U.S. still struggles to create effective animal ID system
By Steve Porter
December 7, 2007 --
Four years after the Mad Cow disease scare of 2003, the federal government is still apparently far from creating an effective, coordinated national program that provides "traceability" for every animal in the food supply chain.
In December 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would create a nationwide program - now known as the National Animal Identification System - to help livestock producers and health officials respond quickly to animal disease outbreaks.
But a report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office this past summer noted that while the USDA has made some progress in developing the identification system, it still has a long way to go to make a national animal identification program workable and attractive to its target audience.
The report was highly critical of the USDA's accomplishments to date, specifically citing these problems among others:
• Not prioritizing the implementation of the plan by species (the ID system applies not only to beef cattle but also to dairy cattle, alpacas and llamas, bison, deer and elk, goats, horses, sheep, pigs, poultry and fish and shellfish);
• Not developing a plan to integrate the new system with pre-existing USDA and state animal ID requirements;
• Not establishing a "robust process for selecting, standardizing and testing animal ID and tracking technologies";
• Not clearly defining the time frame for rapid trace-back and not requiring potential critical information to be recorded - such as species or age - in the system's databases.
But one of the biggest criticisms cited in the report was the USDA's decision to first implement the system as a voluntary program and later make it mandatory.
"USDA's decision to implement NAIS as a voluntary program may affect the agency's ability to attract the necessary levels of participation" to make it effective, the report stated.
John Heller, animal identification coordinator in the Colorado department of agriculture, said many livestock producers he's talked to do have a high level of wariness about adopting something promoted by the government, even on a voluntary basis.
"They tend to have a less-than-happy feeling about the government," Heller said. "Most of the producers understand there is a need for traceability, but there's a great concern about the government assisting with that need.
"There's been a ton of misinformation because of a fear of government being involved," he added.
Heller said an estimated 29 percent of Colorado livestock producers have registered their premises for animal identification. That's just under 7,000 of the 23,000 premises in the state that have livestock production operations, he said.
Would the program be farther along or not as far had it been mandatory from the beginning?
Heller also asks that same question. "I sometimes wonder if it wasn't a government program whether we'd see a lot more interest and involvement," he said.
Colorado's 29 percent participation level mirrors that at the national level, but that figure is misleading because one state - Wisconsin - has made producer participation mandatory.
Which system?
Choosing an animal identification system is another issue. The NAIS has not specified what type of ID technology it will ultimately require. Producers now use ear tags, tattoos, photos, digital chips and other methods to identify their individual animals.
"It becomes a business decision - how much you can spend on a particular technology," Heller said.
One locally based animal identification company - Optibrand - offers a retinal scanning technology. Retinal scans are touted as being more unique than a human fingerprint. The company was founded in 2003 and enjoyed immediate interest with the Mad Cow episode in the headlines.
Fred Kerst, Optibrand's CEO, said his company's ID system is able to provide tamper-proof identification and record all key information needed for a successful livestock operation.
"The tools that have been developed by Optibrand can capture information from any animal ID to be placed in a database," he said.
Kerst said he's also encountered the resistance Heller's seen and believes it will likely take a mandatory program to get an effective ID program up and running. "Every country that's started with a voluntary program was not able to get (enough) participation and has gone to mandatory programs."
Kerst said until that happens, Optibrand is trying to win over producers by giving them a "value-added" reason for investing in an ID system. Increasingly, he noted, consumers want to be sure the meat they buy is organically produced or from a safe herd, and a fully traceable system is the way to do that.
"That is the kind of opportunity that Optibrand thinks will lead the way to demonstrate that this isn't a cost-only thing but that it's an investment," he said.
Uncertainty about American beef production in 2003 led to the loss of a $2 billion Asian market, Kerst noted, with only about 25 percent of that recovered four years later.
"That's an indication of how important (an animal ID system) is," he said.
Steve Porter covers agribusiness for the Business Report. He can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 225, or at sporter@ncbr.com.
Henwhisperer in N.W. Vermont but born in Grand Junction at [12/12/2007 7:22:25 AM]
To Brian, When a presumed, imagined, or faked foreign animal disease is announced on these shores do you suppose the people will put up with a total killing of all animals in a 12 mile diameter? I know I won't. It will be Waco or Ruby Ridge all over again. I think you must be with the government.
Brian in Indiana at [12/10/2007 9:47:08 AM]
When we do have a disease outbreak that affects millions of people and our food system, as what happened in another highly developed country called Great Britain, please don't bellyache because the terrible government you are so quick to scorn didn't protect you enough. Liberals are really good at doing that (do the names Ray Nagin and Catherine Blanco ring a bell?) While I agree that the implementation of NAIS has probably been mishandled, it is going to be an essential system that will indeed protect producers, livestock, and the food supply. Even though Ms. Smith claims in this thread that she isn't a producer, her livestock could still play a major role in the spread and/or transmission of a disease. An airborne disease, such as FMD, knows no boundaries and does not discriminate. If her livestock share a fence line with someone else's animals it is impossible to measure the possible contact, including animal waste and direct contact over the fence line. Great Britain, most countries in the European Union, and Australia have a tracking system in place. These are all democratic societies. Although their systems are not flawless (I spent a summer in Scotland in 2004 and witnessed an increase in paperwork whenever we moved cattle) it works -- this was evident just this fall when a strain of FMD was leaked outside London. You claim that the government gets a little happy with eradication when a disease hits. The eradication could have been MUCH worse if they weren't able to track as much as they did. And to all of those Big Brother skeptics who think the government is just trying to take an inventory: They do this every April, it is called tax time. If you are doing these correctly, you have nothing to worry about.
Doreen in Missouri at [12/10/2007 4:34:29 AM]
The 'loss' of the Japanese market was a boon to independent cattle growers as prices were the best they'd been in years at the sale barns. Frankly, the claim that 2 billion has been lost is a complete sham. The only thing that has been lost is 2 billion in trade, NOT revenue. Also, the United States is a net importer of beef, and as such, we have a population who would rather eat U.S.-raised beef than heaven knows what from who knows where, but the USDA stamp means next to nothing. It usually isn't inspected, and it certainly doesn't mean it came from the United States, and people are under the misapprehension that USDA means U.S. made. The only kind of ID system we need is to have meat and animals that are imported identified, and the onus of cost involved in that should be borne by those who do the importing. That way we would have defacto country of origin and the backbone of this nation would not be destroyed by a ridiculous WTO-based agenda.
vmsumlot in Indiana at [12/9/2007 10:55:55 PM]
Businesses fail because of lack of desire for their product or a bad business plan. If NAIS were a business, it would fail, because real farmers (small farmers) have no desire for the "product" and USDA doesn't have a viable business plan. Since we're talking about government and not business, NAIS will follow the usual government program route: bad idea by big business leads to bad government program which leads to more bad government programs to fix the problems created by the first bad government program. Small farmers are simply trying to stop the cycle (or downward spiral -- however you see it.)
No NAIS, please.
Barbara in Pennsylvania at [12/9/2007 10:24:35 PM]
"While the USDA has made some progress in developing the identification system, it still has a long way to go to make a national animal identification program workable and attractive to its target audience." NAIS will never be acceptable to people who still value the Bill of Rights. You can package it any way you like, give away incentives, and "educate" farmers who they believe function at a sixth grade level, but it is still a wolf in sheep's clothing. Coercion is not a good way to get cooperation. If anything, USDA has destroyed any trust they still had left with small farmers.
Susie Stretton in Louisiana at [12/9/2007 8:47:08 PM]
And you think its OK that the government make this obviously flawed program mandatory while allowing imports from Canada, a country KNOWN to have BSE, into the country. Why do we need traceback? So we can find out that Canadian cattle have caused our herds to be destroyed? Let's see what other industry we can make something mandatory in? How would you like it mandatory that sources be given up Mr. Newman? Would you like your files tracked? After all there is this terrorist threat. Of course you wouldn't. People have a right to free speech right? Well I as a farmer have rights too and National Animal ID tromps all over them.
esbee in Texas at [12/9/2007 6:53:13 PM]
"Uncertainty about American beef production in 2003 led to the loss of a $2 billion Asian market, Kerst noted, with only about 25 percent of that recovered four years later." "That's an indication of how important (an animal ID system) is," he said. This statement shows that NAIS is about marketing for the big corporate producer while running roughshod over the little guy. What does my reporting where I go with my horse have to do with selling beef to Japan? Remember, big ag gets only one lot number per groups of animals and only files a few movement reports. But the rest of us have to tag and track every last critter we own.
Alice Smith in Omak, Wash. at [12/9/2007 11:40:44 AM]
I am a livestock and property owner. I am NOT a "producer," nor are my animals part of what the USDA calls part of the "national herd." Neither is my property a "premise" and I'm most certainly am not just a "stake holder" on my own property. I will not register my home, nor register and microchip my animals, nor, report every time my animals move, die, or I take a trail ride up the road. None of what I just listed are 'misinformation' as NAIS proponents like to state, this is all in the original USDA's documents. NAIS is the most unconstitutional and massive private property rights taking our government has ever tried to pull on the citizens. All because they are in bed and in collusion with the multinational packers, the National Cattlemen's Assoc., The American Farm Bureau, etc. These organizations do not represent those that they pretend to represent, but in fact are working with the packers and multinational corporations. NAIS has not one iota of anything to do with tracking disease, but control and monopolization of every drop of our food in the U.S. I will NOT comply under any circumstances, even though it may mean jail or loss of life and property. Free countries do not conduct actions such as this against their citizens, only communistic or those under dictatorships do this. Even though I don't own cattle, (I own other livestock) I'm thinking about joining R-Calf because it appears to me to be the only cattle organization that truly represents citizens that own livestock in this country and is fighting NAIS.
Henwhisperer in N.W. Vermont but born in Grand Junction at [12/9/2007 9:24:17 AM]
The only "misinformation" comes from USDA itself or its partners -- industry and states depts of ag. If NAIS is about traceback for disease purposes, then why was it used during the blizzard last year? That application was strictly against USDA's Draft Strategic Plan. NAIS is voluntary? That is a bald faced lie, ask Colorado's State Fair board. It is our hope, fervent hope, that for next year's fair NO animals are entered. Do you understand the implications of registering your premises? Do the research. It is not, as oft reported, so simple as filling in a one-page form. It means giving up full rights to your ownership. Do the research.
For small/private farmers, homesteaders, hobbyists and horse owners, there is no "value added" for giving up rights to own property without undue government interference. What do you think will happen WHEN a so called foreign disease hits these shores? Total stamping out of livestock for the benefit of industry. Look at what they do in the UK every time an animal sneezes. Dr, Steve Van Wie, Homeland Security Vet has promised us the same here.
Stand up, folks. Time to take the country back.
Susan Barackman in Texas at [12/8/2007 8:40:46 PM]
Let's say a certain country club wants all the benefits and profits of having a certain market but they make it a law that everyone has to participate, except them, but they get all the benefits. In a nutshell, that's NAIS... under NAIS all the corporate ag biggies get the world market touting safety and no diseases, but they are making the little guy, who does not want to participate in the world market, do all the work of tagging and tracking and paying for it while big ag has the free ride of no tagging and tracking yet their herds are the ones with the most risk of diseases. How d'ya like them apples. And the rest of consumer America gets low quality, hormoned and vaccinated meat, while the healthy grass fed meat has been eradicated because a disease was suspected in an area. Read the NAIS document, it's in there.
Susan Barackman in Texas at [12/8/2007 9:57:29 AM]
Why in the heck do you think there is so much resistance to an animal ID system? Have you read the NAIS document wherein it states those who own even one livestock animal, no matter if it is a pet, in some places a parakeet or other exotic fowl will have to register their premises, (signing up tinkers with private property title), microchip and file birth, death and off property movements? DO YOU WANT TO TELL THE GOVT EVERYWHERE YOU GO? THINK ABOUT IT! NAIS is NOT about animal tracking. NAIS is about corporate agriculture and chip makers having all the marbles. By the way, do you know that corporate agriculture gets only one lot number per group of animals while the rest of us have to tag, file birth, death and movement reports on every single critter and risk losing them to depopulation should disease be suspected.
U.S. still struggles to create effective animal ID system
