Walter Jeffries

A View of NAIS from Wisconsin



Posted: Saturday, June 24, 2006

by
Sugar Mountain Farm

Wisconsion is the first and only state to implement mandatory Premise ID , the first step of the USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System ( NAIS ). From what I hear it is a mixed bag. On the one hand Dr. Wiemers of the USDA commended Wisconsin for having registered 400% of their horses already. On the other hand I have received personal communications from a number of Wisconsonites who say they have not registered and don't plan on doing so. Below is a letter from one such Wisconsin livestock owner:

Walter, Premise ID and NAIS have already been passed in Wisconsin, as you probably know. I have seen a lot of farm programs in my 66 years, but this is the most ridiculous one ever presented. I don't see more ag. disease now than there was 50 years ago. I am not certain it is designed to hurt the small farmers, though it will I see it more as a result of globalization. For [Michael] Johanns , [USDA Secretary of Agriculture] to cease testing cattle for BSE, and commensurately implement a device for tracking this disease, is incongruous. In addition, cattle are still ingesting blood and slaughterhouse waste, in their feed... how stupid is this?

I will not comply as long as I do not receive WRITTEN notice from Madison. And even then I will go down kicking, claiming this is NOT constitutional. The farmer who rents my land has not registered his premises either, and he raises beef. I do not know anyone who has registered, but then I only know 3 farmers, because the encroaching development has taken over all the farmland in my area. The farmer closest to me raises both organically fed beef and bison...he does not object to NAIS. I suspect he is registered due to selling bison meat to restaurants. I don't know how the third one feels.... I have not seen him for so long.

The members of Wisconsin Against NAIS are still fighting this legislation, with a vengeance. Some talk about Big Brother , some feel the next step is tracking US citizens, some believe the factory farmers want the "little guy" out of business, some have major concerns NAIS is an invasion of privacy, others find it frightening, others worry about the cost. They have discussed organizing a protest at Madison, our capitol. I have written to my congressman and both US senators. All three are pro-NAIS. (sigh) I don't think our state senators will revoke their decision to pass NAIS. They seem to feel WI is a leading example..... Hah! This state is usually the last on the list for accepting any new innovation.

What really bothers me most about NAIS is the confiscation of our animals either because we do not comply or to depopulate . The first is akin to the German SS and the latter is unnecessary slaughter. Sound like scare tactics to me..... I give our veterinarians' ability to control disease more credit than that.

Microchips are re-programable and are subject to viruses (as in a computer), rendering them worthless for tracking. Also, they have been known to migrate.

I have no trust in the USDA or the BLM. Both have been known to lie and manipulate. I have been working to stop horse slaughter in the US. Through this effort, I have learned how devious both organizations are. (that's another chapter)

I really appreciate reading your updates on NAIS. You have produced a fantastic web page.... even the people working to stop horse slaughter, plus other animal interest groups, are familiar with NoNAIS.org. Everyone either recommends or quotes your web site [ http://NoNAIS.org  ].

Kudos for the good fight, Walter.... :-) M. Dickson in Wisconsin
Bio: Walter Jeffries raises pigs, sheep, chickens, dogs and children on pasture at Sugar Mountain Farm in West Topsham, Vermont. He writes a blog of stories from a small Vermont farm at http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/ and is fighting against government intrusion at http://NoNAIS.org to protect traditional rights to farm. This article may be freely republished to spread the word about the horrors of the USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) so long as this bio information is included and links are preserved if published electronically. For full copyright and reuse information see the left sidebar at NoNAIS.org.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by esbee
from tx 2 years 231 days ago.
The religious objections of the Amish are often noted as why NAIS will not
 
work, as the Amish cannot be part of something they think goes against their religion and rightly so....
 
May I bring up the other side of the religious coin but in no way
 
support/agree with this religion just using it for sake of argument....but
 
it is something the USDA will have to deal with (but most likely ignore as there are easier pickins elsewhere, like the rest of us!)
 
There is a voodoo religion called Santeria, which is legal in the US; they
 
routinely sacrifice goats and chickens to their gods. Will they chip those
 
chickens and goats, and report when they buy or kill an animal? Many times their rituals take place in city apartments in secret, many are poor and unsanitary and I am sure they do not have handy access to a reader and computer to file a report of a chicken #45678798 just sacrificed in apt 3c, somewhere in a US city slum.
 
They often practice sprinkling the animal blood to bless a place (this happened in NYC when a santerian priest sprinkled chicken blood on a school to bless it!!!!) Talk about a way to spread disease!!!! Will the USDA force them to register their premises in those city apartments, tag and track those animals? ???? There are no exemptions in the NAIS document, but with people who practice voodoo, you want to give them a wide berth!
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