The Michigan Commission on Agriculture is meeting on January 8, 2007. The Commission is the group that sets the policy for Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). 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 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 is in 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 with the issue that is listed on the agenda: the tuberculosis program and electronic tagging, which is being implemented due to NAIS. Then connect that to the larger issue of the NAIS in general.

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.

• Since the USDA has now announced that it will not adopt mandatory federal regulations, there is no “federal mandate” requiring Michigan to 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.

You can get in-depth arguments against NAIS at www.fa rmandranchfreedom.org or www.libertyark.net.

Remember to be polite, clear, and to the point.

Because Michigan is so active on the NAIS issue, we have created a state-specific mailing list for it. You were added to this list because you had signed up for national alerts and indicated that you lived in Michigan. If you wish to change your settings so as not to receive state-specific alerts, just follow the links at the end of this message.

Working together, we can make our voices heard.

Judith McGeary
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance

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email: judith@farmandranchfreedom.org
phone: 866-687-6452
web: http://www.farmandranchfreedom.org