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Several new bills have been introduced in the Missouri Legislature to oppose the implementation of the National Animal ID System (NAIS) at the state level. This article is an update of an article written last year which also includes background on what NAIS is and why it is a serious problem for small farmers. This article goes into the recently proposed bills and what can be done about them.
Brief Background
The National Animal Identification System, NAIS, or "Animal ID" is a USDA mandate requiring farmers at all levels to register with the government to obtain a "Premises ID". The farm must then tag and register all livestock, including horses, cows, rabbits, chickens, etc., individually with the state government and update the registration when new animals are born or obtained, when animals are sold, butchered, or die, and when animals enter or leave the premises. Large operations which deal with animals only in job lots may register in groups, but small farms must register animals individually, so each chick and each time you ride your horse off your land. NAIS is an unfunded mandate, which means it must be paid for by the state governments and the individual farmers.
NAIS is sometimes described as helping track disease entering the food supply back to the originating farm, but the overwhelmingly most common food disease is E. coli, which enters the food at the processing plant, not the farm. As for combating other livestock born diseases, there are already state programs in place, and the highest risk is at factory farms where animals are raised in close proximity, are malnourished, and have little genetic variation, not small farms.
Current Bills
Several bills have recently been introduced. SB931 was heard by the the Senate Agriculture Committee on 22 September 2008. The Committee Substitute version introduced at that hearing may differ from the bill text linked above, but information suggests that the main elements remain intact:
- prohibits the state from participating in the USDA's NAIS program;
- allows the state to support a voluntary animal id program if funding is approved;
- prohibits the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) from forcing NAIS premises registration or participation in the USDA's NAIS without authority from the Missouri legislature;
- allows individuals to voluntarily withdrawal from NAIS;
- prohibits any entity or organization receiving state funds from requiring adhering to NAIS for participation (closing a back door the USDA has been using via 4-H, farm programs and so forth to force "voluntary" participation).
This is similar to SB428 (2007) and HB478 (2007) discussed in our previous article. Current bill, HB1884 was read on 28 January. It has some of the same provisions but is not as complete. SB428 is the bill that is preferable to move forward.
The link below contains information about how you can
More Information
Copyright © 2007 The Misty Manor, Mercers
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