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The Federal Animal ID Program
D uring a public meeting last March in Ellsworth, Maine, two of the state’s top agricultural officials were “pied.” The pies weren’t apple or cherry—they were manure. The meeting was one of 50 being held across the state to persuade livestock producers to sign up for a state animal identification program linked to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Following the cow pie action the state backed off pushing its ID program, deciding to wait and see how the feds proceed.
The Ellsworth “big stink” represented what Maine journalist Andy Kekacs termed a “firestorm of criticism” of the animal ID program. Such resistance is spreading fast across the nation. Small farmers and ranchers who raise livestock are banding together in virtually every state to oppose NAIS. A virtual battle is also growing on the Internet to make the resistance more effective nationally.
Opponents say the USDA’s animal ID program is designed to favor “the big boys” in the industry over the small timers. They charge that the program’s added expenses will drive smaller livestock folks out of business. They claim it is unconstitutional, an invasion of privacy, and a violation of property rights. They insist that the federal program will create a huge bureaucracy that will not achieve its stated purpose, which is to stop the spread of potential epidemics such as Mad Cow Disease.
1984 Meets Animal Farm
A s the USDA puts it, the goal of the National Animal Identification System is “to establish a system that can identify all premises and animals that have had direct contact with a foreign animal disease or domestic disease of concern within 48 hours of discovery.” Congress gave the USDA authority to create such a system in 2002 through the Animal Health Protection Act. Subsequent to that and the 2003 outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in Washington State, came the U.S. Animal Identification Plan (USAIP), the predecessor to NAIS. According to the USDA, “a partnership of more than 100 animal and livestock professionals from 70 associations, organizations, and government developed the USAIP.” Critics of NAIS charge that industry heavyweights such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Monsanto, Cargill Meat, and the National Pork Producers dominated that group.
The USDA reports, “On April 27, 2004, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the framework for implementing the NAIS.” A year later the USDA released its draft plan for NAIS. Word soon got around about its specifics, igniting the “firestorm of criticism” that led to cow pies being flung at the Maine agricultural officials this year.
Three Strikes and You’re Out of Business
T he NAIS has three components: premises identification, animal identification, and animal tracking. Premises are all the places in the U.S. that raise cattle, deer and elk, goats and sheep, llamas and alpacas, poultry and pigs. The USDA wants each premise’s address, contact name, type of premises, and phone number. All premises will be assigned a seven digit premises ID number. All information collected will be fed into a state database linked to a federal database, which is connected to global positioning satellites. The USDA assures us that all data will remain private, used only for its intended purposes. Critics doubt this, especially since data will also be shared with “big boy” industry database owners.
Animal identification involves tagging all the animals on all the premises registered—the USDA estimates there are 40 million such critters. Each animal will be assigned a 15 digit animal ID number. But an exception is being made for premises with a large amount of animals that are bred and moved in groups. In those cases these premises can get 13 digit “group/lot” ID numbers.
Thus big operatiors will have to purchase only one animal ID tag for each “group/lot,” while small timers will have to buy one for each animal. A 2003 article in Beef magazine, “Bigger is Cheaper,” reported on a study by Kansas State University. The study, a joint Beef /KSU venture, calculated the cost per animal ID and associated technology. This was $24.66 for a herd of 62, compared to $3.99 for a herd of 1,250. The average national cattle herd is about 20.
The study assumed the animal tag was a radio frequency ID, which can track each animal. This technology requires other equipment, such as software and electronic readers. The USDA says it is “technology neutral” on this issue and that other forms of ID, such as retinal scans and DNA, are under consideration by the industry.”
In the third NAIS component, animal tracking, the USDA will use its Animal Tracing Processing System, “commonly known as the metadase system, that will allow state and federal animal health offcials to query NAIS and private databases during a disease investigation.” The USDA is currently entering into “cooperative agreements” with “private [i.e., agribusiness] database owners.” According to the May 16 Ag Weekly newspaper, under NAIS animal owners must report, within 24 hours, any missing animal or missing tag and any sale, death, or slaughter of any animal or any movement of an animal off or within a farm or homestead.
The USDA now maintains that participation in NAIS is voluntary—a change from its 2005 draft—“while the system is being phased in.” But it also states, “If the marketplace, along with State and Federal identification programs, does not provide adequate incentives for achieving participation, USDA may be required to implement regulations.” Translation: make participation mandatory.
I n an April 2006 press release, current Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced his agency’s timeline for implementation of NAIS. “We recognize this represents one of the largest systematic changes ever faced by the livestock industry,” he said. In the release the USDA stated, “The implementation plan continues to set an aggressive timeline for insuring full implementation of NAIS by 2009.”
But reports on nonais.com and other websites detail USDA efforts to assign premises ID numbers (PINs) without the owners’ permission. At the end of May Walter Jeffries wrote, “A while back the USDA called me and tried to get me to answer questions so they could sign me up for a PIN. Today I got a call from the government again and the woman wanted to give me a PIN number. I asked what she was about and she would not say. She just said she needed to give me a PIN number. I refused and hung up on her. Farmers and homesteaders in other states have had the same experience.”
Another recent report, from the Texas Animal Health Commission Watch, “Phone survey = Premises Registration SCAM,” confirms Jef fries’s assertions: “Everyone needs to be aware that there is a possibility that some USDA/TAHC ‘Hired Guns’ or unnamed subcontractors are in the process of conducting some sort of agricultural/farm survey. We have received word that this is going on east of Dallas. The phone number showing up on caller ID is from the 405 area code, which is in the Oklahoma City area. They call you up on the pretext of conducting a survey. Later you find out you have been voluntarily signed up on the premises ID tax roll. Do not be a victim.”
As to the second component of NAIS, the USDA stated last April, “The animal identification phase is being implemented by March 2006 and 100 percent (40 million) of new animals tagged by 2009.
In May Congressperson Ron Paul (RTX) introduced an amendment to the USDA’s annual spending bill that would have cut further funding for NAIS. That effort failed, but in a statement titled “Stop the National Animal ID System,” he remarked (in part) later that month: “The intrusive monitoring system amounts to nothing more than a tax on livestock owners, allowing the federal government detailed access to their private property…. Once NAIS becomes mandatory, any failure to report and tag an animal subjects the owner to $1,000 per day fines…. NAIS also forces livestock owners to comply with new paperwork and monitoring regulations. These farmers and ranchers would be paying for an assault on their property and privacy rights, as NAIS empowers federal agents to enter and seize property without a warrant—a blatant violation of the 4th amendment. More than anything, NAIS places our family farmers and ranchers at an eco nomic disadvantage against agri business and overseas competition.”
Paul pinned his hopes on Senate action to defund and stop NAIS. But perhaps the real power to stop it lies in the strength of opponents mobilizing on their farms and homesteads, in their communities, through their blogs, websites, and discussion groups spreading information like a firestorm.
Michael Steinberg is a veteran activist and writer living in Connecticut.
Z Magazine Archive
Announcements
LABOR - May 1 is May Day. Workers of the world will celebrate the 124th anniversary of International Worker’s Day. Born out of a call for an 8-hour workday in the United States, this day is an opportunity for all workers to show their solidarity with one another, as well as to renew the call for labor rights.FARM CONFERENCE - The Farm Conference on Community and Sustainability will be held May 24-26 in Summertown, TN, in partnership with the Fellowship of Intentional Communities. Tour green homes, see sustainable food production, learn about solar installations, alternative education, midwifery, and more.
Contact: Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com; http://www.thefarmcommunity.com/.
PALESTINE - The Conference of the Palestinian Shatat in North American will be held June 3-5 in Vancouver. The conference will examine the future of the Palestinian liberation movement.
Contact: palestinianconference@gmail.com; http://www.palestinianconference.org/.
LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association’s 45th annual conference will be held May 3-5, in Portland, OR. This year’s theme is Labor Under Attack: Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future. A call for presentations, workshops and papers is currently underway.
Contact: PNLHA, 27920 68th Ave. East, Graham, WA 98338; 206-406-2604; PNLHA1@aol.com; http://www3.telus.net.
MARIJUANA - On the first Saturday of May marijuana legalization activists will hold informational and educational events, rallies and marches in over 300 cities around the world.
Contact:http://globalcannabismarch.com/.
ECONOMICS - The Union For Radical Political Economics will hold its 39th annual conference May 9-11 in New York City.
Contact: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/2013/.
RECLAIM THE DREAM - The 2013 Poor People’s Campaign & March from Baltimore to Washington D.C. will be May 11. Communities, schools and unions interested in participating are encouraged to contact the Baltimore People’s Assembly.
Contact: 410-500-2168; 410-218-4835; BaltimorePeoplesAssembly@gmail.com; Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Baltimore and the Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly, 2011 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218.
MOTHER’S DAY - The 17th Annual Mother’s Day Walk For Peace will be May 12th, in Dorchester, MA. The walk began in 1996 for families who had lost children to violence. The day has become a way for thousands of people to financially support the work of the Louis Brown Peace Institute.
Contact: http://www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/; http://mothersdaywalk4peace.org/.
NATO 5 - An International Week of Solidarity with the NATO 5 has been called for May 16-21. Supports call on supporters to raise awareness of the NATO 5 and support funds for the defendants on the one-year anniversary of their preemptive arrests.
Contact: nato5solidarity@gmail.com; https://nato5support.wordpress.com.
MOUNTAINTOP - The 2013 Mountain Justice Summer Activist Training Camp will be held May 19-27 in Damascus, VA. It will be a week of workshops, field trips to view Mountain Top Removal coal mines, direct actions, and service project.
Contact: http://rampscampaign.org/.
FEMINIST SCI-FI - The feminist science fiction convention WisCon 37 is scheduled for May 24-27 in Madison, WI.
Contact: WisCon, ? SF3, PO Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701; concom37@wiscon.info; http://www.wiscon.info/.
ANARCHY FEST - A month-long Festival of Anarchy is scheduled for May in Montreal. The festival includes The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 19-20).
Contact: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/; http://www.radicalmontreal.com/.
LABOR - The International Labor Rights Forum will present: Down the Supply Chain, Driving Corporate Accountability, on May 22 in Washington, DC. The Labor Rights Awards Ceremony and Reception will honor pioneers in supply chain worker organizing, working solidarity and international labor rights policy.
Contact: http://laborrights.org/.
MULTICULTURE - The 26th annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) will take place May 28-June 1, in New Orleans.
Contact: SWCHRS, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 290, Norman, OK 73072; 405-325-3694; ncore@ou.edu; www.ncore.ou.edu.
MEDIA - The 2013 Alliance for Community Media Annual Conference will be held May 29-31, in San Francisco, CA. Participants will include educators, community leaders, media professionals, journalists, nonprofit leaders, policymakers and students.
Contact: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/.
RADIO - The 38th Annual Community Radio Conference is schedule for May 29-June 1, in San Francisco, CA, with discussions and workshops.
Contact: 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004; 202-756-2268; comments@nfcb.org; http://www.nfcb.org/.
BRADLEY MANNING - On June 1, a rally will be held at Fort Meade in support of Bradley Manning.
Contact: http://www.bradleymanning.org.
BIKES - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 24th annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, MA on June 3, with several bike rides scheduled, music, exhibitors and more.
Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; mail@bikesnotbombs.org; www.bikesnotbombs.org.
LEFT FORUM - The 2013 Left Forum will be held June 7-9, at Pace University in New York City.
Contact: 365 Fifth Avenue, CUNY Graduated Center, ? Sociology Dept., New York, NY 10016; http://www.leftforum.org/.
VEGAN FEST - Mad City Vegan Fest will be held in Madison, WI, June 8. The annual event features food, speakers, and exhibitors.
Contact: 122 State Street, Suite 405 B, Madison, WI 53701; madcityveganfest@gmail.com; http://veganfest.org/.
ADC CONFERENCE - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) holds its annual conference June 13-16, in Washington, DC, with panel discussions and workshops on civil rights, media and other topics.
Contact: 1990 M Street, Suite 610, Washington, DC, 20036; 202-244-2990; convention@adc.org http://convention.adc.org/.
CUBA/SOCIALISM - A Cuban-North American Dialog on Socialist Renewal and Global Capitalist Crisis will be held in Havana, Cuba, June 16-30. There will be a 5 day Seminar at University of Havana, plus visits to a cooperative, urban garden, community development project, social research centers, and educational & medical institutions.
Contact: cuba@globaljusticecenter.org; http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/.
NETROOTS - The 8th Annual Netroots Nation conference will take place June 20-23 in San Jose, CA. The event features panels, trainings, networking, screenings, and keynotes.
Contact: 164 Robles Way, #276, Vallejo, CA 94591; registration@netrootsnation.org; http://www.netrootsnation.org/.
MEDIA - The 15th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 20-23, in Detroit.
Contact: 4126 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48201; http://alliedmedia.org/.
GRASSROOTS - The United We Stand Festival will be hosted by Free & Equal, June 22 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The festival aims to reform the electoral process throughout the U.S.
Contact: http://freeandequal.org/.
SOCIALISM - The Socialism 2013 Conference is scheduled for June 27-30 in Chicago, featuring talks and panel discussions.
Contact: info@socialismconference.org; http://www.socialismconference.org.
LITERACY - The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) will hold its conference July 12-13 in Los Angeles under the heading, Intersections: Teaching and Learning Across Media.
Contact: 10 Laurel Hill Drive, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003; http://namle.net/conference/.
IWW - The North American Work People’s College will take place July 12-16 at Mesaba Co-op Park in northern Minnesota. The event will bring together Wobblies from branches across the continent to learn new skills and build One Big Union.
Contact: http://workpeoplescollege.org/.
PEACESTOCK - On July 13th, the 11th Annual Peacestock: A Gathering for Peace, will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI. The event is a mixture of music, speakers and community for peace. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace.
Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; billhabedank@yahoo.com; http://www.peacestockvfp.org.
CHILDREN’S DEFENSE - July 15-19, join clergy, seminarians, Christian educators, young adult leaders and other faith-based advocates for children at CDF Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee, for five days of spiritual renewal, networking, movement building workshops, and continuing education about the urgent needs of children at the 19th annual Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry.
Contact: cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org; http://www.childrensdefense.org.
ACTIVIST CAMP - Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp will have sessions in July and August in Ben Lomond, CA; Portland, OR; Charlton, MA. YEA Camp is designed for activists 12-17 years old who want to make a difference in the world.
Contact: info@yeacamp.org; http://yeacamp.org/.
LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 18-19 in New Orleans, with workshops, presentations and panel discussions.
Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.
LABOR - The Eastern Conference For Workplace Democracy: Growing Our Cooperatives, Growing Our Communities, will be held at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, July 26-28.
Contact: info@east.usworker.coop; http://east.usworker.coop/.
WOMEN/LYNNE STEWART- Radical Women is asking for support letters and cards to be sent to Lynne Stewart. Stewart is a civil rights attorney and political prisoner who is currently in jail. She has breast cancer and authorities have denied her request for transfer from her Texas prison to the New York City hospital where she received medical attention during a prior bout of breast cancer. Send messages and cards to: Lynne Stewart 53504-054, Federal Medical Center Carswell, P.O. Box 27137, Fort Worth, TX 76127.
Contact: 747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109; 415-864-1278; RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com; http://lynnestewart.org/; http://www.radicalwomen.org/.
HAITI/WOMEN - Haiti’s government is considering a legal reform measure that would prohibit and punish all sexual assault, including marital rape. MADRE and the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict are launching a petition to raise international support for this push to address violence against women in Haiti.
Contact: 121 West 27th Street, #301, New York, NY 10001; 212-627-0444; madre@madre.org; http://www.madre.org.
SYRIA/MIDDLE EAST - The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) is currently seeking funds to assist more than 200,000 refugees fleeing violence in Syria.
Contact: https://www.mecaforpeace.org.
FOLK FESTIVAL - The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival will be held August 2-4, in the Berkshires, NY.
Contact: http://www.falconridgefolk.com/; falcridge@aol.com.
WAR RESISTERS - The War Resisters League will hold its 90th anniversary conference, Revolutionary Nonviolence: Building Bridges Across Generations and Communities, August 1-4, at Georgetown University. The event will focus on the U.S.’ long history of antimilitarism.
Contact: 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012; 212-228-0450; wrl@warresisters.org; http://www.warresisters.org.
POPULAR ECONOMICS - The Center for Popular Economics is holding its 2013 Summer Institute August 4-9 at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. No background in economics is needed for this intensive training. This year’s theme is, The Care Economy: Building a Just Economy with a Heart.
Contact: Center for Popular Economics, PO Box 785 Amherst, MA 01004; 413-545-0743; programs@populareconomics.org; www.populareconomics.org.
VETERANS - Veterans for Peace is holding the 28th annual convention August 6-11 in Madison, WI. This year’s theme is, Power To The Peaceful.
Contact: http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/.
DEMOCRACY - The Democracy Convention will take place August 7-11 in Madison, WI. The convention brings together nine conferences including topics such as media, education, defense, race, environment and others.
Contact: https://democracyconvention.org/.
MEN - The 38th National Conference on Men & Masculinity: Forging Justice: Creating Safe, Equal and Accountable Communities, presented in partnership with HAVEN, will be held in Detroit, MI, August 8-10.
Contact: ccardinal@haven-oakland.org; http://www.nomas.org/.
OCCUPY - An Occupy National Gathering will be held in Kalamazoo, MI, August 21-25.
Contact: natgat2013@gmail.com; http://occupynationalgathering.net/.
COMMUNITIES - The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for co-operative or communal lifestyles, with workshops, events and entertainment; scheduled for August 30-September 2 at the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia.
Contact: http://www.communitiesconference.org/.
LABOR DAY - The 29th annual Bread and Roses Festival, a celebration of the ethnic diversity and labor history of Lawrence, MA, will be held September 2, in honor of the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike. There will be music, dance, poetry, drama, ethnic food, historical demonstrations, walking & trolley tours.
Contact: PO Box 1137, Lawrence, MA 01842; 978-794-1655; http://www.breadandrosesheritage.org/.
OCCUPY WALL STREET - September 17 is the two-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Events are planned in New York City and worldwide.
Contact: http://occupywallst.org/.
TEACHERS - The 13th Annual Conference, “Teaching for Social Justice: The Politics of Pedagogy,” will be held October 12 in San Francisco, CA. The free event features workshops, resources, and free childcare.
Contact: 415-676-7844; teachers4socialjustice@yahoo.com; http://www.t4sj.org/.
HAITI - International Action, which brings clean water and chlorinators to Haiti, seeks office space capable of housing up to six people and their office equipment.
Contact: Zach Bremer, Zbrehmer@haitiwater.org; 202-488-0735; http://www.haitiwater.org/.
MEDIA - The Union for Democratic Communications and Project Censored are sponsoring a joint conference on media democracy, media activism and social justice to be held November 1-3 at the University of San Francisco. Proposals for presentations, workshops and panels from activists and critical scholars are invited.


