• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Funny How USDA Wants to ID All U.S. Cattle.......

Econ101

Well-known member
.....but can't ID cattle coming into and out of the U.S. first. I thought the U.S. had to secure its borders. :lol: :lol: :lol:





Lack of formal plan may block animal I.D. system



PHILIP BRASHER

DES MOINES REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

May 22, 2006

Iowa, US



WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lawmakers are threatening to cut off funding for a national animal identification system unless the U.S. Agriculture Department details how the program will work.



A USDA appropriations bill under consideration in the House would block the funding for the project as of Oct. 1 until USDA issues a formal plan for the ID program, which has divided livestock producers. The program is supposed to enable government investigators to track the location and history of any farm animal within 48 hours.



The Bush administration promised to speed development of the system after the discovery of the nation’s first case of mad cow disease in 2003.



The administration recently set a series of target dates for getting farms to participate in the program.



The spending bill, which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee, says that USDA has sent “mixed signals” about whether farms will ever be required to register their livestock.



The legislation would require USDA to publish the detailed plan, known as an “advance notice of proposed rulemaking,” and then take public comment on the proposal.



“We’re trying to see where they are at, where they are going,” said Rep. Tom Latham, an Iowa Republican who serves on the House Appropriations subcommittee that writes the USDA budget.



“We just have not seen where they have made any real progress or what their system is.”



Congress has appropriated $84.7 million for the program through this year. The House bill would provide an additional $33.1 million contingent on USDA issuing the plan.



“I think it’s going to slow USDA down, particularly as people realize the shortfalls of the system and the things that are going to have to be worked through that aren’t going to work,” said Chuck Kiker, a board member with the cattle producers’ group R-CALF USA.



Among other things, his group objects to producers having to pay for the cost of electronic ID tags that would be put on cattle.



R-CALF USA, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, is one of two major groups representing cattle producers. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association supports the animal ID program.



USDA spokeswoman Dore Mobley said the department would not comment on pending legislation.



The ID system is supposed to ensure that investigators no longer have to rely on paper records, which are often missing, to find livestock that may be infected with a significant disease. Because of inadequate records, USDA recently closed the investigation of a case of mad cow disease in Alabama without ever determining the animal’s origin.



The first step toward setting up the system is to issue premise

identification numbers to farms, feedlots and packing plants. So far, about 10 percent of the estimated 2 million premises nationwide have been registered. In Iowa, about 3,500 of an estimated 90,000 premises are registered.



Australia and Canada, major competitors of the United States in beef

production, have set up electronic ID systems for cattle, something U.S. consumer groups have been advocating for years.



“It sounds like Congress is as fed up with animal ID as we are on this thing,” said Chris Waldrop of the Consumer Federation of America.



“They are just fumbling about and cobbling something together. From my perspective, it makes sense to get something out for public comment that people could see where USDA is heading and try to actually go somewhere with it.”





desmoinesregister.com
 

Manitoba_Rancher

Well-known member
Australia and Canada, major competitors of the United States in beef

production, have set up electronic ID systems for cattle, something U.S. consumer groups have been advocating for years.



Take heed there conman, you should spend your time being more productive than trying to be a wannabe rancher..... :dunce:
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Manitoba_Rancher said:
Australia and Canada, major competitors of the United States in beef

production, have set up electronic ID systems for cattle, something U.S. consumer groups have been advocating for years.



Take heed there conman, you should spend your time being more productive than trying to be a wannabe rancher..... :dunce:

U.S. consumer groups have asked for a lot of things they haven't recieved. Creekstone and the Japanese did too.

Take heed, MR, you should spend your time on fixing your own problems than trying to be a wannabe american.
 

Murgen

Well-known member
It brings up a good point though. Why are RCALFer's more willing to fight for what citizens of another country want (testing) and not what their own consumer groups want (ID)
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Murgen said:
It brings up a good point though. Why are RCALFer's more willing to fight for what citizens of another country want (testing) and not what their own consumer groups want (ID)

Murgen, I would want bse testing for my next beef purchase---or absolute certainty that they ate no contaminated feed.

There may come a time where all the consumer groups here want testing. It will not be good for the industry if it gets that bad. Some people are trying to stop a problem before it happens.
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Murgen said:
It brings up a good point though. Why are RCALFer's more willing to fight for what citizens of another country want (testing) and not what their own consumer groups want (ID)

Because the other country knew the costs and were going to foot the bill - we had nothing to lose.

With ID, nobody has told us how much it will cost, who will pay for it, how it will be done, who will manage the data, etc....
 

TimH

Well-known member
Sandhusker said:
Murgen said:
It brings up a good point though. Why are RCALFer's more willing to fight for what citizens of another country want (testing) and not what their own consumer groups want (ID)

Because the other country knew the costs and were going to foot the bill - we had nothing to lose.

With ID, nobody has told us how much it will cost, who will pay for it, how it will be done, who will manage the data, etc....

I don't know about the other concerns, Sandhusker, but I'd be willing to bet that the cow/calf producer will pay for it , directly or indirectly. Any additional costs in the "beef chain" will follow the path of least resistance.... which, for the for-seeable future at least, is DOWN.
 

Latest posts

Top