USDA Three More Public Meetings on Animal Identification*******

[greathorse]

Currently meat with an issue is tracked back to the processor and they take the brunt of the recall. Many cattle are ground into one lot of ground beef which is why if there is an issue with (Ecoli) meat many many pounds are recalled.

With the exception of some niche producers that track cattle and hogs, and in some cases flocks of meat birds, there is no tracking back to the producer. Some niche producers do have a origin identified protocol.

 

[Danaus29]

I know Grimaud Farms Muscovy ducks are identified as coming from their farms. As far as I know they have never had a recall.

As for testing, one cattle ranch wanted to test every one of their cows before it was slaughtered. The govt refused to allow testing of each cow, even though the owners wanted to pay for the tests themselves.

ducks4you, I have read every draft of the bills. I have debated every one until I am blue in the face (not here but with other livestock owners) and I have never said it was a good idea for private producers who sell to individuals.

I do believe there should be certain requirements for large animals being sold for breeding purposes, vet records and vac records. That is something every buyer should expect to receive when they buy large livestock. I do not believe the govt should have those records or even access to them unless an animal is found to have a problem. My grandparents never sold (cattle) breeding stock to anyone without the vet records concerning said animal. They gave the records directly to purchasers, not the govt.

I don't believe the people who will be voting on this legislation will read one word of it other than the title. After all, they didn't read the health care bill.

Animal identification bills are bad legislation, written by the industry giants with the intent of keeping small private producers from becoming serious competition. Animals are just the first food item this will affect. If this passes a veggie bill won't be far behind. That legislation has already been written.

Just in case it's not clear already, I oppose any animal identification bills like this. I would be in favor of testing animals entering the public food chain for disease that can be transmitted by the meat (Mad cow for example) but we all know that will never happen because the govt is preventing testing even of most downer cows. But I am not and never will be in favor of tracking every animal a private owner has, even if that private owner sells to the public because people who purchase direct from the producer are dealing directly with the producer, not some faceless corporation who buys sick and diseased cattle from stockyard lots. I would be in favor of better treatment of animals in the days before slaughter, but only if it affected large groups of animals and not the 20 roosters someone is processing for their family or limited sales.

 

[ducks4you]

I told you that I have been aware of this for several years. I first read about it in a very small publication called, "Illinois Equine," in 2007. Why does the government want to include horses? Americans do not eat horse meat. American horse-owners cannot sell their horses for slaughter for human consumption. What do we eat that eats horse meat? WHY does NAIS want horses to be registered?
The intent of NAIS is to intrude into ALL animal ownership.
I would like some input from the Meat Breeders on this forum. I would like to know how many chicks are lost in a large, privately owned meat bird operation. Are those chicks supposed to be microchipped, recorded, paid for (though dead) in registration money (to a bureaucrat), and tested for disease, then disposed of as this branch of the USDA sees fit (which will cost the breeder even MORE money)?
How about the hatcheries? Do you believe that they will be able to stay in business? I think the costs will sink them.
Right now, chicken, turkey, and duck AND their eggs are really affordable for the average American to buy in their neighborhood grocery store. (~$1.20/dozen eggs and ~ 99 cents/pound to ~$200.00/pound for duck, at least where I live--much lower than beef.)
If NAIS goes into effect, I believe that those prices will soar, as each farm has to recover costs to prevent disease outbreaks, according to the NAIS guidelines. WHAT disease outbreaks from our meat have we had that were epidemic? Please list them, you supporters of NAIS! I want dates, places, #'s of deaths.
Right now the only animals that I am aware of that are microchipped are show dogs, cats, horses (maybe show cattle, too--don't know for sure,) and many family pets. We don't eat them. Aren't you concerned that, in an effort to get as much hamburger meat possible from the cow, that the microchip itself is going to find it's way onto our plate? If this happens, is it safe to accidentally swallow the microchip? I don't know because I don't ingest a lot of metal.
You know SSSOOO many Americans are sick to death with the "nanny state" of ALL of our state governments, and especially our Federal Government.
I believe that all testing that is currently in place to do before you can sell is sufficient. We do NOT need to fix this. It isn't broken.

 

[usschicago1]

I am against NAIS or anything similar, i don't want my animals tracked this is a "free" country. I am too far away to attend any of the meetings, is there anyway i can voice my opinions through a letter to someone or a phone call?

 

[Danaus29]

usschicago1, write to your local state senators and representatives. That will have the most impact. Those are the people who will be voting on it.

 

[Danaus29]

When you combine NAIS and PAWS you have tracking of every single animal in the US, even pet animals like dogs, cats, chinchillas, even snakes. No mention of how feeder mice and fish would be handled but one of the regs even required pond raised fish to be identified somehow. No way that could ever be done.

One year I lost over 10 ducklings to a hawk. Most were around 6 weeks old. That was 6 weeks of feeding, caring, and cleaning I never got back. If I had had to chip or tag each one of those ducklings for some stupid hawk to run off with them I would have shot the hawk. The fine would have been less than the loss of marked ducklings. And why should I chip or tag animals I raise for personal consumption? I know exactly where they were born (hatched), what they were fed, how they were treated, their individual health and the health of the flock in general. This is information the govt does NOT need!

NAIS is set up to benefit the big commercial producers. It would reduce their costs because all they would have to do is herd the animals past an RFID reader and get accurate numbers. If the big industry wants to do this and make a standard for it by all means they should spend their money (they'll get it back by laying off all the employees that now are responsible for daily care of the animals) to implement the program. But it should NEVER be mandatory for small timers who keep their animals for personal use or small private sales. Small time operators should be totally exempt from any and all form of animal identification where the records are held by our "sold to the lowest bidder" govt. Personally I don't think the govt should be given control of any records kept by big companies either.

RFID ear tags are already available and in use by some companies. They still don't prevent the spread of disease or improve mad cow testing. And no amount of traceback will ever prevent fecal contamination of meat products that reach grocery store shelves.

 

[Chickanmanfromarkansas]

Danaus29 wrote:

When you combine NAIS and PAWS you have tracking of every single animal in the US, even pet animals like dogs, cats, chinchillas, even snakes. No mention of how feeder mice and fish would be handled but one of the regs even required pond raised fish to be identified somehow. No way that could ever be done.

One year I lost over 10 ducklings to a hawk. Most were around 6 weeks old. That was 6 weeks of feeding, caring, and cleaning I never got back. If I had had to chip or tag each one of those ducklings for some stupid hawk to run off with them I would have shot the hawk. The fine would have been less than the loss of marked ducklings. And why should I chip or tag animals I raise for personal consumption? I know exactly where they were born (hatched), what they were fed, how they were treated, their individual health and the health of the flock in general. This is information the govt does NOT need!

NAIS is set up to benefit the big commercial producers. It would reduce their costs because all they would have to do is herd the animals past an RFID reader and get accurate numbers. If the big industry wants to do this and make a standard for it by all means they should spend their money (they'll get it back by laying off all the employees that now are responsible for daily care of the animals) to implement the program. But it should NEVER be mandatory for small timers who keep their animals for personal use or small private sales. Small time operators should be totally exempt from any and all form of animal identification where the records are held by our "sold to the lowest bidder" govt. Personally I don't think the govt should be given control of any records kept by big companies either.

RFID ear tags are already available and in use by some companies. They still don't prevent the spread of disease or improve mad cow testing. And no amount of traceback will ever prevent fecal contamination of meat products that reach grocery store shelves.

All I can say is Amen. Don't want it. Don't need it.​

 

[kcfuerst]

I only have one thing to say.

USDA..... kiss my arse! I will never register my birds to anybody for any reason.

 

[hinkjc]

It starts with the animals and eventually they'll have all humans tagged/microchipped as well. All I can say is get educated on what they're trying to do, know where your legislators stand on these topics and vote based on how you feel about it. Moving forward, every election is going to be more critical, to preserve our rights and liberties.

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

Quote:
The "State of the Union" scares me, it truly does...