July 2007

The battle to save our American farms - The fight to stop NAIS

By Bob Parker

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I am writing this as an open letter to all the members of the Missouri House of Representatives and all other State and Federal legislatures across the country. The National Animal Identification System currently being implemented and enforced will be devastating to small farmers and ranchers. Please read the following information carefully as you consider legislation that will stop NAIS that will impact not just cattle, but ALL livestock and poultry from one animal to many. If you raise one chicken, you must have a premise number! Currently in Missouri there are radio ads stating that you must have a premise number for 4-H members and FFA members that have livestock.

While being touted as ''Voluntary at the Federal Level'' by the USDA, they have required each state to comply with the 2005 NAIS draft plan. In Missouri, see pages 6 and 11 of the Cooperative working agreement signed by Fred Ferrell [former Missouri Secretary of Agriculture]. The '05 draft plan requires all property owners with livestock to get a premise ID with the Federal Government. Additionally, it requires each animal be individually be identified with a computer chip by January of 2008, and then in January of 2009, require 14 movements to be reported within 24 hours such as the following according to page 13 of the Technical Supplement to the '05 draft plan.

Examples of 24 hour reporting that Farmers must do under NAIS documents by Jan 2009;

• RFID chip put on/in animal
• Animal moved to your premise [farm]
• Animal moved to another farm
• Tag is lost
• Tag is replaced
• Animal is sighted without a tag
• Slaughtered
• Animal died
• Animal missing

All 14 movement events are required to be reported in 24 hours so that USDA can find any animal in the US in 48 hours. As an elected representative of the people of the United States, have you been aware of this? Imagine the cost and labor involved for producers to comply. If they don't, they face fines, or worse! The USDA is a bigger threat to small producers than anyone I know of!

In Arkansas, their agreement states the following on page 6, "In order to train our livestock personnel to be agents for producers when individual animal ID becomes mandatory, we will continue to use our personnel to work with equine owners in inserting chips in horses for preparedness purposes and create a tracking record for all movements to ready Arkansas to transition when individual animal ID becomes mandatory". Clearly, USDA knows that this will go MANDATORY in each state before long. That is why they continue to say ''voluntary at the Federal Level''. The states will be required to implement the Mandatory aspects of NAIS such as Wisconsin and Michigan are currently doing. May 1st, Dairy farmers must have a premise number to sell milk, so much for Voluntary! In those two states, the program is already Mandatory, as it will be in each state shortly unless stopped.

Please remember that NAIS has always been touted as a 48 hour disease traceback system, and never a marketing system that is currently being touted by Farm Bureau, NCBA, Missouri Cattlemen's, MFA, and others. Those organizations continue to promote NAIS because of the tremendous profits up for grabs by the selling of electronic equipment, insurance issues with liability, Data collection and storage promised to many organizations by the USDA. The consolidation of farms will continue at an unprecedented rate with benefits the big multi-national cooperation's. Additionally the manipulation of markets with this information could be unprecedented.

As a legislator you are just being told that premise ID is all that proponents are after. Premise ID is just the tip of the iceberg with NAIS. They don't want you to know the rest of the story. In Missouri, Farm Bureau has tremendous influence with legislators. Their current legislation touted as ''Freedom to Farm'' was basically written by American Farm Bureau and being implemented by each state FB. This legislation, while some parts are good, will basically give the big Corporate livestock producers the shield they need from lawsuits and regulators as they build huge livestock facilities that impact life quality for area farmers and residents. Have you ever been in a scent trail several miles below a big Hog facility? Doesn't that person have rights to his land too? Shouldn't we keep those decisions in local hands?

My point in bringing up Freedom to Farm with NAIS is to show the continued linkage between these organizations and big corporate agriculture. Sadly, this is who is being represented by these organizations now for the most part. As a family farmer and Farm Bureau board member it sickens me to see what has happened to the leadership in these organizations.

In Missouri, legislation to stop NAIS has been highjacked by Legislators loyal to Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau helped get many of these House Members elected. As we tried to stop NAIS with legislation introduced by Senator Chuck Perguson who, after explaining this complex issue to his fellow Senators, got his Bill 428 passed 29 for and only 2 opposed! When this legislation got to the Missouri House, Ag committee chair Rep. John Quinn completely gutted it and turned it into legislation that would establish NAIS in Missouri! This legislation is HCS for Senate Bill 428 and will be going nowhere, killed in committee.

Speaker of the Missouri House Rod Jetton, who is a loyal Farm Bureau supporter, apparently has refused to help in any way after repeated attempts to explain to him the issues involved. Ag Chair John Quinn and Speaker Jetton could be solely responsible for killing this very important legislation. Hopefully, Speaker Jetton and Rep. Quinn will reconsider NAIS and help to stop it. We are talking about the government controlling the food supply forcing everyone, great or small, to comply with unbelievable regulations, and subject themselves to searches and seizures at the whim of unelected regulators that will be forcing compliance to this program. Do we not even have the right in America to raise our own food anymore without government permission or intervention? Why would we ever allow this as a free people?

It is my understanding that Missouri under Secretary Matt Boatright told the house members from the floor that without NAIS Missouri will become unable to sell or move livestock out of Missouri! He just confirms what I have been saying! He knows where this program is headed! While being touted as ''Voluntary'', it will shortly be ''MANDATORY'' in compliance with the agreement that his office has signed with USDA! Have you as a legislator seen this agreement? Ask them for it! Each State must address this issue and make sure that Farmers and livestock owners do not have to ''mark'', their animals to be able to buy or sell. Our previous disease programs have been most effective and are disease specific and they do not contain the devastating aspects of NAIS.

After many meetings across several states on this issue and meeting literally thousands of farmers and ranchers, I can tell you that they oppose NAIS nearly 100% after hearing about the facts right from the USDA documents. After months of trying to get Missouri Farm Bureau to print the facts about NAIS they have not only refused, but continue to print propaganda and misinformation to their members. Ask Farm Bureau to show you in print where they have told their members about the 14 reporting events or nearly all of the points I have made in this letter. They can't, because they haven't. I can tell you that many Farm Bureau members have dropped their insurance and membership after hearing the truth about what FB leadership has been doing. In Missouri, FB President Charles Kruse signed a letter to UDSA representing MFB that NAIS should ultimately be MANDATORY! MFB policy has never said that! Ask Charles for a copy!

This is not grassroots policy, this is top down information control policy!

USDA clearly says that you cannot get your premise ID removed because once you have cattle in the program, they must be able to track them forever. This is under their currently '' voluntary'' program. Also, their is a strong possibility that by signing an agreement directly with the Federal Government on complying with NAIS, you will bypass any protections the State might be able to give you. Additionally, and this is big point, even if this is stopped in Missouri and you want a Premise number to market livestock, all you do is call the USDA and get one. Our legislation does nothing to stop this program on the Federal level which is exactly the opposite of what Farm Bureau and others have been saying in Ads across the state.

Please let me make my final point in this very complex issue. THE REGULATORY BURDEN OF NAIS WILL BE DEVASTATING TO SMALL FARMERS AND RANCHERS WHO ARE THE BACKBONE OF NOT ONLY OUR MISSOURI ECONOMY BUT TO THE USA AS WELL. UNDER NAFTA AND CAFTA WE NOW IMPORT 44% OF OUR BEEF AND IMPORTS OF FOOD INTO THE US HAVE RISEN 73% IN THE LAST 5 YEARS! These big Corporations have been running things for too long! We must be protected by our elected officials as they continue to slash and burn our US producers on their low road to profits at any price. We still don't know the Cost, liability, confidentiality or the devastation that will happen if this onerous program is not stopped. Wake up Legislators!!

Please support Senator Purgeson's bill in the Missouri Senate as it was written!

We will not falter, we will not fail, we will not forget who is with Big Ag and the multi-national Corporations supporting NAIS. We will remember who is for the small farmer and rancher and our beloved constitution, not only at the election box, but in this fight to uphold our blood bought rights as free Americans. Our civil and religious liberties are not for sale to the highest bidder! The fight for liberty and Freedom are never ending! May God save us from tyranny!