Web Letters: USDA Bets the Farm on Animal ID Program

Thanks for such a great overview of the NAIS issues on both sides.

The extent to which NIAA is involved in this is startling. Here in Michigan, where NAIS is mandatory under our Bovine TB Eradication Program, all cattle must be tagged with NAIS-compatible RFID tags and you must register your premises with the federal government in order to buy the tags. Our state NAIS coordinator is Mr. Kevin Kirk, who is also on the board of the NIAA. Our state and federal tax dollars pay for him to attend these conferences and for him to push NAIS in our state and also to help the NIAA further their stake in NAIS.

It is a convoluted, complicated program that is like a spider web, and the American citizens are the flies!!

Lisa Imerman

Waterford, MI

I would like to thank you for a comprehensive article on NAIS that shows both sides of the issue, something the USDA is choosing to remain blind to.

Under NAIS, I would no longer be able to own horses. There are many reasons, but the main one is that as a Christian, I am not allowed to take the mark of the beast, as told about in Revelations. It is not the real mark, but many call NAIS the mark ON the beast.

NAIS would probably destroy or make a big dent in the horse industry (#2 in Texas, #5 in the US). Without horses, I would have a lot of money, but those whom I support by buying feed, saddles, brushes, horse blankets, fencing and horse show fees wouldn't. Multiply this by thousands and you see how many in the horse industry would go out of business. Did you know that signing up for NAIS tinkers with property titles?

Contracts use certain words for reasons of legal clarity. In the NAIS document those who own livestock are called "stakeholder" and the land upon which the livestock presides is "premises." Contracts use certain words for the reason of legal clarity. The electric law library states that the word premises signifies a formal part of a deed, and is made to designate an estate; to designate is to name or entitle. Therefore a premises has no protection under the United States constitution and has no exclusive rights of the owner tied to it. "Stakeholder" (the term the USDA is using to identify us) refers to a third party who temporarily holds money or property while its owner is still being determined.

By signing up for NAIS, title to property rights are clouded, basically making the owner little more than a sharecropper. Livestock owners will be under closer surveillance than illegals, drug dealers, convicted six offenders/child molesters. Currently in the USA, only convicted six offenders/child molesters have to register their premises and file movement reports. Livestock owners will be criminalized without ever having commited a crime.

The reasons we are told NAIS is needed keeps changing (disease protection, bioterrorism, global market etc.). Yet when Creekstone Beef wanted to test every cow they process for BSE, the USDA says they cannot! Creekstone had to take the USDA to court to sue for the right to test for BSE! And what does my reporting to the USDA when I take my horse off my property have to do with big ag selling beef to Japan?

Actually, NAIS is not about protecting us from animal disease; it is a marketing plan for corporate agriculture. NAIS traceability ends at slaughter which is where many food issues happen. Why does the NAIS document allow only for depopulation?

And what does my reporting to the USDA when I take my horse off my property have to do with big ag selling beef to Japan? Many are being signed up without their knowledge or permission (in Idaho, nearly 14,000).

If this program is so great, why are there only anti-NAIS websites? The only pro- NAIS ones are government sites.

Currently in the USA the only segment of society required by law to register their premises and file movement reports are convicted sex offenders/child molesters. Back in 1938, Nazi Germany required all Jews to register all their property with the govt. We all know how that turned out! There are many more reasons to be against NAIS. Your article outlined many of them very clearly.

Keep up with the issue, as it will ultimately affect all those who eat!

I can only equate NAIS with someone wanting to throw a rattlesnake in my living room, telling me it is a puppy that will not bite, but all my eyes, ears and senses are telling me that this is a dangerous animal that I want no part of!

To find out more about this insanity check out these websites and organizations fighting NAIS.
NoNAIS.org
Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Liberty Ark Coalition
Arkansas Animal Producers Association
Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association

Read the documents at Naisinfocentral.

Susan Barackman
Morning Light Studios

Paris , Texas

Thank you for a wonderful article! The bottom line is that NAIS will benefit the big corporations at the expense of both farmers and consumers. If you own even one livestock animal (including horses, pet fowl, or a pot-bellied pig), then NAIS will directly impact you. And if you eat food, NAIS will indirectly impact you.

Here are some resources for people who want to learn more about NAIS and what can be done to stop it:
The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
The Liberty Ark Coalition
NoNAIS.org

Judith McGeary

Austin, TX

Now "our" national, and state, government bureaucrats, having no idea how to do anything productive, have come up with yet another "pork" program that is totally useless, costly, counterproductive, and stupid. But, since these persons do not have the moxie to make it in private business, they have become "ho's" selling out to whomever or whatever will slip them the most tax-free money under the table and hiding behind the shield of authority cause no end of destruction to America, which they obviously hope to destroy.

Tucano Fulano

Big Bear, CA

On the immigration reform issue, the Senate phone system was crashed by people calling in to protest. It worked! There is no reason why it could not work on other issues! Also, vote out the incumbents in both parties in 2008 to send them a message. There are still some small farmers out there, and we need to keep them!

Pervis J. Casey

Riverside, CA