I would encourage Farmers to talk to the Canadians up north and ask them where this policy has lead? Minnesota Farmers pay attention. Nations Cattleman's PAC's call me......LOL!!
Peterson backs mandatory national animal ID
Tuesday, March 4, 2008, 3:13 PM
by Peter Shinn
A mandatory national animal identification system is coming, at least if House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson has anything to say about it. In perhaps one of the under reported stories of the National Farmers Union (NFU) convention, House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, in a phone call to NFU members gathered Sunday night in Las Vegas, that Congress is likely to impose a mandatory animal ID program after this year’s elections.
Peterson cited the recent bovine tuberculosis outbreak in Minnesota, and noted a similar recent outbreak in Michigan. Those examples, Peterson said, are why mandatory national animal ID is inevitable.“We are kidding ourselves if we don’t understand that we need to have a mandatory ID system,” declared Peterson.
Resistance to national animal ID has been particularly strong in the cattle industry. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and R-CALF-USA, groups which disagree on many issues, are unified in their opposition to a mandatory system. But according to Peterson, those that resist implementation of mandatory animal ID will be compelled to participate. “Now, there’s going to have to be some people that are going to have to be forced to come along,” Peterson warned.
And Peterson blasted USDA’s efforts to implement a voluntary animal ID system. He said the Agency had “wasted" more than $100 million on the effort since first announcing the program in 2004, and suggested he saw no point in working further with the Bush administration on the matter.“These guys at the Department have so mismanaged this and screwed this up that I would say we’re worse off today than when we started,” said Peterson.
For his part, U.S. Ag Secretary Ed Schafer reaffirmed USDA’s commitment to a voluntary national animal ID system during questioning following his remarks at the NFU convention on Monday. He noted livestock premises registrations nationwide, the cornerstone of USDA’s voluntary animal ID system, stood at roughly 33%.“I’m not a big government mandate person,” Schafer said. “I believe that we should do things to develop good public policy, that help people understand the reasons to sign up and to do so and I think we’re moving in the proper direction here.” Disease
Peterson’s comments on animal ID don’t represent a change in position, though they are perhaps stronger in tone than previous remarks he has made on the subject. On October 30th of 2006 while campaigning in North Platte, Nebraska, for Scott Kleeb, then a Democratic candidate for the state’s 3rd District congressional seat,
Peterson said he viewed a mandatory animal ID system as preferable to USDA’s voluntary approach. Without a mandatory system, Peterson asserted that the U.S. would never fully recover its share of the Japanese beef market.“In my opinion, the Japanese will never open up things unless we have a mandatory system and everybody’s in,” Peterson said at the 2006 campaign stop.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008, 3:13 PM
by Peter Shinn
A mandatory national animal identification system is coming, at least if House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson has anything to say about it. In perhaps one of the under reported stories of the National Farmers Union (NFU) convention, House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, in a phone call to NFU members gathered Sunday night in Las Vegas, that Congress is likely to impose a mandatory animal ID program after this year’s elections.Peterson cited the recent bovine tuberculosis outbreak in Minnesota, and noted a similar recent outbreak in Michigan. Those examples, Peterson said, are why mandatory national animal ID is inevitable.“We are kidding ourselves if we don’t understand that we need to have a mandatory ID system,” declared Peterson.
Resistance to national animal ID has been particularly strong in the cattle industry. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and R-CALF-USA, groups which disagree on many issues, are unified in their opposition to a mandatory system. But according to Peterson, those that resist implementation of mandatory animal ID will be compelled to participate. “Now, there’s going to have to be some people that are going to have to be forced to come along,” Peterson warned.
And Peterson blasted USDA’s efforts to implement a voluntary animal ID system. He said the Agency had “wasted" more than $100 million on the effort since first announcing the program in 2004, and suggested he saw no point in working further with the Bush administration on the matter.“These guys at the Department have so mismanaged this and screwed this up that I would say we’re worse off today than when we started,” said Peterson.
For his part, U.S. Ag Secretary Ed Schafer reaffirmed USDA’s commitment to a voluntary national animal ID system during questioning following his remarks at the NFU convention on Monday. He noted livestock premises registrations nationwide, the cornerstone of USDA’s voluntary animal ID system, stood at roughly 33%.“I’m not a big government mandate person,” Schafer said. “I believe that we should do things to develop good public policy, that help people understand the reasons to sign up and to do so and I think we’re moving in the proper direction here.” Disease
Peterson’s comments on animal ID don’t represent a change in position, though they are perhaps stronger in tone than previous remarks he has made on the subject. On October 30th of 2006 while campaigning in North Platte, Nebraska, for Scott Kleeb, then a Democratic candidate for the state’s 3rd District congressional seat,
Peterson said he viewed a mandatory animal ID system as preferable to USDA’s voluntary approach. Without a mandatory system, Peterson asserted that the U.S. would never fully recover its share of the Japanese beef market.“In my opinion, the Japanese will never open up things unless we have a mandatory system and everybody’s in,” Peterson said at the 2006 campaign stop.
