Congress Takes Another Potshot at Family Farmers -
Requiring Animal ID Has Nothing to Do With the Food Safety of School Lunches
by Jeff Pausma, grass-based dairy farmer, Fox Lake, WI
Many parents were appalled when we saw on our television screens a video of workers abusing a downer cow with electric shocks because the cow was too sick to stand up. We were even more horrified to learn that meat from that cow had gone into lunches served by the federal School Lunch Program. The scandal at the Hallmark/Westland plant in Chino, Calif., has sparked interest in the current trend of securing local meat from sources that are grass-fed, organic and come from animals raised humanely. Our kids deserve the safest meat in their food. Sadly, Congress is now considering squashing such efforts to get local foods into the School Lunch Program. read more
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund Files Suit to Stop Animal ID Program -
Suit Targets USDA and Michigan Department of Agriculture
Falls Church, Virginia, (July 14, 2008) -- Attorneys for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund today filed suit in the U.S. District Court – District of Columbia to stop the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) from implementing the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a plan to electronically track every livestock animal in the country. The MDA has implemented the first two stages of NAIS – property registration and animal identification – for all cattle and farmers across the state as part of a mandatory bovine tuberculosis disease control program required by a grant from the USDA. The suit asks the court to issue an injunction to stop the implementation of NAIS at either the state or federal levels by any state or federal agency. If successful, the suit would halt the program nationwide. read more
Speak Out Against NAIS
Letter to the Editor printed in WI State Farmer 3/21/2008
By: John Peck, executive director, Family Farm Defenders
I was extremely disturbed by the recent article extolling the virtues of RFID chips in the WI State Farmer (3/14/08), especially when the sponsoring entities (WLIC, DATCP, UW) all have financial interests in creating demand for this expensive technology. The global RFID market is growing by an estimated 30% annually and will top $7 billion in 2008, so one can only imagine the bonanza once Wisconsin goes beyond premises ID to mandate animal ID. read more
Join Family Farm Defenders in Opposing Premises Registration in Wisconsin!
As many of you may know, Wisconsin has become a national battleground state on NAIS. DATCP and its partner WLIC (which actually administers the program as a private subcontractor) have received millions in taxpayer funding to bring this program into existence, and now many bureaucratic jobs and corporate contracts depend upon its implementation. When over 10% of WI dairy farmers refused to voluntarily register their premises, the state was unable to make good on their threat to pull milk licenses since the state's economy could not afford to criminalize so many productive farmers overnight.
Nonetheless, DATCP is now denying milk licenses to new dairy farmers, including many Amish who strongly oppose NAIS for religious reasons, even though grass-based Amish dairy operations are one of the fastest growing segments of the entire industry. The proposed rule change would also allow the state to register farmers against their will and without their knowledge. Worse yet, we know that DATCP/WLIC intend to move towards mandatory RFID chipping, phase two of the federal NAIS program, despite recent scientific studies revealing that RFID chips cause cancer, and thus pose a health threat to both livestock and people. A farmer in MI recently had sheriff deputies under state orders enter his land to place RFID chips in his cattle against his will. And then there is the disturbing story of the Faillace family in VT, documented in the book "Mad Sheep," where a USDA led SWAT team invaded their farm to seize and destroy all of their animals wrongly suspected of harboring some prion type disease.
Family Farm Defenders has been an outspoken critic of NAIS for years now, and recently helped form an organization called Free Wisconsin Pastures with the purpose of filing a lawsuit against DATCP/WLIC/USDA if necessary to stop this absurd program from destroying the future of farming in our state.
Of course, we would rather NOT have to take this issue to court, which is why it is so paramount that family farmers and others concerned about the future of agriculture in WI exercise their democratic freedom to express their opinion and let our elected officials and DATCP bureaucrats know that NAIS is not acceptable in any form.
Please pass this information along to others and thank you for your support.
For a recent action alert on why people should oppose WI Premises Registration law click here...
For a set of NAIS talking points and a sample letter to your state elected official, click here...
For suggestions on what to do if your farm comes under government harrassment for failure to comply with various NAIS measures click here
For a general factsheet on how the USDA's National Animal Identification System and Wisconsin's Premises Registration threaten farmers, consumers, food sovereignty, and local control, click here
Premise ID Enforcement Put on Hold
By: Tim Hundt
Vernon County Broadcaster 5/2/07
The state of Wisconsin has stopped short, so far, of putting farmers who won’t accept a premise ID numbers, out of business. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) issued a press release Friday saying it would still allow milk transporters and creameries to accept milk from farms that did not have a premise ID. Wisconsin's new farm premise ID law went into effect Tuesday. One De Soto area farmer went so far as to say he may sue the state if it doesn’t back off on its mandatory premise ID program. "I have informed them that if my milk license is not renewed I will bring legal action," said Vernon County producer Mark Brothun. read more
For an excellent overview of NAIS and why so many farmers and consumers oppose this program, read Jack Kittredge's article in the June/July 2007 issue of Mother Earth News:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=114666
Farmers challenge government's plan to tag livestock
Shamane Mills
Wisconsin Public Radio, 04/26/07
Some Wisconsin farmers want an exemption to what's called "premise identification." Amish compare it to numbering animals, which they consider a "mark of the beast." Other opponents believe it's an unnecessary government intrusion and are threatening a lawsuit. Officials and farmers squared of... http://www.wpr.org/news/archives/0704.cfm
Livestock Registration Law Opposed
by: Nathan Leaf
Wisconsin State Journal 4/25/07
Citing the need for religious sensitivity and freedom from government, some Wisconsin farmers are pushing back against a state law requiring farmers to register their animal herds. read more
Amish dairy farmers share concerns about livestock IDs
By Tim Hundt
La Crosse Tribune 4/19/07
CASHTON, Wis. — About 200 Amish dairy producers recently met with state officials to again protest a state-mandated livestock identification system they claim will force them to choose between their religion and their livelihood. The “premise ID” law, passed three years ago but set to take full effect May 1, requires all livestock farms to register with the state and receive a farm ID number. The Amish, citing specific Biblical passages, say they are prohibited from buying and selling animals that are numbered, and consider it the “mark of the beast.” Meeting Thursday in an auction barn on Irish Ridge near Cashton, Wis., a number of the Amish producers said they may stop selling milk and animals if they cannot operate without the number. read more
