N.A.I.S., Friend And Foe
June 30, 2009
Lynn Stuter
6/30/2009
At the hearings, many of which have now been held, the USDA got an earful from farmers and ranchers regarding NAIS, and the message, loud and clear, like the majority of the 9,000 comments to the regulations.gov site, was “no how … no way … no to NAIS”; one gentlemen going so far as to ask the USDA officials “what part of ‘no’ do you not understand?” He went on to call the listening sessions a “dog and pony show,” telling USDA officials present that they knew full well that they already had their minds made up about NAIS, that they fully intended to implement it whether the people liked it or wanted it.
2 Comments
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Harold
ACGR's "News with Attitude" 
Thank you Linda …..
Harold, I thought I should put this in the comments section for all to read the response of this small farmer. It is so excellent.
Comment Tracking Number
First Name Sue
Middle Name
Last Name Stretton
City Dry Creek
Country United States
State or Province LA
Organization Name FARFA
Submitter’s Representative
Government Agency Type
Government Agency
General Comment
Comment Mr Vilsack, you have asked for comments from the samll farmers of America.
Here are mine. I raise small stock . They dont bring a lot of money but they help
with my meager income. Your cost analysis says it will only cost a few dollars to
tag and track my animals but there are a few things Kansas state has not
factored in. Nobody is going to sell me those tags for a few cents. If I have to have
a vet or other paid person help with tagging I have to pay. My vet changes $80 just
for the trip. My animals lose tags, rip up their ears and otherwise make it
necessary to replace tags. My original flock came with tags. within a year they
were all gone. More expense. Small farmers do not sell to exporters. They mostly
do local private sales. Exempt us from NAIS if you are so determined to foist an
unpopular and unnecessary program on the rest of the people.
As for privacy. Any 12 year old with a laptop can and has gotten into governmet
and private databases. One of the NAIS bills that has been proposed would allow
foreign governments to get into those databases if they claimed an animal with
disease got to their country. I beleive if I remember correctly it was Mr. Colin
Petersons bill. If someone else has your information and gives it to anyone else it
is no longer private. It becomes public with the first transfer of information. Do you
really think people who work in offices maintain confidentiality? If you do you are
naive.
Liability. If you think that my neighbor would not sue me if one of my animals
came down with something and his got killed in the kill zone you are again naive.
This is America, the lawsuit capitol of the Western world. Of course he would. It
wouldnt take a lawyer long to find out whose herd started the killing/
Premises registration. My home and farm which I live on is not a premises. It is
my home. My animals are not part of a national herd. I bought and paid for them
and I pay taxes on my land. I will not encumber it to the government so that
exporters can have an easier way to buy and sell while they make my way harder.
I also have religious convictions that teach me that marking my land and animals
with a government number is not to be done. There is no “easier” way to do
premis ID it is just wrong-period.
Animal ID. We already have animal ID. We have brands, tattoos, private ear
tags, names etc. Small producers know each animals by name or at least by
sight. When we buy and sell we get a receipt if we buy and sell at a market. If we
buy and sell locally we know who we bought and sold from and often have their
name and address on file so we can call them next time we want to buy from or
sell to them. W have lots of disease program to prevent and treat disease. THe
USDA has only one-kill. Why are you interested in tracing back to the farm of
origin? If old Sally gets FMD she got it within the last 24-48 hours. You dont need
to know where she was born if she hasnt been there in 3 years. You want to make
traceback more palatable? rescind your foolish kill zones and start testing,
vaccinating and treating diseases that actually kill or infect humans.
Here are my recommendations. Leave the disease programs that are already in
place as they are. THey are doing a good job and you know it. If you have a
suspected case, test, quarrantine and only destroy those animals that are
actually ill. Vaccinate the rest. Britain foolishly destroyed it beef cattle and sheep
industry with kill zones and government people who went about carrying the
disease from farm to farm. They foolishly refused to vaccinate. Farmers killed
themselves, genetics were lost and the agriculture economy has yet to fully
recover. Dont do this program. It isnt worth it.