Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

USDA Strong-Arming Organic Farmers to Join Big Brother-Like National Animal
Identification System

USDA Uses Marketing System to Increase NAIS Registrations
Family Farmers get signed up over their opposition
By Christine Heinrichs
April 7, 2008
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_11455.cfm

Livestock producers who sign up for marketing programs such as Process
Verified, Certified Organic and Non-Hormone Treated Cattle may find themselves
automatically registered in the National Animal Identification System.

The USDA's Agricultural Marketing System's Business Plan, officially released
last week, circumvents the opposition to NAIS, mostly from family farmers and
small specialty producers, who participate in the AMS programs.

Promoted to the general public as protecting public health, NAIS imposes
heavy burdens on small producers, despite their compliance with accepted 
health
and safety standards. Family farms produce proportionately more and safer food
than factory farms. Some have already abandoned their operations in states 
that
are enforcing premises registration, animal identification and traceback
requirements. Family farmers and small producers offer a healthy, safe and 
humane
alternative to food from factory farms.

Although the program is described as 'voluntary at the federal level,' rules
and regulations requiring registration and animal identification for program
participation and commercial sales effectively make NAIS mandatory.

"Once NAIS is tied to an AMS-controlled program, small artisan producers will
be forced into NAIS in order to use even simple marketing claims such as
'naturally raised'," said Mary Zanoni, founder of Farm for Life, an 
organization
supporting sustainable agricultural operations.

Many family farmers have resisted registering their farms with the government
due to the heavy-handed nature of the NAIS program. The USDA claims NAIS is
needed to trace disease outbreaks in livestock animals, but its own
veterinarians have conceded that, the overwhelming majority of livestock can 
be traced
through existing programs. Opponents point out that NAIS does not address
prevention or treatment of animal disease.

Rhonda Perry, a Missouri livestock and grain farmer and member of the
National Family Farm Coalition said, "It is truly disturbing that USDA would 
be
promoting NAIS thru the check-off system, which has for years been taking our 
money
and promoting industrial livestock operations at the expense of family
farmers. The factory farms under NAIS would be permitted to identify entire 
herds
with a single number, while small producers would be required to tag every
animal. This is yet another example of how the check-off system is an 
undemocratic
abuse of our money."

Mark Kastel of Cornucopia Institute said, "It is outrageous for USDA to use
the National Organic Standards Program to coerce farmers into the NAIS 
program.
There are grave concerns that USDA will eventually force dairy and other
livestock farmers to sign up for this expensive and intrusive program if they 
want
organic certification. Since organic certification already requires a
complete audit trail on all animals, bullying organic producers into NAIS is 
onerous
and unjustified."

-- Christine Heinrichs
Author, How to Raise Chickens http://poultrybookstore.com