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Is NAIS Voluntary?

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Traceability Equals COOL
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Quotes with a Capital V
Quotes
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Is NAIS Voluntary?
Talking Points for NO NAIS
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RFID Chips
RFID pg 2
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What will it Cost?
Articles of Importance to NAIS pg 1
Articles of Importance to NAIS pg2
Senators on NAIS
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State Government is Watching
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12 Questions to ASK about NAIS
Reportable Diseases
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SPS Agreements
Sustainable Development and or Agenda 21
Codex Alimentarius
A visit from the USDA
Current Equine Outbreaks
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Real ID / NAIS Comparison
No NAIS Sites
Dogs going NAIS
The Paradigm Shift: Total Transformation
Eminent Domain
Food Safety
What is the Hegelian Dialectic?
Delphi Technique
Are your pet foods "scientifically" made like you think?
NAIS is Censored by the Media
Guide to Good Farming Practices

Definition of voluntary as is used in government' "Federal agriculture support programs were established on two cornerstones -- local and voluntary.  The local committees that provide oversight or advice for informal education, conservation, production support, credit, etc. are vestiges of this Depression-era bedrock belief.  That programs should be voluntary (incentive based) rather than regulatory was the other bedrock belief (although this has been eroded with more and more programs being banded together such that to accept one you have to accept the full package)."  Quoted from the Dean of a Law School

No NAIS is not Voluntary, the trick is that the State accepted incentives, which is the money that  the USDA alloted to Each State via the Cooperative Argeements. The States accepted the Whole Package, if you accept premises id, then you will have to accept the animal id and animal reporting,  now you have the answer.

 

Have you been  fraudulently signed them up as ‘volunteer’ for NAIS Premise ID with a capital V??????

Government farm ID plan raises questions
BURLEY -- The enormity of tagging and electronically tracking every animal in the United States hit home to livestock owner and 4-H Club leader Maria Brown recently when her Cassia County extension office informed her that 4-H steers in the county would be required to have radio frequency identification/electronic identification (RFID/EID) tags this year.

Another surprise, she said, was when the extension office asked if she had registered her "premises" (farm,ranch,acreage) with the state.

Brown's experience is what farm animal and poultry owners across the nation can come to expect in the next few years as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) becomes a reality. Also known as the U.S. Animal Identification Plan (USAIP), the USDA is behind the "farm to fork" tracing system that allows governmental tracking of animals from birth to slaughter.

In light of concerns about tracking disease outbreaks, the USDA claims that new technology will be utilized to replace outdated tracing techniques, such as branding, tattooing, and ear tagging. Recent attempts at utilizing bar codes on cattle didn't fare well because the codes are often hard to read and the lifespan of bar codes are relatively short, reported the USDA in recent studies.

"I knew the program was out there," Brown said. "But I didn't really think about the impact it could have." Like Brown, many owners of small non-commercial farm acreage (i.e. hobby farms, mini-farms and recreational animal owners) remain curious as to what the program is and exactly who will fall under its scope.

NAIS is a combination brainchild of the USDA and the National Institute for Animal Agriculture whose corporate members include Cargill Meat Solutions, Monsanto Company, pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough and the National Pork Producers Council. In 2002, the USDA, through the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) began drafting standards and a strategic plan to develop a "48-hour trace-back" system to stop any outbreaks of animal disease -- such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Idaho is one of many states to sign on and is fully engaged in the first goal of NAIS -- premises identification. With voluntary sign up sparse, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture brought alongside Global Animal Management (GAM), a data collection company. According to ISDA records, GAM has "successfully extracted data from Idaho's brand database," which resulted in 13,907 unique premises identification numbers."

A brand owner, Brown questions tactics of a "voluntary" program that has assigned more than 13,000 brand owners premises ID numbers.

However, the proposed plan will make premises and animal identification mandatory with enforcement in January, 2008. By January 2009, the NAIS strategic plan says the system will be "fully implemented with all components mandatory" including "enforcement for the reporting of animal movement."

As a 4-H leader and horse enthusiast, Brown says reporting animals going from one premises to another is a logistical nightmare. "Between March and August I would have over 1,100 incidences of animals coming and going (that) I would have to report on," she said.

But John Chatburn, ISDA animal industries deputy administrator, said ultimately that (that) may not be the case.

"The USDA has not put out the regulations yet, only the draft," he said. "There are a lot of things about this that are still up in the air."

That concerns legislative and computer systems analyst Vicky Davis of Idaho Falls.

"This is a snowballing Big Brother program," she said. "It will turn animal ownership into a privilege, not a right."

Davis said it could eventually lead to a plethora of mandatory health exams, vaccinations and how and where animals are kept.

"You have to look at it long-range to see how intrusive it is," she said.

Jason Ahola, University of Idaho beef extension specialist, said it is important to remember that the plan is only a proposal at this point.

"We don't have answers to some of the specifics," he said. "At this point there are a lot of unknowns about who will pay for the equipment and how all animal movement will be recorded."

Ahola said there is a lot of misinformation "out there."

However, Mary Zanoni, a Cornell University attorney, notded numerous specifics in her recent analysis of the NAIS proposed standards and strategic plan.

"The 'premises' that the Department (USDA) plans to subject to global positioning system (GPS) surveillance and distance radio-frequency readings are the homes of these tens of millions of citizens," she said. "What the department is proposing is enormously intrusive surveillance against unsuspecting innocent citizens who have done nothing more that to own an animal which is a common form of personal property under our American system of law."

In light of what Zanoni says arre "numerous and insurmountable flaws" in the proposed plan, the USDA should "carefully consider alternative methods that would be much more successful in accomplishing its stated objectives."

Brown prefers a voluntary rather than a mandatory program.

"Let those who benefit from it be the ones to use it," she said.

Cathy Roemer lives in Jerome and can be reached by e-mail at cm@roemer.myrf.net.

NAIS will prohibit any person from:

* removing an identification device

* causing the removal of an identification device

* Applying a second identification device, altering an identification device to change its number

* Altering an identification device to make its number unreadable,

* Selling or providing an unauthorized identification device

* Creating a counterfeit identification device


NAIS proposed rules

Animal owners must report within 24 hours:

* any missing animal

* any missing tag

* sale of an animal

* death of an animal

* slaughter of an animal

* movement of an animal off the farm or homestead

* movement of an animal on the farm or homestead


Timeline for National Animal Identification System

April 2007 -- Alert livestock owners of the NAIS requirements

Fall of 2007 -- Final rules published governing home and animal surveillance

January 2008 -- Premises registration enforced

January 2008 -- Animal identification required and enforced

January 2009 -- Required reporting of all animal movements enforced

In order to get Federal Grants you WILL BE REGUIRED TO comply with the "Voluntary" NAIS with a capital "V",  note who is behind ALL of this in ALL States,
Your State Cooperative Extention Service, Your Local Farm Bureau, Your Farmers Co-op. Your Grange
 
Cost share funds available for Tennessee cattlemen
http://southeastfarmpress.com/news/092606-tennessee-cattle/
Sep 26, 2006 8:31 AM

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is reminding cattle farmers that in
order to receive priority funding for new projects, applications for Cattle
Improvement cost share assistance need to be turned in no later than Sept. 30.
“The Cattle Improvement Initiative has really taken off, and a lot of farmers
have already applied for limited dollars to either purchase a new bull or
invest in some new handling equipment, but there’s still time for others to apply,
” said state Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens.
After Sept. 30, applications will still be considered but on a first come,
first serve basis regardless of whether it is a new or second time project.
“This is a great opportunity for farmers to get 35 percent up to $700 toward
the purchase of a new bull and 35 percent up to $850 toward the purchase of a
new headgate or chute for better cattle management. And, many farm suppliers
are offering interest-free payment options, so now is the time to make that
investment,” added Givens.
The Cattle Improvement Initiative is part of the Tennessee Agricultural
Enhancement Program, a comprehensive agricultural development initiative
established by Governor Phil Bredesen and supported by the Tennessee General Assembly with a $6 million state appropriation. The TAEP seeks to improve cattle production, expand animal health services and to encourage farm diversification and innovation by providing cost share funds to farmers for investment in these areas.
In the first year of the program, approximately 1,400 cattle producers were
approved for $1.8 million in cost share funds for purchasing better breeding
stock and handling equipment. Since July 1, an additional 1,000 producers have
been approved for $1.3 million in cost share funding.
“We’re making this investment because cattle and calves represent the
largest generator of farm income in Tennessee. If we can help Tennessee cattle
producers improve the quality of their herds a little bit, then it translates to
big gains for a $500 million annual market,” said Givens.
“Health and proper management is just as important. If you can’t catch and
hold your cattle, you can’t properly care for them. That’s why the handling
equipment cost share funds are so important.”
To participate in cost share assistance, producers must register their
livestock farm, or premises, for the National Animal Identification System. Farmers can register their livestock premises at Farm Service Agency, UT Extension, Farm Bureau or Tennessee Farmers Co-op locations.
Premises registration forms and instructions are also available from TDA online at
www.tennessee.gov/agriculture/tpis or by calling (615) 837-5120.
Producers must also be certified under the Beef Quality Assurance Program, a
two-hour educational course on cattle management and care sponsored by the
Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association. Certification is $10 for members and $20 for
non-members. More information on BQA classes is available by contacting TCA at
(615) 896-2333 or info@tncattle.org, or by visiting their Web site at
www.tncattle.org.
An application and more information about specific eligibility requirements
can be found online at www.picktnproducts.org, or contact the Tennessee
Department of Agriculture’s Cattle Improvement Initiative coordinator at (615)
837-5304, or via e-mail at Cattle.Improvement@state.tn.us.

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Premises Registration will be an "Official" USDA unique seven Character identifier.
 
In the New User Guide it states on Page 22:
The premises identification number (PIN) is assigned permanently to a geophysical location. If an owner or entity sells his/her farm, the next operators of the premises use the original premises identification number that had been
assigned to that location. If the seller buys a new location to build a new operation that never had livestock, he/she would register that location and obtain a new premises identification number (PIN).

Premises Identification = Encumbrance

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