The USDuh Proposes Another Animal I.D. Tracking System

Here we go again, another "traceability" proposal from the USDuh.  Look, all I want is smaller government, I really don't care that other countries buy meat from the USA.  It is just another means of taxation.  Read more here...

NAIS Belly Up?

I suggest we remain vigilant.  If the government holds true, we will see this again, under a new name and different reg's.  In fact, the article, pretty much says so. Read more here
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/business/05livestock.html?scp=1&sq=usda&st=cse

Tell Me Again Why We Trust The USDuh Organic Lable

I normally don't post twice in one day. Heck, I have a hard time posting twice in one week. But I read this little article and it just added fuel to my fire. I have many soap boxes on which to stand and this is one of them. I am continually amazed that we, as a people, trust the government to do anything for our "well being". I will post the article here, but it must be noted that I am not the author of it. This article was written by Mr. Alan Nation of the Stockman Grassfarmer. You can read more articles on his blog, found at www.stockmangrassfarmer.net Read on.


USDA De-certifies Large Organic Livestock Producer

Thursday, 03 December 2009
The USDA has decertified Promiseland Livestock LLC from the National Organic Program for four years citing multiple improprieties including not feeding organic grain to feedlotted cattle, selling fraudulent organic feed and "laundering" conventional cattle as organic. The company could have been fined millions of dollars for these violations but the USDA declined to do so. This calls into question just how tough the Obama administration is going to be in enforcing the organic law. Miles McEvoy, the new director of the National Organic Program, had previously stated that the program was entering a new "age of enforcement." His predecessor under the Bush administration largely refused to enforce the law at all. Promiseland with operations in Missouri and Nebraska was a major supplier of replacement dairy cattle to Dean Foods (Horizon Dairy), Natural Prairie in Texas and Aurora Dairy based in Colorado. Attention will now shift to Promiseland’s organic certifier, Quality Assurance International (QAI). QAI was also the certifier for Aurora Dairy which was cited by the USDA as having "willfully violated" 14 tenets of the organic law but which received no punishment for having done so.. QAI also certifies Dean Foods organic dairies. Critics of the USDA Certified Organic program point out that certifiers who earn big checks from the people they certify have no incentive to turn them in if they violate the law as this will end their certification fees. Such glaring inconsistencies and the lack of enforcement of the rules by the USDA have made many consumers skeptical of all Certified Organic products.

A Synopsis On NAIS

The NAIS, or, National Animal Identification System is the brainchild of big agribusiness and enforced by the USDuh (USDA). The gist of the thing is to track all animals, which, according to the USDuh's own publication, includes parakeets from birth to death, in sickness and in health. All information will be kept in a national database via expensive equipment such as RFID devices (little microchip ear tags). And an expensive electronic reading device and software etc.

In this system, you will not be able to birth an animal on your farm with out reporting it. You will not be able to slaughter an animal without reporting it. You will not be able to loan out your male for service without reporting it. You will not be able to sell an animal without reporting it. In other words, if a hawk swoops down on a unsuspecting chicken out in the back forty, you will have to report it. Again all stored in the national database.

The idea is to be able to trace back to the source any food born illness and infections such as E. Coli etc. The problems this will cause are myriad and I will save them for your own research.

The bottom line is that big agribusiness isn't satisfied with the lion share of the market, they want it all. It is only the Cargill's, Monsanto's, Tyson's and the like that have the capital to maintain and comply to such stringent regulations. Small producers will be forced out of the picture.

It is more government intrusion piled on all the already existing intrusion. Failure to comply will result in very heavy fines and the extermination of your livestock.

If you think this sounds too scary to be true, please scroll down this page and click on the chick found at the right and begin your research there. From there you can access much more information and truth than I can give here. Don't take my word for it, find out for yourself. You'll be glad you did.