[Jena]

I raise cattle and I'm all for a tracking system. I don't see it as Orwellian at all. It is something that is needed.

Imagine if this had been foot and mouth, a fast moving and easily transmitted disease, rather than BSE? Half the nation's cattle would be infected before they ever traced the first one to the farm.

If, by chance, I had some nasty disease on my farm, I'd rather they were able to to track it to me quickly and erradicate it (yes, I know that could mean the end of my herd) than have a market in chaos and/or dying animals through-out the country.

They should have done this a long time ago and I wish they'd just quit the bickering and get on with it. Ear tags aren't the best in the world, but it's an easy way to start in the right direction.

Jena

 

[Jena]

There is no factory farm down the road. There is no factory farm of cattle anywhere in this, or neighboring, counties. There are hog factories, but the are containment facilities, meaning that they contain their stock and their diseases. IF they told me to eradicate my hogs because of one of them, so be it.

If they eradicate your herd, they compensate you. It might not be enough...how do you put a price on years of selective breeding, but they don't leave you high and dry. IF they did....the bank would pay in the long run. They are the ones who "own" my cattle.

Who is being protected? I am. If the industry is wiped out by a disease, then I have no market anyways. If all animals are suspect, then who's going to buy mine? If my animals are diseased, then they ought to be eradicated. If they aren't, but thought to be, I understand that this yet another risk in the farming world.

In a perfect world, farmers would not be so paranoid and would understand that the greater good has to come from personal sacrifice. If I go out today and find one of my cows stumbling about...what would I do? Shoot, shovel and shut up? Perpetuate a problem? Cover it all up and hope that I get away with it? Or call the vet? Calling the vet would probably lead me to financial ruin, but at least I will sleep at night without fears of what I'm doing to the food-eating public.

If you value your cattle more than the people who eat them, you need to find another line of work.

The cattle industry has had a long time to come up with their own system. They have dragged their feet long enough. A kick in the pants from the government will definitely get the ball rolling. Tell me where to get the tags, chips or whatever it is and I'll be first in line to get them.

I realize that I often stand alone on my principles, but in the end, that's all I got anyways. I am not afraid of doing the right thing and I am not afraid of trying to do the right thing, only to have it go very, very wrong. My conscience will be clear.

I am a small producer. Large enough that I depend on my cattle for a living, but small enough that margins are extremely thin. I can compete along with the rest of them, and have been. It is not easy, but I see this as a total asset, not a liability.

Jena