What is NAIS and how do you feel about it?

[McGoo]

I just want to understand if and why people are opposed to NAIS. I don't have an opinion, however I saw someone's website and they are opposed to the Identifying of animals.

Looking for your opinion,
Colleen

 

[DrakeMaiden]

NAIS is very bad for small farmers and/or hobbiest. You would have to pay to chip every animal you own (excluding dogs and cats for now) and would have to record any time your animals left the property. Horse owners would have to record everywhere they rode their horse and when.

Owners of factory farms would only have to get one id # for their entire flock.

This is supposed to control the spread of diseases, but the factory farm animals are more likely to have diseases than a small flock.

In my opinion, this program would put small farmers out of business.

Edited to add: All the info you ever wanted to know is here

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I am against NAIS!!!

There is new language for the 2007 farm bill being looked at right now. If you don't want animal identification, please contact your state's senator and tell them so.

Jean

 

[speckledhen]

My main objection is that it is part of Homeland Security and you will lose all rights to your privacy on your property-they can come in without a warrant and seize your animals without testing and destroy them. You will have no recourse. Giving an address a number will do NADA to control disease. There are already identifying systems in place and if they'd stop doing stupid stuff like feeding dead cows back to cows, they'd eradicate BSE, etc. It basically makes your animals part of the National Herd and you really lose ownership, in effect. It has nothing to do with disease control and EVERYTHING to do with being in the global market for big producers. It will put the little guy out of business. The way they are being so sneaky (getting 4Hkids to register their parents, sending agricultural surveys to people who are not in agriculture and threatening fines if they dont fill them out, etc, just to get their information to register them against their knowledge) about it is reason enough to be against it.

 

[McGoo]

Thanks so much for your insight. Seems that big biz is always finding ways to make more and the little guys lose out!

I will be sure to spread the word.

 

[Bubba]

Big Brother Is Coming Fast

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Coming?????????????? Hes done came and went and is back again takin names!

 

[greyfields]

I'm torn by the issue. I have registered my flocks in all the appropriate programs. Nothing but good and timely information has come from it.

I was in England during one of the foot & mouth crisises. I saw piles (and smelled) piles of tens of thousands of sheep and beef being mass culled and either buried in pits or burned. The number of animals destroyed was over 7 million.

With better animal identification and notfication, an attempt could have been made to selectively cull rather than the mass execution of the animals. What was clearly obvious at the time was there was no way to track animal movement, so there was no way to know who, what and where should be culled. So everything was blanket culled. Someone was forced to point at a map, draw a circle and say "kill it all".

I can't fathom how many millions of animals will have to be culled in the US when we have an outbreak (and if not foot & mouth, then something else is inevitable). If NAIS can in any way prevent the needless execution of animals, I'm for it. I have read so many heart breaking stories how people lost their entire flocks of heritage breed animals and genetics they had been working with their whole life. It was all gone in an instant. And that really strikes home for me and what I hope to accomplish with my farm.

Let's be the nation that learns from the mistakes of others.... but I'm not holding my breath. Things are only ever decided unduer, during or after a crisis in this country.

 

[amcclaran]

re NAIS: another great site for info is westonaprice.org

 

[KingsCalls]

Allan Jackson's song about missing the little man! We'd be the "little man". The Gov. wants to put a chip in your animals so they can keep up with them! What about putting a chip in all those "illegals"? They seem not to be able to keep up with them!!!!!!!!! Ya wanted my view...that's it.