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Published October 5, 2006 in issue 0540 of the HooK.
By LISA PROVENCE
The government calls it "depopulation," an effort to stop a potentially deadly livestock disease. But to the Henshaws and some independent farmers, what happened was a horror, an overreaction, and-- with nearly 80 hogs taken by 12-gauge shotguns-- overkill. And now the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating whether its own procedures were followed in the depopulation.
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Friday September 1, 2006
By BUD CHAMBERSStaff Reporter
More than 200 persons attended a Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance meeting Thursday night, its lead operative Judith McGeary suggesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture will develop a program that she considers “oppressive to the small farmer/rancher” in putting together a National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
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Area farmers oppose plan
Friday September 1, 2006
By Jean Laquidara Hill TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
The USDA has asked that animals wear the numbers, without specifying the means. The proposal was drafted in concert with big meat agribusinesses and high-tech companies, Ben T. Grosscup of NOFA Mass told the audience.
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August 6, 2006 Gun owners don't have to do it. Pedophiles don't have to do it. AIDS carriers don't have to do it. But, apparently, my chickens and sheep are dangerous and will be subject to constant surveillance once the National Animal Identification System becomes mandatory.
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STRAYHORN Calls for A Halt to the National Animal Identification System and Perry’s Mandated Participation of this New Fee—or as most Texans call it a Tax STRAYHORN WANTS IT ADDED TO SPECIAL SESSION
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Derry Brownfield July 6, 2006 NewsWithViews.com

The players involved in the National Identification System (NAIS) are varied. The world Trade Organization (WTO) reached an agreement among participating countries several years ago in Uruguay called the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements. The SPS agrees that each member country can make regulations that must be met by other member countries in order to TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL GOODS with each other.
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Letter to the Editor----By Jason Page Vice President, International Texas Longhorn Assn. Kingwood, Texas Ph. 281 852 8869

A group of intercity teenagers were touring a rural farm and the owner was providing some facts of life with real on-site demonstrations. An old milk cow was used to demonstrate the origin of milk. As the farmer squeezed one of the four vertical appendages a huge white stream of milk squirted in a rainbow arc to the ground, right in front of the big eyed viewers’ feet. In shocked amazement, one boy turned ash white and fainted straight forward, flat on the ground. This young man demonstrated the early signs of becoming a Senator and creating legislation to govern rural livestock producers.
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USDA ID-tag plan for farm animals has some small-scale farmers unhappy
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By Amanda Griscom Little 10 Mar 2006

If only Orwell could get a load of this.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is promoting a system that would have farm-animal owners and livestock handlers attach microchips or other ID tags to their furry and feathered charges so they could be monitored throughout their lifetimes by a centralized computer network.

By ANITA MILLER - News Editor Posted: Wednesday, Mar 08, 2006 - 03:50:10 pm CST

Just because your neighbor keeps a couple of chickens- or a family has a horse or more for pleasure riding - doesn't mean they think of themselves as ranchers.

But they will, and they can blame mad cow disease, bird flu and the like for the inconvenience and expense.

Citing the need for quick response to outbreaks of disease, state and federal authorities are ushering in a program that will eventually call for the registration, via electronic tagging, of every cow, horse, donkey, sheep, goat, hog, chicken, turkey, duck and goose - just to name a few.

The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state animal health agencies. In Texas, the deadline for compliance with the first part of the program, Premises Identification, is July 6.
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By Cathy Roemer Times-News correspondent

BURLEY -- The enormity of tagging and electronically tracking every animal in the United States hit home to livestock owner and 4-H Club leader Maria Brown recently when her Cassia County extension office informed her that 4-H steers in the county would be required to have radio frequency identification/electronic identification (RFID/EID) tags this year. Another surprise, she said, was when the extension office asked if she had registered her "premises" (farm,ranch,acreage) with the state. Brown's experience is what farm animal and poultry owners across the nation can come to expect in the next few years as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Identification System (NAIS) becomes a reality. Also known as the U.S. Animal Identification Plan (USAIP), the USDA is behind the "farm to fork" tracing system that allows governmental tracking of animals from birth to slaughter.
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