TAHC will hear petition to change the rule for taggging dairy cattle

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) will hear FARFA's petition to change the rule for tagging dairy cattle at its next quarterly meeting on Tuesday, November 20.
 
WHERE: TAHC main office, 2105 Kramer Lane, Austin, TX 78758
 
WHEN: Tuesday, November 20th, starting at 8:30 am.  The petition is the 10th item on the agenda, so it will probably be mid-morning before they get to it. You can get more information on the meeting at the TAHC's website, http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/agency/meetings.shtml
 
WHAT: Come to the meeting and tell the agency what you think!  The people who will have the most impact on the Commissioners are dairy cow owners or other people directly impacted by the regulation, such as sales barn owners.  The agency continues to state that this rule is not about NAIS, so they will probably ignore comments from people who are not connected in some way with dairy cattle.
 
We know everyone's busy, and that we've already asked you to take the time to call the Senators about the Farm Bill.  Thank you for your patience with the multiple emails and your determination to protect our rights and food supply!

More Information

You can read FARFA's petition for rule change at : http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/files/Petition_Rulemaking_071031.pdf
The petition requests that the rule be amended to specifically provide that no person shall be required to register their property in the NAIS database or use electronic tagging to satisfy the requirement.  The requested amendment would spell out that people are allowed to use regular eartags, brands, or tattoos, as identification. The petition also asks for a definition of "dairy cattle" that is limited to the most common dairy breeds and only those animals used or sold for commercial dairy operations.
 
Some people have asked why we wrote the petition the way we did.  When TAHC proposed the rule last summer, FARFA asked that TAHC focus on enforcement of our borders and testing to prevent TB-infected cattle from entering the state, rather than adopting a new rule for tagging.  But the agency ignored us.  We are now faced with the situation that the agency could effectively implement NAIS for dairy cattle any time it chose because of the vague language of the rule.  At the same time, the agency claims that the new rule is not about implementing NAIS or electronic tagging.  So we're asking the agency to put enforceable limitations into the rule, so that it stays that way!  It's not the ideal solution, but it is better than where we stand now.

Additional links:
 
Read the written comments FARFA filed opposing the proposed rule in July:
http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/files/7.18.07%20Comments%20on%20proposed%20TB%20regs.pdf
 
Read the TAHC's response to the public's comments: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/archive/October52007/adopted/4.AGRICULTURE.html#329
 
Read the rules governing the TB program for cattle:
http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=4&pt=2&ch=43&rl=2
 (The new rule is 43.2(n))

Please Support Our Work

It's no fun to ask people for money, but we have to.  We depend on your support to keep fighting to protect independent agriculture against threats like NAIS.  If you are not yet a member of FARFA, please consider joining us! Membership starts as low as $10. Your membership dues and donations fund FARFA's work. Just as importantly, more members means more impact on the legislators.
 
We have a long way to go this fight. Please help us to continue this important work by joining today, or giving an additional donation if you are already a member. Visit our membership page: http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/join-farfa

Working together, we can make our voices heard.
 

Judith McGeary
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
www.farmandranchfreedom.org
866-687-6452