Legislation proposed to prohibit mandatory animal ID
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Animal Identification System
Henry Lamb
Canada Free Press
September 18, 2006
Another rebellion is brewing across the hinterland. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has targeted ranchers, farmers, horse owners, homesteaders, organic gardeners, and chicken-owning grandmas for participation in a new National Animal Identification System. The targets are unhappy, and are organizing to see that the USDA cannot force participation in this new high-tech USDA program.
Senator Jim Talent, and Representative Jo Ann Emerson, both from Missouri, have introduced legislation in both chambers that will prohibit the USDA from imposing a "mandatory" animal identification program on livestock owners. The bills will also prohibit the use of federal funds to support any state program that mandates participation in a state program.
The USDA, and the promoters of the NAIS, are furious. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in particular, has been a strong supporter of the program. But many individual Farm Bureau members, and some county and state organizations, oppose a mandatory program, and are supporting the Talent-Emerson bills. There has been more than casual talk about widespread defections from the Farm Bureau because of the national association's support for the program.
The National Cattle and Beef Association is also concerned about losing members because of the association's outspoken support for NAIS. NCBA's response to the introduction of the Talent-Emerson bills was considerably less caustic than was the American Farm Bureau Federation's. NCBA's recent increase in membership fees, and the emergence of the competitive R-CALF organization, was already causing concern about member loyalty for the NCBA leadership. According to a Congressional staffer (who must remain anonymous in order to keep his job), the NCBA folks are softening their position on NAIS.
The grassroots community is ramping up its opposition to the NAIS, and generating support for the Talent-Emerson bills.
Karin Bergener, an Ohio Attorney, who is also a founding member of the Liberty Ark Coalition's steering committee, had this to say about the Talent-Emerson bills: "This is a real step forward, The grassroots community has been working hard to get legislators to pay attention to this intrusive program USDA has been trying to implement."
The Coalition, not yet six months old, has attracted 80 organization members, and more than 1200 individual members in 50 states. Half of the states have volunteer coordinators who have organized "Town Hall" meetings and candidate forums during the summer. An online presentation tells the NAIS story, and other materials supplied by the coalition have helped to fan the rebellion that is spreading across the countryside.
In an effort to quiet the growing opposition, the USDA released a publication last April stressing that the NAIS is "voluntary." But when pressed by reporters, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, said the USDA had the authority to make the program mandatory if there was less than 100% voluntary participation.
Originally, the NAIS consisted of three elements: (1) premises registration by 2007; (2) animal registration by 2008; and (3) reporting any movement of livestock off a registered premises by 2009. Grassroots opposition has disrupted this schedule. Wisconsin and Indiana have already enacted state laws mandating premises registration, and several other states are considering similar legislation. The Talent-Emerson bills would prohibit federal funding for these programs, and the future of state programs is now in question.
Although the NAIS has been under development since at least 2002, the USDA has never asked for input from the organizations that now lead the opposition - that is, until about a month ago. A meeting is now scheduled for later this month. The USDA has invited some members of the grassroots community, again, in hopes of quieting the opposition.
Livestock owners are not about to be quiet. They absolutely do not want a federal program that requires them to register their premises, tag every livestock animal with an electronic device, and then have to report to the government any time the animal is moved off their premises. No one knows what such a program would cost, but livestock owners know it is they who would have to pay the bill.
The Talent-Emerson bills may not be the silver bullet that kills the NAIS, but it does put the opposition to the program at the table. Many opponents of the NAIS would like the new legislation to go much further in spelling out exactly what the USDA may and may not do, to livestock owners. These bills will undoubtedly undergo revision as they collide with other bills that seek to authorize a mandatory animal identification program.
Such is the stuff of the legislative process. The opponents of the NAIS have exercised their civic responsibility by organizing, and convincing at least, some, of their elected representatives to listen to their ideas. Opponents know, however, that this legislation is simply a first step. The real work is yet to come.
canadafreepress.com
