Press Release
January 3, 2007
Contact:
Judith McGeary, 512-243-9404 - judith@farmandranchfreedom.org
Karin Bergener, 330-298-0065 -
bergener@config.com
Michigan Commission of Agriculture Meeting on January 8, 2007
The Michigan Commission on Agriculture is meeting on January 8, 2007. The Commission is the group that sets the policy for MDA and that approved the electronic tagging requirements in the upper part of Michigan. The issue of tagging cattle for the tuberculosis program is on the agenda, which provides an opportunity to comment on both that and the larger issue of the National Animal Identification System.
The meeting begins at 9:00 am, and public comments are currently scheduled for 10:30 am. You may wish to call MDA the day before, to make sure those times have not changed. MDA's phone number is 1-800-292-3939. When you call, be sure to explain that you want the time and agenda for the Commission's meeting. The meeting location is the Governor's Room, 333 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing.
You can email comments to the Commission, whether or not you attend in person. The email address for comments is mda-ag-commission@michigan.gov.
Start your comments, whether oral or written, with the issue that is listed on the agenda: the tuberculosis program. Then connect that to the larger issue of the NAIS. Kevin Kirk of the MDA has publicly stated that the requirement that all cattle have a radio frequency identification device (RFID tag) for the tuberculosis program is the precursor to NAIS in Michigan.
Possible talking points:
- The NIAA is a trade organization that requested that the USDA adopt NAIS in the first place. The NIAA is made up primarily of large industrial-agriculture companies and associations, technology companies, and state bureaucracies. They do not represent the average animal owner.
- Even though USDA says the program is voluntary, it is funding mandatory programs at the state level.
- Since the USDA has now announced that it will not adopt mandatory federal regulations, Michigan should not adopt mandatory state regulations
- The mandatory electronic tagging of cattle, and the other phases of the NAIS, will create large profits for technology companies.
- The NAIS will also benefit meat packers and large agriculture companies, who will reap the export market benefits while eliminating the competition from organic producers and the local foods movement.
- At the same time, the NAIS will cause significant harm to individuals. It will impose significant costs, in both time and money, on small farmers and ranchers, driving many of them out of business.
- The impact on farmers will cause harm to many other people: the feed stores, sales barns, slaughterhouses, and other businesses that depend on the farmers as customers
- The type of microchip recommended, the ISO 11784/85, is designed to be reprogrammable. Thus, this chip cannot provide protection against intentional wrongdoing, whether theft, terrorism, or anyone else who seeks to disguise an animal's identity
- Neither the USDA nor the MDA has done a cost analysis of the program
- Neither the USDA nor the MDA has presented scientific studies or models showing the need for, or benefits to be gained from, the program
- The NAIS infringes on people's Constitutional rights, including the right to due process, right to privacy, and religious freedom
If you know others who are planning to go, it may be helpful to plan ahead and divide up the issues - have each person address a different aspect of the problems with NAIS, so everything gets covered. In the written comments, however, it's good if the same points are made repeatedly because that emphasizes that many people share the concerns.
You can get in-depth arguments against NAIS at the Liberty Ark Coalition.
Remember to be polite, clear, and to the point.
Liberty Ark Coalition
For more information, call:
Karin Bergener at 330-298-0065
Judith McGeary at 512-243-9404 or 866-687-6452