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Ironically I got a call yesterday from Dr. Howard asking to come out this week and pick up some eggs to take back for AI testing. The Dept. of Ag used to pay me $10 a dozen to come out once a Quarter and test for AI. I never did it, but if I remember right, they'd pay $5 per bird to swab your birds for AI. They also used to do NPIP Certification relatively inexpensively too.
Now they want to come out and test your birds for free - unless you happen to sell your eggs which I do at which time I am actually paying the State to test my birds. They have also made NPIP testing pretty much cost prohibitive for most of us. The State now charges you $80/hr and the clock starts from the time the Vet gets in his car until he arrives back at the office. The Vet is in Olympia and that's 3-4 hours from me. So consider 6-8 hours and then another 2 hours or so to test the birds (he said it's 2-3 minutes per bird plus 30 minutes on each side for prep and cleanup) and you're looking at about 8-10 hours at $80/hr each year just to get NPIP certified. Care to take a guess how many chicks I would have to sell and ship before I would even break even?
And here's the real kicker, all this just so you can help the State continue to receive Federal funding for AI and NPIP. That's right, the Federal Gov't - you and my tax dollars - already give the State funding for the AI and NPIP programs. Should an outbreak of PT occur, the State loses that funding. So, one would THINK that the State would be encouraging participation in the program and not discouraging it by making it so cost prohibitive. The only folks this hurts are the backyard flock owners because the big commercial poultry farms have no choice but to participate.
Having said all that, yes Julie Broome and Dr. Badcoe are very nice people, friendly, and very willing to help. Truth be told, I don't think they like what's going on either but they just have to do what the Legislature has forced upon them and us. My advice is to let both of them know and your Legislature that this new law they passed this year is completely unfair, bogus, and harmful to the State because it discourages participation rather than encouraging it. Unfortunately, it is often the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and I think the best thing that can happen is if the State sees a complete loss of participation in these two programs. Then they can go back to the Legislature and point to the specific cause being this new Law. Once the State realizes that they can very well lose all that Federal money with just one instance of PT and that the risk is multiplied expotentially by every person who fails to participate, then maybe they will revoke this law and make it worth our while again participate.
Btw, for those who've seen my place, they know I've got two ponds on the property. Every winter I get migratory wild ducks coming through and spending some time on the pond with my other ducks. This is exactly why the State initially was paying me to allow them to test my birds. I'm also up north and those birds are flying south. So how much does the State really care about keeping tabs on AI in this State or in this country?
God Bless,
Yeah....I almost passed out when I asked for a quote for them to travel to Okanogan.
Ironically I got a call yesterday from Dr. Howard asking to come out this week and pick up some eggs to take back for AI testing. The Dept. of Ag used to pay me $10 a dozen to come out once a Quarter and test for AI. I never did it, but if I remember right, they'd pay $5 per bird to swab your birds for AI. They also used to do NPIP Certification relatively inexpensively too.
Now they want to come out and test your birds for free - unless you happen to sell your eggs which I do at which time I am actually paying the State to test my birds. They have also made NPIP testing pretty much cost prohibitive for most of us. The State now charges you $80/hr and the clock starts from the time the Vet gets in his car until he arrives back at the office. The Vet is in Olympia and that's 3-4 hours from me. So consider 6-8 hours and then another 2 hours or so to test the birds (he said it's 2-3 minutes per bird plus 30 minutes on each side for prep and cleanup) and you're looking at about 8-10 hours at $80/hr each year just to get NPIP certified. Care to take a guess how many chicks I would have to sell and ship before I would even break even?
And here's the real kicker, all this just so you can help the State continue to receive Federal funding for AI and NPIP. That's right, the Federal Gov't - you and my tax dollars - already give the State funding for the AI and NPIP programs. Should an outbreak of PT occur, the State loses that funding. So, one would THINK that the State would be encouraging participation in the program and not discouraging it by making it so cost prohibitive. The only folks this hurts are the backyard flock owners because the big commercial poultry farms have no choice but to participate.
Having said all that, yes Julie Broome and Dr. Badcoe are very nice people, friendly, and very willing to help. Truth be told, I don't think they like what's going on either but they just have to do what the Legislature has forced upon them and us. My advice is to let both of them know and your Legislature that this new law they passed this year is completely unfair, bogus, and harmful to the State because it discourages participation rather than encouraging it. Unfortunately, it is often the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and I think the best thing that can happen is if the State sees a complete loss of participation in these two programs. Then they can go back to the Legislature and point to the specific cause being this new Law. Once the State realizes that they can very well lose all that Federal money with just one instance of PT and that the risk is multiplied expotentially by every person who fails to participate, then maybe they will revoke this law and make it worth our while again participate.
Btw, for those who've seen my place, they know I've got two ponds on the property. Every winter I get migratory wild ducks coming through and spending some time on the pond with my other ducks. This is exactly why the State initially was paying me to allow them to test my birds. I'm also up north and those birds are flying south. So how much does the State really care about keeping tabs on AI in this State or in this country?
God Bless,
Yeah....I almost passed out when I asked for a quote for them to travel to Okanogan.
