In April 2004 as a belated response to the confirmed U.S. outbreak of Mad Cow, the USDA unveiled a framework for a national animal identification system (NAIS). The proposed NAIS will eventually require all farms to obtain a seven digit "premises ID number" even if they have just one animal. Each individual animal or group of animals would then be assigned a fifteen digit number. Those states with their own animal tracking systems would likely find their program incorporated into the USDA one. For instance, Wisconsin’s premises registration program which became mandatory Jan. 1st, 2006 will be jointly implemented, managed, and enforced by the WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), the USDA, and the quasi-private corporate-dominated Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium (WLIC).
NAIS Does Not Seriously Address Animal Disease and Consumer Safety
According to proponents of NAIS, it will enable the government to quickly trace a sick animal or group of animals back to the herd or premises that is the most likely source of infection. Unfortunately, this questionable capacity to rapidly assign blame to farmers and ultimately shift liability away from processors, does nothing to address the root causes of animal disease and consumer illness. Without country of origin labeling (COOL), for example, consumers and farmers in the U.S. can not know where their food and feed comes from and thus have no way to avoid possible contamination from faraway sources. Experts now realize that the casual import of dairy cows from Canada and Mexico under NAFTA for U.S. factory farms contributed to the Mad Cow epidemic, while Avian Flu was introduced to West Africa by agribusiness corporations intent upon setting up largescale poultry operations
Highly dangerous, but currently legal, industrial farming practices - such as feeding dried plasma to calves, mixing poultry litter into dairy feed rations, advanced meat recovery, accelerated slaughterhouse disassembly, and streamlined meat inspection, - would all continue unabated with NAIS. Any program that limits itself to tracking live animals while ignoring rampant contamination of both the animal feed and human food supply will not be effective. A clear preventative measure against the spread of livestock disease is to recreate localized bioregional food/farm systems based upon sustainable agricultural practices, yet that is not of interest to industry and thus not part of the USDA agenda.
NAIS Would Further Marginalize and Criminalize Family Farming
Complying with NAIS could cost an estimated $3-20 per animal, the expense either coming straight out of farmers’ pockets, extracted through mandatory “check-off” programs, or else being subsidized by taxpayers. This financial burden will fall heavily on family farmers, especially if agribusiness operations are better situated to take advantage of a proposed loophole for “closed” facilities, allowing them to assign a single lot number to an entire herd or flock of animals.
Those farmers and communities who are morally and/or politically opposed to forms of electronic surveillance, such as RFID chips, as well electronic databases would have no recourse under NAIS. In Wisconsin, for example, Amish farmers – which now represent over 5% of the state’s 16,000 dairy producers – have been vocal opponents of NAIS at numerous public hearings. Under Wisconsin’s mandatory program, though, the Amish would be assigned a number and entered into a computer just like everyone else. Failure to register could incur fines of up to $5000 per violation. Some farm co-ops, marketing entities, and breed registries are already requiring premises registration as a prerequisite for membership.
In some western states where premises registration is still “voluntary,” ranchers have found themselves automatically entered into a NAIS style database simply for renewing their brands. Children have been warned by 4H and FFA instructors that they will not be able to show their animals unless their parents get their farms registered. Vets have similarly been told that they will not be able to treat animals outside the NAIS database, and that they could be federally prosecuted if they fail to report violations. Private clubs and other groups involving livestock could also find themselves required to turn over their membership lists to USDA for NAIS review.
Agribusiness is also taking advantage of the threat of a national disease pandemic to further marginalize smallscale producers. For instance, legislation is pending in some states to outlaw outdoor pastured poultry production and require that all chickens be kept indoors as a response to Avian Flu. Other states are taking aggressive enforcement against raw milk sales due to alleged public health concerns. Expansion of livestock confinement facilities has even been proposed as a counter measure to “agroterrorism.” Whatever data is ultimately compiled under NAIS is likely to be deployed by the USDA and state agencies to do more than just track animals.
NAIS Compromises Food Sovereignty and Local Control
The U.S. Constitution has specific guarantees regarding privacy and property which stand to be fundamentally violated by NAIS. In fact, it is historically unprecedented for the U.S. government to engage in such a sweeping registration and monitoring program. While the USDA’s proposed outsourcing of the NAIS database to a private contractor would frustrate public scrutiny through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), it does not address concerns that the information might still be abused. Like other federal and state preemptive legislation taking away local control over food labeling and factory farming, under NAIS it will be the USDA who ultimately determines who can and who cannot be engaged in agriculture. As a result, food sovereignty – the basic right of farmers and consumers to make democratic community decisions about what they are able to raise and eat - would be ultimately destroyed.
For more information about livestock identification, Mad Cow, and Avian Flu, check out:
GRAIN. (February 2006) Fowl play: The Poultry Industry's Central Role in the Bird Flu Crisis' .Available at: www.grain.org
Grosscup, Ben. (March 2006) National Animal ID Program Backstops Agribusiness While Small-Farm System Offers Real Disease Answers.
Available at: www.nofamass.org/news/nais.php
Little, Amanda Grisom. (March 2006) “Old Big Brother Had a Farm - USDA ID-tag plan for farm animals has some small-scale farmers unhappy.”
Available at: www.grist.org/news/muck/Friday, 10 March 2006/griscom-little/
Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton. (2204) Mad Cow USA. Available at: www.prwatch.org/books/mcusa.pdf
USDA (April 2006). National Animal Identification System (NAIS): Strategies for the
Implementation of NAIS.
Available at: http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/downloads/print/NAIS_Implementation_Plan_April_2006.pdf
For more information on genuine threats to our food supply and effective solutions that insure consumer safety, preserve local control, and support family farmers, contact:
Family Farm Defenders (FFD) , P.O. Box 1772, Madison, WI 53701 www.familyfarmdefenders.org tel. #608-260-0900
Farm Aid, 11 Ward St. #200, Somerville, MA 02143
www.farmaid.org tel. #617-354-2922
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, 8308 Sassman Rd., Austin, TX 78747
www.farmandranchfreedom.org tel. #512-243-9404
Food & Water Watch, 1400 16th St. NW #225, Washington, DC 20036 www.foodandwaterwatch.org tel. #202-797-6550
Missouri Rural Crisis Center, 1108 Rangeland St., Columbia MO 63201
www.inmotionmagazine.com tel. #573-449-1336
National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC), 110 Maryland Ave. #307, Washington DC 20002 www.nffc.net tel. #202-543-5675
Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA)- Mass., 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005 http://www.nofamass.org/programs/nais_info.php tel. #978-355-2853
Rural Vermont, 15 Barre St., Montpelier, VT 05602
www.ruralvermont.org tel. #802-223-7222
Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), 2401 Montana Ave #301, Billings, MT 59101 www.worc.org tel. #406.252.9672
