Obama USDA Dumps National Animal Identification System Plan - NYT

[hatrack]

Faced with stiff resistance from ranchers and farmers, the Obama administration has decided to scrap a national program intended to help authorities quickly identify and track livestock in the event of an animal disease outbreak. In abandoning the program, called the National Animal Identification System, officials said they would start over in trying to devise a livestock tracing program that could win widespread support from the industry.

The agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, will announce the changes on Friday, according to officials at the Agriculture Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been made public. The officials said that it would be left to the states to devise many aspects of a new system, including requirements for identifying livestock.

New federal rules will be developed but the officials said they would apply only to animals being moved in interstate commerce, such as cattle raised in one state being transported to a slaughterhouse in another state.

It could take two years or more to create new federal rules, the officials said, and it was not clear how far the government would go to restrict the movement of livestock between states if the animals did not meet basic traceability standards.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/business/05livestock.html

[cliffordu]

1. This all makes PERFECT sense.

:eyes:

[kestrel91316]

2. NAIS was doomed from the start because of its onerous burden on

small local livestock producers, like folks who keep a few chickens out back for their own consumption, or a dairy goat or two.

We need to be tracing animals that are in the factory farming supply line, not the subsistence family farm situation.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Correct.

And unfortunately not many people realized what the problem was for the casual/small livestock owner.

Kudos to the Admin.for doing something that made sense.

[truedelphi]

4. A big tip of the hat to the Obama Administration. Thanks for leaving the

Small farmers a chance to survive.

It has been bad enough for the small dairy farmers last year, when their usual lines of credit were cut from under them, and then many of the smaller dairy farmers gave up.

When the dairy farms go under, the habitat for many species of animals and birds goes away.

Especially if the dairy farm gets converted to a huge pork operation, or to vineyards.