by Carol Ekarius
In March , escritoire of agriculture Tom Vilsack read he would view get the USDA ’s National Animal ID System ( NAIS ) mandate .
Since NAIS is of great concern to large- and small - shell farmers and ranchers as well as backyard farm animal owner , I decided this month ’s “ Food for Thought ” tower should be dedicated to the topic .
Rather than question an author or documentary producer as I usually do in this venue , I twist to Ann Wells , DVM , of Praire Grove , Ark.
Although we ’ve never met in somebody , I ’ve become practical friend and colleagues with Dr. Wells over the last decennary or so . She ’s not only a sheepherder , but also one of the leading small - ruminant ( sheep and goats ) refer veterinarians in the area , and she serve for nine old age as a livestock medical specialist at what ’s now known as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service .
I choose Dr. Wells because I know she has a strong and balanced view on NAIS — both the benefits and the problems .
A RecapNAIS was proposed under a draft plan exhaust by the USDA in 2004 .
The programme propose registration of all livestock “ premises , ” from farms to backyard , or anyplace where farm animal animals are maintain — from a single Equus caballus or a exclusive chicken in suburbia to giant feedlots and poultry planetary house contain thousands of animals .
It also called for the use of Radio Frequency IDs ( RFID ) or injectable transponder to track private animals , with the information keep in a national database for tracking all animal movements .
In other words , taking your horses for a track drive ? Report their movement . Showing a couple of Gallus gallus at the county fair ? Report their movements .
USDA ’s justification for NAIS is that it will aid protect the wellness and economic well - being of the state ’s farm animal and poultry by enable effective tracing of an fauna disease to its source .
However , the program ontogeny was back in part by an industry - led group that counts among its members some of the big corporal players in United States nitty-gritty product ( for instance , National Pork Producers , Monsanto and Cargill Meat ) , manufacturer and marketers of high - tech animal - identification equipment , and industrial farms .
One area of the plan that has caused much controversy is a jumbo loophole : The corporate farms could get a single identification number for all of the fauna on their premise , whereas we little , diversified producers need to register each and every animal .
To say the least , the political program , which was bill as voluntary , has beenextremely controversial with many farmers , rancher and backyard livestock owner , many of whom are decline to voluntarily sign up . Thus , Vilsack brought forth the comment about making the program mandate , and a new round of heated up argument erupted .
NAIS Pluses and MinusesDr . Wells says , in possibility , the upside of the NAIS “ would help to more quickly locate herds or flocks of animals that were exposed to a potentially living - threatening or economically sinister disease . I tend to think of things like avian flu and foot - and - mouth disease but probably mad moo-cow as well . ”
NAIS , it turns out , probably would n’t turn back disease outbreaks ( something I recollect most of us would support ) , but in truth , no one really know .
“ There is n’t really potent scientific grounds — no studies or models — suggesting how effective this could be , so are we drop hundreds of millions for something that may not be effective , ” Dr. Wells explains . “ That is a item that needs to be made to Congress . I think the Congress members who funded this in all likelihood just thought it would be easy to ID every premise and every animal , but there are giant challenges .
“ Anyone who call forth animals realizes that if there ’s a path to lose a tag , animate being will do it . Lost tag would have to be replaced with tag end that bear the same ID number . No one fuck how much that will cost .
“ Also , you have datum overload . There would be trillions of bit of info , and no one has tested how tracing back that entropy would work in an factual outbreak .
“ And finally , nobody has compute out how to bear for it . If every animal owner has to buy tags , and a proofreader , and collect all this information on all these animals , and participate it into databases and so on , and so on , and so on , who is going to yield for all that ? The monetary value could be enormous , but no one fuck . ”
An NAIS Alternative?As currently purpose , NAIS obviously has shortcoming , but there must be other solutions to developing a system of protecting human wellness and the economical elan vital of the livestock industry .
Some of the suggestion we discussed let in :
With a vested interest in the outcome of the NAIS program , livestock owners demand to actively participate inUSDA listening academic session .
“ We little mass really can be heard if we deliver a uniform and coherent message , ” says Dr. Wells .
