to, translates into a $20 implantable microchip plus veterinary costs. Chips have been shown to cause sarcoids and tumors in some animals. See http://arkansasanimalproducers.8k.com/whats_new_46.html
and have also had other bad effects. See http://www.invisio.nl/antichip/
Even if we were willing to sacrifice the health of some animals for NAIS, the technology itself is worthless. Read the section on Shortcomings of the RFID System at
http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/issues/84/84-6/Heather_Smith_Thomas.html
I don't care what other countries are doing. To paraphrase your mother, if all the other countries jump off a cliff, are you going to jump also? The USA is supposed to be ruled by the people, not those who hold high position in government, and the people spoke at the USDA Listening Sessions this past spring and by an overwhelming majority told the USDA to scrap NAIS.
Where ever I go on the net and read articles about NAIS the comments are not for NAIS. .
ReplyDeleteThe listening sessions held during the summer by the USDA about NAIS show the people are overwhelmingly against NAIS. But the USDA said these sessions showed "substantial support" for NAIS... Huh?!?!?!? They apparently were listening with fingers in their ears!)
I do not own cattle and am in no way connected to the beef/pork/chicken industry but because I own horses, I I will be forced to be part of NAIS, thereby working for free for big ag, and paying into the system with my time and money just so those who eat meat can enjoy "the appearance" of safe beef/pork/chicken... Will they actually be safer because I told the govt everywhere I rode my horse, gave up my property rights and spent thousands of dollars in microchipping, report fees and technical equipment? This also goes against the 13th amendment, the one that freed the slaves and also outlaws involuntary servitude!
ReplyDeleteNAIS is trying to be a one-size-fits-all program yet there is a huge difference between granny’s back yard hens, a pot belly pig in suburbia, horses which are not in the food chain and the multi-billion dollar corporate ag and factory farms, which this program was ultimately made for.
ReplyDeleteThe Australian version of NAIS is a fiasco: 30% failure rate of chips and readers, the high fines the owners have to pay for computer glitches, 11 million phantom cattle in the database AND they are losing their global market!
Had a pleasant chat with a very nice lady at FoodLogiQ a company that tracks veggies from farm to store AND cattle in Wisconsin and Canada…I asked did they have plans to include home gardens as they could be a source of pathogenic contamination —she said no that would be too intrusive, too much trouble on their part and logistically impossible and there would be a huge outrage from the people. In other words it just could not be done!
ReplyDeleteI asked but what if salmonella or other pathogen from a private garden somehow got on the produce that would eventually go to the factories for canning, freezing or just to any grocery store…her reply was the factories are rigidly controlled to prevent that kind of stuff and the TRACEBACK WOULD BE JUST TO THE INFECTED PRODUCE THAT CAME FROM THE FIELDS (regardless of how they were infected) NOT THE PRIVATE GARDEN FROM WHICH THE ACTUAL INFECTION MAY HAVE COME FROM!!!
And from this past few months we have experienced how stringent these factories truly are when it comes to tainted food (i.e. peanuts)so I asked her if the govt knowing about every privately home grown tomato or cucumber was too intrusive AND UNWORKABLE then why does the same argument not hold for privately owned cattle, goats, pigs, ponies, chickens, etc when it comes to NAIS.
She agreed with me.
did youknow that while corporate ag gets a free ride by having one lot number per groups of animals, me and other private animal owners will do all the work and costs of tagging and tracking our privately owned animals, and corporate ag gets all the profits and very few reporting events. In other words, I tell the govt when and where I ride my horse, pay for microchipping, lose title to my private property by signing up for the program, risk losing my healthy horse to depopulation should animal disease be suspected in a 140 sq mile area, just so corporate ag can tell Japan their product is safe.
ReplyDelete. Tracking disease is not new. In 1938-Nazi Germany targeted one segment of society they thought responsible for spreading disease, the JEWS. A law was passed that ALL JEWS had to register their property. ierevery piece of property they own into a massive database. IT worked. The Gestapo knew exactly who to raid by the value of their art and jewelry. We know the rest of the story, a minor event called the Holocaust!
ReplyDeleteIn the same time period, the Russian Communist Govt under Stalin starved millions of farmers in the most fertile part of the country because the law stated that ALL the grain they grew and their lands belonged to the govt! They were not even allowed to eat what they grew! The reason- Stalin wanted to sell Russian grain on the world market! And the grain was sold while 11 million died from starvation, execution, or prison life!
What if they tried this program with soccer moms, where everyone, in order to help track disease outbreaks among school children, anyone who owns even a single soccer ball must register their homes with the govt, microchip the equipment and file reports when it is used just so pro-soccer teams can travel the world saying they are carrying no diseases to other countries, you would hear the biggest outcry in history as in a million mom march in
Wash DC!
I am glad the author is reading through the comments. To call us passionate is a word I have heard before from others in the iwantnais nomatterwhat community. I hope the author is reading this one as I am going to ask some questions that the USDA will not answer but they sure do encourage us to sign up anyway.
ReplyDelete1. Would you buy a car, house or other large investment without having important questions answered, like gas mileage, condition of engine, what are the exact payments each month, etc? Yet we are expected to buy into NAIS blindly!
2. Why does the NAIS document allow only for depopulation, not treatment or prevention, when disease is suspected in an area? Someone's chicken is suspected of bird flu (less than 300 human deaths worldwide but 1000's die of regular flu each month in the US) and all the birds, perhaps other animals, in a 6 mile radius are killed, the great majority never having come in contact with the suspected sick bird! That is 140 sq miles of dead healthy birds! Who pays for it? What will be done with all the dead bodies, certainly a vector for other disease?
3. If NAIS is such a great program why are there so many anti-NAIS websites popping up on the net? What is it in the NAIS regulations that has so many livestock owners on edge? These websites are overwhelmingly against NAIS for many reasons. Their research using NAIS documents shows that NAIS will only benefit the one entity it was created for, corporate agriculture.
questions for the author pt2
ReplyDelete4. Why do factory farms get only one lot number per groups of animals and do not have to report all animal movements (any one of those animals could be diseased and who would know) while the rest of us have to tag, file birth, death and movement reports (w/in 24 hrs per even or be fined for late reports) on every single critter and risk losing them to depopulation should disease be suspected?
5. Did you know that many have been signed up for NAIS without their permission or knowledge (nearly 14,000 in Idaho). Would you like to be signed up, say for a new car lease without your permission or knowledge, be responsible for the monthly payments and not even sure the car will run?
6. Did you know one of the reasons we are told NAIS is needed is to stop mad cow disease? Yet when Creekstone Beef wanted to test every cow they process for BSE, the USDA says they cannot!!!Creekstone had to take the USDA to court to sue for the right to test for BSE! They lost because the USDA claimed everyone would have to do it and it would cost too much.
7. Do YOU want to tell the govt everywhere you go just because you own a bike, skis, rollerskates, like to go to dances or bars? Since when did we become Russia?
questions for the author pt 3
ReplyDelete8. Did you know that contracts use certain words for a reason that being clarity of what the two parties are signing into? Signing up for NAIS clouds title to your property, basically making you a sharecropper. Look up meanings for "premises" and "stakeholder". lectric law library(www.lectlaw.com) states that the word premises signifies a formal part of a deed,and is made to designate an estate; to designate is to name or entitle. Therefore a premises has no protection under the United States constitution and has no exclusive rights of the owner tied to it. A "stakeholder" is someone who holds the stakes, like in poker, until the true owner is decided.
9. Have you read the NAIS business plan document? Those of us who have are being accused by the USDA of spreading misinformation yet how is it misinformation to disagree with something and tell exactly what it says in the document? We have been told NAIS will not be like what we are claiming it to be, it is just a harmless trackback program for our benefit and safety that will not take away our rights or cost much, if anything? Can we sue them if it turns out they are wrong and we are right after all? Of course not, it is my responsibility to investigate and come to my own conclusions about NAIS and in reading the document have seen I want no part of this program! And many others have done the same thing and come to the same conclusion.
10. Would you agree to do my laundry for me? I also want you to pay ME for you doing my laundry. I do not care if you want to or not, I am sending it to you anyway. I do not care how much it costs you in extra time and money to do my laundry, that you may have to buy another washing machine and oh yes, you must report to the govt every wash load you do besides mine? I am getting a load ready to send your way now and if you resist or refuse it is because you are misinformed! After all, it is for your own good!
I can only equate NAIS with someone wanting to throw a rabid rattlesnake in my living room, telling me it is a puppy that will not bite, but all my eyes, ears and other senses are telling me that this is a dangerous animal that I want no part of!
USDA Secretary Vilsack has been promoting the concept of using sound science, But what does sound science mean? And what does sound science mean in regards to NAIS?
ReplyDeleteTo me, sound science means analyzing all the costs of implementing a program, such as NAIS, versus the benefits a program would provide in controlling, monitoring, and stopping the spread of disease. If the cost outweighs the benefits, it is a scientifically unsound approach to disease management.
According to the 2009 Benefit Cost Analysis performed by Kansas State University with the support and assistance of Neil Hammerschmidt (NAIS coordinator) and Dr. Wiemers (NAIS staff), here is the conclusion regarding equines:
"At this time, we cannot definitely conclude from our analysis and available data whether benefits of full NAIS adoption in equine exceed cost of adoption. More research is needed to quantify benefits of NAIS adoption that we have omitted in the equine industry."
After a 2-year study and almost $500,000 spent, I would take that as a NO for NAIS.
(please see the more user-friendly www.nonais.org site for a continuation of this comment).
As a consumer i support this.If it helps to be be able to track the tainted meat my kids eat, i'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteAs a consumer, and owner of livestock, I know full well that most of the contamination of food occurs at the processing plants. NAIS is just a ploy by Corporate AG to open our market to more low quality imported foodstuffs and open foreign markets to their high priced value added items..they have traceback after all bought and paid for by the small farmers they are driving out of business through the use of the very same program they will benefit from. NICE> Tracking my horse from birth to death will not make your children safe. Learn to cook meat to the right temperature, and practice proper sanitation. The USDA should go back to inspecting the processing plants on a daily basis instead of sitting on their butts playing desk jockey, writing stupid rules and regs that place a huge burden on small farms and hobbiests all across the USA while giving corporate AG a free pass and Welfare programs for the rich..IE Monsanto, Cargill, Tyson/Perdue..This program will not prevent disease, it will only provide scapegoats when corporate AG poisons one of your kids through bad sanitation at the processing facilities.
ReplyDeleteQuote: "As a consumer i support this.If it helps to be be able to track the tainted meat my kids eat, i'm all for it."
ReplyDeleteIt won't track tainted meat, because NAIS ends at slaughter where tainted meat begins. Even USDA admitted in the 2006 NAIS User Guide that NAIS is not a food safety system.
I have 20 chickens that all look the same. I watch a hawk take one away. So I am supposed to safetly climb in my rafters to scan the chickens there (why should they stay there for me?), scan the chickens under the pine trees, scan the chickens eating woodticks and bugs at my neighbors (for disease control) just so I can tell the government which chicken the hawk took. And use the $300 scanner I had to purchase for it. What about the chicken who fries his chip on the electric fence? Or the chips that just plain don't work?
ReplyDeleteSo I ride my horse around the block and I have to report it to the government in 24 hours. What kind of government takes away the personal freedom our fathers fought for? Yet the level 3 sex offender can go where ever he wants? The government can't find 11 million ILLEGAL immigrants, yet they want to keep 24 hour track of over 1 billion animals? What is more dangerous - my chickens, a level 3 sex offender or an illegal immigrant (duh potential terrorist) who won't check in? Just follow the money trail and our political "leaders" and it all makes sense why they would do it. Also-lack of common sense. Does absolutly nothing for food safety or disease prevention.