R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
“Fighting for the U.S. Cattle Producer”
For Immediate Release Contact: Shae Dodson, Communications Coordinator
March 12 2009 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: sdodson@r-calfusa.com
Washington, D.C. – “It’s business as usual in Washington, D.C., regarding how Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continue to ignore the interests of hard-working U.S. livestock producers,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, after testifying yesterday on USDA’s proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.
“It is unbelievable, but true, that the new USDA was represented by the very people who already spent over $100 million in taxpayer dollars during the old Administration to coerce U.S. livestock producers into surrendering their private property rights just to appease the international World Trade Organization (WTO), which wants every U.S. farm and ranch and every U.S. farm animal to be registered in a federal database,” Thornsberry said.
Also yesterday, Congress passed the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which awarded USDA an additional $14.5 million so it could continue its pursuit of NAIS.
Veterinarian John Clifford, who is the Deputy Administrator of Veterinary Services for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), testified in support of NAIS on the grounds that, “Establishing an internationally recognized system of traceability will enhance the competitiveness of U.S. exports and animal products.”
But Thornsberry testified that imposing costs on U.S. livestock producers and requiring them to surrender their personal and real property to a federal database in order to comply with international edicts is “a wholly inappropriate consideration for the exercise of APHIS’ authority pursuant to the Animal Health Protection Act of 2002…It is clear that USDA decided to conform to international standards and is now working backward to invent the need to impose this burdensome NAIS on U.S. livestock producers.”
Thornsberry said he was particularly disheartened by the fact that comments and questions made by members of Congress at the hearing demonstrated a belief that NAIS would miraculously address food safety problems.
“NAIS is not a food safety issue,” he emphasized. “If Congress wants to solve the food safety problems associated with the unprecedented recalls involving meat contaminated by pathogens such as E. coli, then it needs to trace these problems to their source: the unsanitary conditions at corporate meatpacking plants, which are not being properly policed by USDA. Holding livestock producers accountable for meat recalls caused by corporate meatpackers is, unfortunately, business as usual.”
Thornsberry also criticized USDA’s continued use of what he called “fear tactics.”
APHIS’ Clifford testified that if foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) were introduced into the U.S., the U.S. would not be able to get ahead of the disease without NAIS.
“This is absurd,” said Thornsberry. “When a fast spreading disease like FMD is found, the way to control the disease is to immediately draw a geographical circle around the outbreak and restrict any livestock movement beyond the circle. You certainly don’t want to waste precious time trying to identify where every individual animal was born.”
Clifford also testified that the current U.S. animal disease system has not worked, and NAIS is now needed to protect the U.S. livestock industry from the spread of disease. Thornsberry countered that the current system has worked well to control and eradicate many serious diseases, including brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB).
“If USDA would quit allowing Mexican cattle with bovine TB into the U.S., we could prevent the 75 percent of bovine TB detected in U.S. slaughtering plants that are known to originate in Mexico,” Thornsberry pointed out.
“If Congress and USDA are serious about preventing the spread of animal diseases, they first need to strengthen our border controls to prevent the continued reintroduction of diseases into the United States,” he continued. “There is absolutely no need to require individual producers to register their livestock and their real estate in a federal registry.”
Thornsberry testified that Congress and USDA should immediately cease all efforts to implement NAIS and should, instead: 1) prevent the importation of serious cattle diseases and pests from foreign sources; 2) adopt the surveillance and identification components of the preexisting brucellosis program and require all breeding stock to be identified; 3) have States and Tribes maintain databases of breeding stock and allow local veterinarians to decide how best to identify the production unit where animals originate, without requiring federal registration of real property or livestock; 4) require the federal government to assist States and Tribes in maintaining their respective databases and in conducting more disease surveillance; and, 5) focus on eradicating diseases in wildlife populations.
“Rather than listen to the recommendations of actual livestock producers, Congress and USDA are listening to the eartag companies and meatpackers that stand to make millions of dollars, if not billions, off NAIS,” Thornsberry said.
“It truly is business as usual in D.C.,” he concluded.
Note: A copy of Thornsberry’s written and oral testimony is available under the “Animal Identification” link at www.r-calfusa.com, or by contacting R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson at the phone number or e-mail address listed above. Media who need a mug shot of Thornsberry also should contact Dodson.
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketin! g issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA directors and committee chairs are extremely active unpaid volunteers. R-CALF USA has dozens of affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
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It appears a newly announced meeting has been scheduled for Wisconsin dairy farmers, with Wisconsin, Department of Agriculture ,Trade and Consumer Protection” also known as DATCP. 
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