Register your farm and every unit of livestock

I have not heard about the case in Michigan, but I would very much doubt that they would condemn his entire herd on the off chance that they might have the disease. It's my understanding that while the live animal tests may be inconclusive, once slaughtered a conclusive test can be performed.

As to the pathogens you mentioned, you're right, many of those originate from the packing plant - although HACCP has eliminated much of that concern. The disease they want to keep track of here are things like mad cow, TB, and anthrax, those that do originate w/ the live animal. As to why the USDA won't allow the processor to test all animals for mad cow - I haven't read a valid excuse for that yet! You're exactly right, if the processor wants to pay for it themselves then they should be allowed to do that, they obviously think they can get a premium for it. So be it, it's called differentiating.

The bottom line is it"s about transparency - if a problem is found officials need to be able to track down it"s source and isolate it so the problem can be addressed. This can only add to consumer confidence! Will there be some hiccups along the way - sure there will, the government is involved! That"s why the NCBA (Nat"l Cattleman"s Beef Assoc) supports the program as long as it is run as a cooperation between government and industry. They have been spearheading the effort to develop an industry led system to hopefully eliminate some of those potential hiccups.

Seriously, can you give me a reason why it's a bad thing to be able to trace an animals history?

Track your livestock, sure.

Centralize it into government mandated databases? Why?

Let them track the paper trail if something happens. No need to register people or animals to do that.

I think the paper trail would take way to long to trace in addition to the logistics - storing that much paper would be a nightmare! And if you scan them all so they"re electronic, then you"re right back where you started. The whole point to this is to be able to know in 5 minutes the entire history of an animal.

Hand over the whole database please so we can look at it as part of a criminal investigation.

Oh, yes...it's not your own information, so we have a right to retain a copy of any information we subponea and use it for other, future unspecified purposes.

Having the database "in private control" isn't worth the paper it's written on.

And "paper" in my mind doesn't mean it has to be paper...just means you don't have a central database but instead simply follow the trail from one premise to another through each individual's own records.

I understand we're talking about what-ifs here, and it's a valid concern. It just seems to me like a lot of this could be controlled for in the legislation.

Remember the All Creatures Great & Small books, some of the stories revolved around government work done by the vet...including checking tatoos and recording them right.

Probably even older where state branding laws.

The troublesome part of NAIS and this is what the state effort's like Vermont's is about, is the desire not just to keep records but require them for all, kept in a central database, and for better or worse a database maintained by a private entity.

Should I have to register my few acres because I'd like to have some chickens and pigs? Should I register if I had kids who want to go to the fair?

Should the fair keep track of the names of exhibitors, what they showed, and their addresses?

Absolutely.

Do we *need* a series of databases that keep all this information collected for rapid cross indexing?

Nope.

It invites fishing for information just for the purpose of fishing.

The primary problem it addresses on the face of it -- epidemic animal diseases -- is one we'd probably be much better off as a society, and farmers as farmers, if we addressed root causes such as unreasonably large feeding operations and husbandry practices.

NAIS is aimed primarily at protecting large corporate farms from disease outbreaks which they are particularly vulnerable too, while at the same time exempting many of them from the most onerous requirement (individual animal identification).

• No National Animal Identification System

• Liberty ARK Coalition

They have started it as a voluntary registration because of manpower and because it will ease people in without alarming them so resistance will be more limited when it is mandatory. We just had this conversation at the local USDA office a couple of weeks ago.

That is what I was gonna say. Nothin' new 'bout this. Ever hear of the courthouse, taxes and the federal government? :>)

Allan

• Emerald Farm