[SustainableTompkins] NAIS

[Joey Gates]

Thanks for posting this Katie. I grew up in WP and am
forwarding this to people I know there.  as well as
other farmers I know in the state.
Joey
--- Katie Quinn-Jacobs <kqj at quinn-jacobs.org> wrote:

> Does anyone in SustainableTompkins follow the
> development of the USDA 
> NAIS program, which requires farm registry and ID
> tags for all farm 
> animals?  Or the NYS version of the federal program:
> NYAHIS? There was a 
> meeting in Whitney Point last month (see minutes
> below) for local 
> farmers re: its implementation in NYS.  Did anyone
> from Tompkins County 
> attend?  Has NOFA taken a position on this?
> 
> It seems an obvious infringement on privacy for
> hobby farms and a 
> potentially expensive (and intrusive) requirement
> for small local meat 
> producers.
> /
> /From NoNAIS.org:/  "...small farms that sell direct
> to local consumers 
> will be required to pay the fees and file all the
> paper work on all 
> their animals. Even horse, llama and other pet
> owners will be required 
> to participate in NAIS. Homesteaders who raise their
> own meat and 
> grandma with her one egg hen will also have to
> register their homes as 
> 'farm premises' and obtain a Premise ID, tag all
> their animals and 
> submit all the paperwork and fees."  /Source: 
> http://nonais.org/index.php/but-what-is-nais/
> 
> -- Katie Quinn-Jacobs
> 
> 
> Report on Yesterday's NAIS Meeting in Whitney Point,
> NY
> 
> Attendance:
> 
> There were about 25 or more people in attendance,
> plus two ladies from
> New York State Department of Agriculture and
> Markets, a man
> representing the USDA, and another man from the
> county level.
> 
> One of the ladies from Ag & Markets did most of the
> talking with
> occasional input from the others. She asked up front
> that everyone be
> respectful of each other even though the topic was
> controversial.
> Folks were respectful throughout the meeting, even
> during the
> Q&A/comment period.
> 
> Presentation of the program:
> 
> * The basics of the NAIS were explained in a
> slideshow. During the
> slideshow two things were emphasized:
> 
> 1. The Voluntary nature of the NAIS,
> 2. And that NY state is not implementing everything
> that is being
> advised by the federal level of the program, (For
> example, NY will not require the use of RFID tags,
> and is actively
> encouraging the use of tags already on the animals).
> 
> * It was stated that the NY version of the NAIS is
> called the New
> York Animal Health Information Systems (NYAHIS).
> NYAHIS will attempt
> to maintain the "positive aspects" of surveillance
> embraced by the
> national system, discarding the elements that just
> do not work with NY
> State. They believe that in doing this they can
> still meet the goals
> of the national program. (Personally, I don't see
> how they can do this.)
> 
> 
> * The premises number will be 7 alphanumeric
> characters, and the
> animal ID number will be 8 alphanumeric characters.
> (If they were only
> using numbers that would give the possibility of
> trying to track over
> 999 trillion animals. With both number and letter
> variables in use I
> don't even want to think how many that would be. Why
> does anyone need
> this many variables?)
> 
> 
> * Current status: 51% of premises ID's registered.
> (I'm not sure
> where this number comes from.)
> 
> 
> Q&A session
> 
> The real heart of the meeting was the Q&A session:
> Lots of folks had
> strong opinions and concerns about the state and
> federal levels of the
> program. I don't recall any farmer there who really
> had much good to
> say about the NAIS. As I mentioned, everyone was
> civil and reasonable.
> This helped us cover a lot of ground.
> 
> The main speaker fielded most of the questions, and
> did well overall.
> Here is a summary:
> 
> Q: How secure is the database?
> A. She could only speak of the NY database, which is
> only accessible
> via direct physical (cable) connection to the
> computer storing the
> database. Only 5 state vets have access to the
> database.
> 
> Q. There were questions about RFID tags and the
> frequencies to be
> used. Also there were concerns about the
> vulnerabilities of the tags
> to tampering and duplication of the data.
> A. You don't have to use the RFID tags in NY.
> 
> Q. I received an information packet in the mail. It
> included a card
> that had my premises ID. What's going on? (A few
> people there had this
> happen to them.)
> A. Folks who had previously been registered with
> state animal disease
> programs were registered automatically. The
> literature that was sent
> to you included instructions in how to opt out of
> the program. (This
> must be the data mining hinted at in the last NY
> State Cooperative
> Agreement document. None of these gov't folks seemed
> bothered at all
> by the blatant privacy invasion that had been
> perpetrated upon these
> farmers.)
> 
> Q. How can the program be "Voluntary" and still
> attain 100% participation?
> A. Well, I have to admit that it doesn't sound very
> realistic.
> 
> Q. What is really meant by a "Voluntary program?"
> A. In NY State you will never be forced to
> participate in the NYAHIS.
> It will always be voluntary.
> (This was discussed at some length with lots of
> comments from farmers.
> Many doubted that anyone could presume upon the
> future and guarantee
> that things would always remain voluntary. My own
> comments were that
> even if things remained unchanged that you could not
> avoid compliance
> even when you are not registered. State fairs could
> restrict
> participation to livestock with NAIS ID, processing
> facilities could
> require that ID tags be present before any livestock
> could be
> processed, etc. They had no answer for these
> concerns.)
> 
> Q. Have there been any cost analyses performed? Who
> is going to pay
> for the personnel needed to track animals, maintain
> the needed
> databases, and enforce the NAIS?
> A. State level: Pretty sure that these have been
> done but could not
> readily reference any info. Did not know total cost
> (too variable) or
> who ultimately pays for it. Federal level: The USDA
> rep had no answer
> for these questions.
> 
> Q. NAIS does not address issues of disease
> prevention or treatment.
> Wouldn't it be better to close the barn door rather
> than to go chasing
> the horses?
> A. This was not really answered at all.
> 
> Q. There are at least 4 different amendments to the
> U.S. 
=== message truncated ===



 
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