Sold Out by Farm Bureau

[Guest guest]

Below is an excerpt from an article I got about how NAIS began, who

the players were, and what happens when we trust our representatives

to keep watch for us.

I got this in an email; I like the web format better so I just printed

part of it and refer you to the links for complete story. It's long,

but it's interesting, if you care about the direction of food and farm

policy in the US.

-Blair

Here is part 1:

http://www.freedom.org/news/200612/02/bergener.phtml

Here is part 2:

http://www.freedom.org/news/200612/04/bergener.phtml

Email below:

I have been wondering why the Farm Bureau was pushing the NAIS, now I

get it. They will make money running a database. As we have all been

saying " Premises registration is free, membership and use of the

database is not. " Elaine

Fw: Sold Out by Farm Bureau

Regardless of how hard the USDA works to sell the NAIS program over

75% of the livestock producers refuse to go for it. Here is why the

largest agriculture organization in the nation has " Sold Out " . Please

forward to your local FB leaders, members and prospective members.

~~~~Darol Dickinson

Sold Out by Farm Bureau

By Karin Bergener

December 04, 2006 ~~~Reprinted from Rural Heritage Magazine

Farm Bureau members who have asked what their Farm Bureau is doing to

stop the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) are surprised to

learn that Farm Bureau - at least the American Farm Bureau Foundation

- supports the NAIS. If so many members are against the NAIS, how did

Farm Bureau decide to support it? What can members do about it? Can

Farm Bureau's policies be changed? If not, what does that mean for

Farm Bureau members?

According to Farm Bureau's policy statement: " We support the

establishment and implementation of a mandatory national animal

identification system capable of providing support for animal disease

control and eradication, as well as enhancing food safety. Only

non-profit agricultural or meat/livestock organizations should have

control of the animal ID program. Private 'for profit' companies

should not control the program. Cost-sharing support from the federal

government is important for development and implementation. The

identification of animals should not be required until the animal is

moved from the original registered premise [sic]. Producer information

should be confidential and exempt under the Freedom of Information Act. "

The introduction to this policy statement covers the USDA's legal

basis for the NAIS, and the role of the states. It lists Farm Bureau's

two concerns - cost and confidentiality - and adds a third, that the

NAIS should protect producers from food adulteration claims.

Nothing about this statement is fuzzy or difficult to interpret. Farm

Bureau wants a mandatory animal identification system. It wants

taxpayers to shoulder the costs. It wants all information involving

animal movements to be kept confidential.

This policy conflicts directly with other long-held American Farm

Bureau policies. Two of those policies, as stated in Farm Bureau

Policies for 2006, are: " individual freedom and opportunity must not

be sacrificed in a quest for guaranteed security, " and " property

rights are among the human rights essential to the preservation of

human freedom. " How do these Farm Bureau policies square with a

mandatory NAIS?