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You're correct, but those corporate farms already have a plan in place. I have several farms right now dealing with PERS in the herd. They cull immediately, they establish biosecurity zones, they shower in and out EVERY time they enter the barn, they have staff veterinarians, they control ventilation, they track every animal in, every death, every sale, and every truck that moves them out. They give me all that that stuff any time I ask.
Those large farms are already on board.
Here is what will happen with NAIS, I'm almost willing to bet money on it. The government will succumb to to the outcry, the large farms will do as they always have, the small famers will then carry a burden of proving they are comlying with BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. If you've never heard that phrase before, write it down. We use it all the time in Ag and it will eventually pop up with repsect to this issue.
The BMP's will consist of LOTS of record keeping. Where you got the animal, what vaccinations it has, how you clean the barn, what you clan the barn with, where the poop goes, what you feed them, where is your quarantine barn/pen, how long you quarantine, who monitors the quarantine, where you store the feed, what they die of, how you dispose of mortalities, where your birds go and when.
They will almost certainly do away with the government collecting this information up front, but they will insist you be registered in case of an emergency. If and when there is any outbreak in your area they will visit, heck they might visit every year just to check records and make sure your complying (And double heck, maybe it will be me who makes the visit??
I'm a nice inspector, my producers love me.). Anyway, if there is an outbreak and your farm is in the zone they will want your records.
If your animals haven't left the farm and your records indicate that, mind you your records are so well written they have no reason to doubt you, plus they show no indication of disease...you're probably gonna be off the hook. If you have no records, your birds look bad, your neighbor down the road who also against government interference has no records at all and he gave you a bird a few months ago, well then you're gonna get scre*ed.
Everyone has a certain level of responsibility, and this scenario in my opinion, is not very far fetched.
I was told something in college during my first animal science course and I'll never forget it - Dr. Tom Field, my professor, said, "We must regulate ourselves because if we don't the government will do it for us."
It is all about personal responsibility.
Words to live by.
