USDA Moves to Make NAIS MANDATORY
 

NAIS – USDA Proposed Rule January 13, 2009

As some of you farmers may be already aware, to the farmers that are not aware the USDA has issued a proposed rule that would mandate NAIS premises registration and animal identification numbers for several of the key federal disease control programs. The Proposed Rule docket can be found at:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-353.htm

The Comment Period Runs Until March 16, 2009

You may submit comments by either of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal:



Go To This Website to submit comments or view comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically. Please state your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2007-00096

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmpublic...PHIS-2007-0096



Postal Mail / Commercial Delivery: Please send two copies of your comment to Docket

No. APHIS-2007-0096, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station

3A-03.8 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD. 20737-1238.



Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its program is available

On the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov.

Which state is that? or is it federal? I understood that each state had to enact it individually and that it couldn't happen at federal level. Was that another of their lies?

So USDA has identified areas where there is a serious disease and want the potentially exposed animals in that area to be identifiable.

Seems like it would be easier to just kill all the animals and be done with it?

How can anyone in clear conscience oppose a method that positively identifies animals within an exposed area that helps to keep every-one's markets open?

Michigan is one of those areas. MDA requires RFID for cattle. It has been mandatory for several years in the TB area and expanded to the whole state last March. Michigan has three zones. The upper peninsula is the TB free zone, the north east third of the lower peninsula is the TB zone and the rest of the state is a lower risk area. Movement from the TB zone requires a movement permit permit. A movement permit just shows that those cows had recent negative TB tests.

It runs smoothly, no hassle and it keeps the markets open to the whole state. Steps are taken to reduce the wild deer population, reduce cattle exposure to wild deer and free annual testing for the TB zone. Once TB is under control and there are no other outbreaks, Michigan will regain their TB free status, further opening markets for Michigan cattle.

How can anyone oppose that?

JMO, this is the beginning of the USDA's push to destroy small livestock farming in the U.S. For those of you that complain, this is your chance to step up. Send your comments to oppose Mandatory NAIS as constitutionally illegal and fascist.

I've read and followed most discussions on NAIS and find that the pro-NAIS arguments are founded on totalitarian controls and false assumptions of technological near-perfection. If you believe in NAIS then you must logically believe that one day it will be logical to tag and track movements of individuals, to deter pandemics. This NAIS is not in the spirit of the democracy of the U.S.

The approach to implementing NAIS has shifted from a forced one to an approach of cooperation and subtle implementation. I just got my most recent letter and if a producer does anything with his animals other than grow and consume them on his place he will ultimately be drawn into the sign up. If a vet is needed, if you transport the animal, if you sell or show any animals or animal products, if you receive any government supplements (even unrelated to your animals), etc, you will participate. It would not surprise me that to get the farm expense deduction on a tax return or property tax deferral as a farm that you will have to ID. It is not that you are going to be forced to register! It is that if you want to function you will be required to register. Compare it to what California did to rid the use of weedeaters/stringtrimmers. They just stated that it is unlawful to operate one within X number of feet of an occupied building. If a potential operator of a weedeater cannot get further than X number of feet from an occupied building then he cannot operate his machine. An owner of an animal will eventually be hit by a similar ruling when it comes to registering his place. He will not be forced to register, he just cannot function without registration! The question is NOT if it is going to happen but when will it hit each of us.

Another NAIS thread? :lookout: Gotta find the tinfoil, gotta find the tinfoil!:TFH:

The Government has no business what so ever in telling me what kind of animals I can raise, where I can raise them, etc. Nowhere in the Constitution does it give them this authority. In fact there is no authority for the USDA. Leave me alone, get out of my face. The collapse of the Federal Government can't come soon enough for me.

ksfarmer why would you need tinfoil? Im not sure how it fits with this topic? It seems to me this could be a problem for people not wanting the Gov. coming on there land and telling them what to do what if a guy never sells his stock and grows all his own stuff .
you know, homesteading hence the name of this forum, personally I will be sending a comment to this sight, because while AMERICA slept i became a slave.

Silosounds; if you raise a cow, it didn't appear by spontaneous combustion. It came from somewhere and it or its mother or its grandmother had a history. If it gets sick I would like to know where it came from and where it went, just in case any of mine have a similar history. If you happen to have a problem with hoof and mouth, blackleg, leucosis, TB, and a number of other diseases, and are my neighbor, then we both have a problem. Personally I will be commenting favorably. I just wish the whole NAIS thing would become fact and we could see if the sky falls or not.(Thus, my tinfoil hat,just in case I'm wrong)

what have people done in the past? I don't recall a huge problem of epidemics in usa on small farms in the recent past. I think a lot of scare-tatics come from the ones who can benefit from this program $$$$$$. It seems to me the only time there's a real problem with anything is when some ones trying to manipulate the masses. Have you herd of codex alimentarius its a law that has been passed and will be executed this will play into the nais. and will control the entire food chain if not stopped. fact is the sky will never fall its impossible and if it could ,tin foil- really. I've never had any problems in my stock because Im not greedy and raise what my land will support and if I buy a new what ever, I buy from people I can trust with the same principles in raising stock , not some filthy sale barn. where the people are selling for a reason.$$$$$$$$$ instead of making laws for me why not ban feed lots where the real problem lies. oh but then we cant feed the nations , teach them to grow there own, but wheres the money in that. and then we loose control of those people. wake up slaves. Im not trying to be disrepectful to anyone but there got to be a better way than giving up rights . I don't want extension agents on my land ,is that to much to ask for ???

At the rate things are going there will be plenty of able bodies ready to hold the clipboard of change....Talk about creating jobs on a bankrupt budget....Wow

I reply to all of these posts that, when they threatened me with noncompliance with their very first letter to me they caused me to bow up against them. I don't like to be threatened!

Just for grins,,,,Recently I had a fellow from the State come by my place to count chickens. I ask for his chicken police ID, he found it funny too. Amazingly he continued to count all 12 of my hens for his records, took him a while....What a day indeed, luckily he also handed out a stack of pamphlets on how to ID a sick chicken....Asked if he'd like to count my cattle he said no he's only here for chickens. "Just doing my job sir he replied, no matter how ridiculous it may seem"....Topside

Lying USDA and the LIES it Tells
 

Yes, it is federal. Yes, it was another one of their lies.

American?
 

It is a shame you have no heartbeat for liberty or the Constitution.

JeffNY, I wonder where that deer came from? It couldn't legally be from Michigan. It is illegal to ship deer out of state and besides, Michigan captive deer have been required to have regular TB tests for some time now.



Now that you can see the positive effect NAIS has in limiting the spread of disease in an area with disease, let's try another step.

Since we have no way in knowing where the next livestock disease will show up or what the disease might be, waiting for it to spread and then tag all the livestock in that area is too little too late. Who knows what cows from that area have already been shipped to other, far away farms? How can USDA focus on potentially exposed animals when they'd have no information about the location of those shipped animals?

I think the old time phrase, "Closing the barn door after the horse is out" fits here. USDA needs a tracking program in place to limit the spread of disease as soon as it is discovered.

Stann, I had your post as the most "over the top" radical rant yet. But YuccaFlatsRanch and wstevenl are giving you a run for the foil hat award in this NAIS thread.

...destroy small farming, track humans.. oh, good grief people, get a grip.

Silosounds:"what have people done in the past? I don't recall a huge problem of epidemics in usa on small farms in the recent past."
Please study up on this subject, first. There have been outbreaks of several livestock diseases in this country just this year. It will likely increase as more and more animals are moved around. There are also other countries that are battling livestock diseases and there is always the possibility that it will visit out shores.
I think a lot of scare-tatics come from the ones who can benefit from this program $$$$$$. It seems to me the only time there's a real problem with anything is when some ones trying to manipulate the masses.
There are easier ways to turn a profit. There isn't much money making opportunity in NAIS. The tags are cheap, the tool to apply them is cheap and operating the database and storing the info is no big money maker either. Your class envy is baseless.
Have you herd of codex alimentarius its a law that has been passed and will be executed this will play into the nais. and will control the entire food chain if not stopped. fact is the sky will never fall its impossible and if it could ,tin foil- really.
I've never had any problems in my stock because Im not greedy and raise what my land will support and if I buy a new what ever, I buy from people I can trust with the same principles in raising stock , not some filthy sale barn. where the people are selling for a reason.$$$$$$$$$ instead of making laws for me why not ban feed lots where the real problem lies. oh but then we cant feed the nations , teach them to grow there own, but wheres the money in that. and then we loose control of those people. wake up slaves.
Not everyone sells thru a Sales Barn because they have sick animals. Every week thousands of animals are sold thru a Sale Barn. Most are healthy. Your "pie in the sky" idea that everyone should (could?) raise their own won't work for 95% of the people in this country. You are not going to prevent the spread of disease by buying from people you trust. Generally, when someone sells an animal, they believe it it healthy. Often diseases are spread by animals thought to be healthy. Your disease-free record is not assured just because you are not greedy. Greed isn't a virus. Disease outbreaks happen to both the greedy and the not greedy. Unless you are in your own bio-dome, you can have a disease problem. I've seen some feed lots that had lots of muddy manure, a real mess. But I can't change the facts that their isn't a higher incidence of disease there than in the same number of cows held on small farms. That isn't how I want it to be, but I can't/won't change the truth.
Im not trying to be disrepectful to anyone but there got to be a better way than giving up rights . I don't want extension agents on my land ,is that to much to ask for ???
That isn't too much to ask. I can think of no reason that an Extension Agent needs to be on your land. Your idea of "giving up rights" is different from mine. I don't think I'm giving up rights when I buy plates for my truck or get a drivers license. NAIS is a tracking system for animals involved in comerse. It doesn't effect on-farm animals. It doesn't control what you raise or how you raise them. Most people are not able to grow their own food and don't want to. I doubt they think of themselves as slaves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Alimentarius

1963!!!!!!!!! Oh, my.

Did HT have a crash? Because my response is gone, and it seems both from yesterday are gone...



In short, NAIS does not stop the spread of disease..


Seems those in support of NAIS are against our freedoms, and rights. These types of people are the reasons why this country is getting worse by the year.


Jeff

Haypoint, in your explanation of NAIS, this is sort of like me hiring a doctor to watch my children on the chance that they may get sick!! That is about the most expensive type of insurance one could get!!!
Why not spend money (since that is what the government seems to want to do) on giving tax breaks and incentives to people who farm responsibly. But no, the government wants to hire a tremendous amount of people to sit around and watch my 4 cows, just in case they get sick and I'm too stupid to put them down or get a vet. That is really pretty stupid and I can't help but agree with some of the more 'radical' posters, seems like there might be another reason for doing that?

I guess its easy to see the one asleep, already.
cockadoodeldoo - cant talk to someone who is drowsy, wont talk to those asleep.
signing off

It is control.. Some would say "Tinfoil time". I bet the same type of people said that when many other laws came about, and at one time were "a vast conspiracy".. The government does not care about disease, about people getting sick or even dieing. If they did, they would have strict policies in that would limit the sale of prescription drugs, they would regulate Physicians more, they would also inspect more of the products that come into this country (FDA related, and it is less than 1%).

NAIS is designed to benefit the big farmer, someone else said it in the other NAIS thread.. This person used a big farm as an example, and its exactly what it is for.. The big farmer exports his products, his market is VAST. The small farmer sells his products to the local fella, or gal. He doesn't export, if he does, it is likely a niche market and his customers I doubt care much about any programs.

NAIS is the biggest false sence of security I have ever heard. So far I have seen the NAIS junkies contradict themselves. First it isn't to stop disease, then it is, then it isn't, then it is. When in fact, there isn't any good answer to disease, except the individual who actually cares.

The cost of this program is going to be quite high. No its not the tags, but paying to have things done.. Examples have already been made.. I asked "who will enforce this, and how?". The answer was the private sector. That private sector is us, its going to be a heavy cost with some. So instead of them coming right out and going "gotta do it". It will be forced on you. It is unfortunate people, and fellow farmers, and those in the industry would be for a program that wont stop disease, but strips us of our rights to be able to move cattle when we want, and to sell cattle when we want. Instead we have to have a "permission" slip of sorts. That permission slip is in the form of NAIS. Either register or you cant sell. Is that what made this country as good as it is/was? NOPE. I wonder if these same NAIS junkies also think the british were right.. Maybe they think the old saying "No taxation without representation" is all tinfoil as well.


It will be I, who gets the last laugh..


Jeff

Harplade, the government isn't watching your 4 cows. that's silly. You aren't still of the belief that they can track RFID tags by satellite are you? If your cows never get a possible exposure to a disease, your cows won't ever be brought up on a database draw.

NAIS doesn't involve or require a lot of staff. It actually reduces staff.

If giving incentives for responsible farming stopped disease, I think that would work. However, lots of responsible farmers fight disease all the time. Check out the questions right here on homesteadingtoday. There is plenty of disease and illnesses among this group.

If NAIS had USDA employees watching your cows or required a lot of staff or could identify when your cows got sick, then I'd be against it too.

Thought it was Voluntary
 

Well... Haypoint isn't singing the "voluntary" song anymore, is he. No, satellites don't track RFID tags by satellite. They track GPS tags by satellite... and that's next. What a sheeple... bahhhhhhhh bahhhhh

I know of farmers who do not even vaccinate against rabies, and some of those do not vaccinate their herd with Triangle 9.. They only do so for show animals, or when they are selling.

There are responsible farmers, and so called responsible farmers. I guarentee it, some of those so called responsible farmers do not culture their cows, to see if they have any mastitis problems.. I know one bag bug, called Staph Aureus.. While not an issue if your not milking the cows (can be spread by flies and milkers).. It is an issue, and a responsible farmer would check to see if he has any cows with it.


There are plenty of examples.. But a responsible farmer would be one who tests their entire herd.. It isn't hard, and could save you $$$. NAIS wont save you a dime, considering it isn't for testing purposes.

NAIS will be enforced through the private sector, which is the individual. That will cost $$$$.


Jeff

I've never heard of a cow getting rabies. Not in Michigan for the past few years. Cats, dogs, bats, raccoons, maybe a horse, but no cows. You think you are responsible because you vaccinate for rabies.

Most farmers don't test for TB. Most states haven't had a case of bovine TB in many years. When TB was discovered in Michigan cattle, were those farmers irresponsible for not testing for it? If so, then every farmer in the whole country would be irresponsible for not testing for it. Right?

Do you send brain tissue out for testing for Mad Cow? If you are going to test to ensure your herd is disease free, you can't just test for a couple common diseases can you?

Uncommon diseases and rare infections crop up from time to time. You'll go broke testing for everything all the time and using a wide range of vaccinations for every disease known to man.

What you propose as a solution or alternative to NAIS would require much more cost to the farmer and much more government oversight. No thanks.

Currently, when there is a disease discovery, USDA manually conducts a trace back. This involves searching sale barn records, when available, going door to door, going over records of cooperative farmers. While this goes on, every possible exposed herd, perhaps the whole state or whole country is placed on quarantine. This is an expensive way to protect livestock.

NAIS is a database that can be accessed in the event of any disease outbreak, giving USDA a direction to look for potentially exposed livestock. It will be enforced by USDA, just as current regulations are enforced. This increased efficiency is likely to cost far less than the current "hit and miss" system they now use.

My comments have not focused on the voluntary or mandatory status of NAIS because Texas Plainsman has told us it is mandatory.

If I make a statement, you require me to back it up.
Where is your proof that USDA is considering GPS capable tracking systems for any livestock. It is hog wash and you know it, or perhaps sheep dip. Baaaaa.

Your view of disease is simplistic.



Was watching a show on the history channel, and they were discussing how how the dinosaurs could have gone extinct. One scientist said "Humans do not control disease, disease controls us".


NAIS will not stop, limit, or erradicate disease. A good example of this, are your examples. Michigan still has a TB problem, even with NAIS.. I think you would like to think we have control over it. We do not, and never will..

Madcow I am not concerned about. I do not feed our animals meat, from my understanding the route cause was what, was being fed animal products. TB I am concerned about, but it seems the threat could very well be from the bovine TB in the deer herd, making its way up here. It seems the problem in Michigan is due to the deer herd, and as long as the route cause exists, it wont be stopped. Erradicating the deer herd is your only option.

Bandaids only cover the wound, but do not heal it. We will NEVER have absolute control over disease. NAIS is control, taking our rights away, it certainly isn't for disease control.


Jeff

As the USDA works on the TB program, the number of infected herds goes down. This is due to several factors. Wild deer baiting stations are now illegal (more government control?). There has been a reduction in the wild deer population because the DNR has issued more antlerless hunting permits. Farmers in the areas that have had infected deer are changing management practices to limit exposure (keeping feed inside or close to buildings, watering near buildings instead of streams and even 10 feet tall fencing).

It is harder to control diseases due to the widespread movement of livestock today. This is quite different than it was 30 or 40 years ago. But with tracking ability, the spread from herd to herd seems to have stopped.

Many years ago, Michigan was able to be designated TB free after an outbreak believed to be caused by TB infected deer. It was wiped out, for a while. Fighting disease is an ongoing battle. No one knows what disease will pop up next. But with a tracking system in place the USDA can move quickly to stop the movement of potentially exposed animals. Often times, limiting the spread is the only way to control a disease.

How is having your cow's tag number on a data base a form of control?

What "right" is being taken away? The right to buy animals without any way of knowing if it came from an area with a disease problem? The right to sell one animal with health papers from a different animal? The right to knowingly or unknowingly sell diseased livestock without anyone tracking it back to you?

AMEN, to that..... what right???? It's like saying the government does not have the right to require vehicle registration with an address....

this debate is about class envy, tax evasion, the the idea that some farmer may have to shell out some cash..... yeah it's about cash, money that should be spent is not being spent so all of us will have suffer some.

you know fences, holding chutes, maybe a vacination program...

I know these things are viewed as optional to some.


What NAIS will do is take away excuses, I didn't know, DID I DO THAT, what do you mean that's my cow.... that's not my cow.....I've never seen that cow before in my life....

NAIS is about traceback.... that's all it is supposed to do, and the sooner the better... and yes it will run some losers out of business, the guys who free range on other's land, sell crap, have no fence, and generally have no business farming to start with....

who cares if they suffer? honest farmers have been suffering because of them, and it's time to stop it.

Several things that make me wonder, do you say things and forget? Or do you simply ramble on?


Both you, and redhogs have mentioned forms of control. Not being able to sell your animals without being enrolled in NAIS, is a form of control. It is big brother saying "you either tag them, or you cant sell them". Other forms are, going to the county fair, and perhaps not being able to to enter if your not enrolled. That is control, and is a far cry from democracy. Not being able to move your animals to another pasture, without reporting such, is control. Reporting the animal in and of itself is not control, but not being able to sell unless you are a part of NAIS is.

Like I said, I think some do not care about our rights and freedoms, and its why they are for more government intervention. NAIS would be fine if used in a problem area. However, the way it is going to be used, as someone else mentioned. Its like hiring a doctor, and having that doctor keep an eye on you, incase you get a disease.. Being that it will be enforced through the private expensive, it will become costly.

Also redhogs, unless they change your milk contract, they really cant say "we wont pick up". Because that would be a breach of contract, and they could be sued for such.. I think the avenue will be your vet, or something else. If your vet says "cant treat anything till its enrolled". It might not be Ag and Markets directly on your farm, but it is indirectly enforced, aka CONTROL..

I dont think either of you can grasp that, so far you have contradicted yourselves.


Jeff

I am not surprised to hear that from you. I do NOT want to run things like you, and I do not have a problem with spending money on my critters.

Already have and do all this....I know, it might amaze you.....

See, it's this attitude that turns people off from listening to you.
Guess I'm a small time "looser" to you, and am supposed to "suffer" since I don't WANT to be "big".

If and when you tag every pig, cow and all the other critters, then it will be fair.

My point is jay, that you immediately make this about big vs. small.... why???

you immediately attack when some one attaches the action of "losers", those who steal by not fencing, by not selling quality, by not running a clean farm, to the possible benifits of NAIS..... if you are truely wanting change or compromise, then meet and answer the concerns that given rise to NAIS....

you can dream about evil government plots or you can address serious flaws in our current system that need fixing now... not later.
IF it makes you feel good to beat your dead horse about government intrusion, feel free.... but isn't it the governments responsibility to step in when the citizens are being exploited or damaged by the actions of a few..... jay, you are probably no the cause of NAIS..... but i don't think you would have to look very far to find on of these losers under a rock in your area.

tell me how to get rid of them, and then we can talk about keeping the old system.

1: Our government doesn't give a crap about us, if they did, they would represent us more. Just about all of those elected officals in Washington do not care about who elected them, ONLY a few months prior to re-election, they actually care, and its fake at that. The government doesn't swoop in and go "bad people, exploiting the citizens". Our government exploits us. Look at what has been spent since October of 08, 1.5 trillion.. Now THAT is exploiting us, our tax dollars.


2: If your talking about them, as far as disease goes. Sorry but we do not control disease, disease controls us.. Very well said by that one scientist on DSC.

Jeff

There is already a tagging method used by the USDA for tagging tested animals. The USDA has dumbed down NAIS to where it is more palatable to some but this shows their intentions are to keep pushing until it is mandatory for all one way or another. One can only believe their final intentions is a program comparable to their original.

The diseases it is targeted for are the ones on the USDA reportable list. Nais isn't about blackleg, vibrio, or lepto the types of diseases or health issues you face everyday with livestock.

If you haven't noticed...most of the "bigger" operations are on the bandwagon...it's not the smaller operations. And what one considers "quality" as compared to another widely differs, the same with a "clean farm".

I didn't say the goverment was evil....I prefer less intrusion. (Most homesteader types tend to think this way....hence the forum....and the name of the forum.)


Move to one of the lovely states that have the program implimented, I'm sure they'll welcome you and your operation with open arms. My state along with two others flat out said NO--and mine is corn and cattle country, BTW.

The "old system"--there is none. I don't want a "new one". As it stands today, if I buy something from the salebarn, its buyer beware. If I buy in the future and all of this is implimented, it's still buyer beware. There is no guarantee it is "disease free". That is NOT prevention. It's a tracking system, just like the GPS devices in the newer cars. Some homesteader types prefer the older things for a reason. :bash:

See I'm not the homesteading type, but I dont like intrusion and the government wanting to know what I do. Why do people take cash under the table? To avoid taxes.. Why did the government make moonshining illegal? Taxes.. Its not the danger, its taxes, the government doesn't care about health, they care about either control, or taxes. It is why raw milk is an issue to them. The more people buy from individuals, the less money they make. Because they really cant claim the money made from sales..

I am not saying NAIS is going to be used for taxes (even though they could easily do so), I am saying even someone who is not a homesteader is concerned over control.. As I said, some seem to LOVE government intrusion.


Jeff

The FDA is now approving Genetically Engineered animals. Go to their website, do a search on genetically engineered animals and find out what they are planning, despite widespread opposition from Most Americans.
They are refusing to label products from Genetically Engineered animals.
If they (FDA/USDA) cared what we thought they'd listen to our opposition. Why should I label my animals if they refuse to label something so abhorrent as a genetically engineered animal product?

New news here
http://beefmagazine.com/animal-id-na...nimal-id-rule/

My thoughts on NAIS is that if someone is raising animals for their own consumption/use and not for profit they shouldn't fall under that regulation. I am not totally opposed to the idea, but I question if it will really do that much to reduce outbreaks and such. I suppose that same logic could be applied to anything (anybody!). Tracking people would probably lead to a reduction of outbreaks, but at a loss of freedom. Same logic, but in the case of animals I don't see a real great potential for the government to abuse such a system.

Wisconsin has implemented a premises ID system for farms. Since this is a "progressive" state, Wisconsin hasn't wasted any time trying to go along with what ever big program comes along (like RealID). Trouble is that none of the Amish will get a premises ID. So the state bent the rules for them and now anyone with an existing farm doesn't need one. There are a lot of new farmers shipping milk cans out of other farmer's tanks. State wasn't hoodwinked for long and now is going after these "illegal" farmers. I guess the Amish view premises ID as a part of the Mark of the Beast deal. The way I look at it though, you can't ship milk without an address, and the ID isn't much different than an address.

I know there was a rabid cow in Oklahoma in 2005. Vaccinating at least gives them some protection if they are at risk for exposure. I also know of a farm in NY that had a rabid raccoon found on their farm (near the cows), but did vaccinate their cows so their risk of contracting the disease was lower.


The problem that NAIS can potentially solve is that there is no single database to track animal movements. So currently, a cow can move across the country, through several owners, live in several states- and unless someone takes the time to track down all those interstate health certificates and match eartags (and hope they were filled out properly), finding out where that cow went and what other animals may have been exposed to it is almost impossible.

The biggest risk is thinking that no one (ie, the Gov't) has a right to know where/when animals move. So, when your neighbor brings in untagged cattle from California, New Mexico, or Michigan directly to New York, Ohio, or Wisconsin without the proper paperwork- YOUR cattle are at risk for Tuberculosis and since there isn't a trail of those cows coming in- YOUR cattle will be tested and destroyed. And your state will lose it's Free status just like CA, NM, & MI. And your "right" to move YOUR cattle freely is removed.

Please don't complain when that day comes.

That's just TB. Now add in VS, Trichomoniasis, pseudorabies, etc.

And it DOES happen...

The systems we have in place now are completely inadequate for proper traceback.

Very true and NAIS will help make that "hole" in the system better by using the trace back method.

It seems some still are not understanding the big gaping hole NAIS still leaves with disease. I understand exactly what haypoint and others are trying to say. By tracing it back to its "original" source, will possibly stop further spread FROM that source.. HOWEVER, you guys are missing the other part. How does NAIS stop an existing spread, that has already left THAT source? Also, how do they know it was from that SOLE source? There isn't anyway to find out, as disease doesn't have a farm name attached to it.

Let me use the deer example in NY..

A deer is tagged with an RFID tag, it travels to NY.. Later the deer ends up becoming ill, and is tested, it is found to have TB. So they trace it back to its source, however that deer has come in contact with 100 other deer at the hunting ranch, etc, or perhaps wild deer. Now they might find out where it came from, but it is pointless, as the wild deer population and other domestic deer might have TB..

That scenario is exactly why they should require testing prior to selling. If that deer was tested prior to being sold to the buyers in NY, and it was tested positive for TB. Then TB would not have spread to that herd in NY. Yet it seems those for NAIS, dont account for this. This is a major hole in the program. Trace back AFTER a disease has been detected. You dont fix a bridge after it collapses, you try to fix it BEFORE it collapses.. I sure would hate to have some of you work on my buildings.. "Naa Jeff, that beam is fine, we will fix the barn after the beam is gone, perhaps the barn will have fallen by then, but atleast we knew!"..

Very shoddy.


Jeff