With many state legislatures in session, the NAIS issue is turning into a hot topic across the country. You can read updates on the federal situation and all the states at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/latest-updates. The website will be updated regularly to provide an overview of what is happening at the federal level and in individual states.

FARFA will send state-specific action alerts for its chapters. For more state-specific information, or to connect with people within your state, visit the State Activities section of the Liberty Ark Coalition, http://www.libertyark.net/.

Just to highlight a few developments:

Arizona: After being passed by the Senate, it looked like SB 1428 was not even going to get a hearing in the House. But thanks to everyone's calls, it has been scheduled for a hearing before the House Committee on Water and Agriculture on March 29.

Indiana: SB 486 was approved by the Senate, but only after being heavily amended to allow for mandatory premises registration and no protections against coercion. It is now before the House Committee on Technology, Research and Development, awaiting a hearing.

Michigan: The Michigan Department of Agriculture's requirement for all cattle to be identified with an RFID tag has gone into effect, as of March 1. Some farmers have refused to comply, and anecdotal reports indicate that many others are selling off their cattle.

Tennessee: Four bills have been introduced to stop NAIS, with companion bills in both the House and Senate. None of the bills have gone to a hearing yet, but the House Committee on Agriculture has already heard testimony both for and against NAIS this session.
Texas: HB 461, which would limit the NAIS to a voluntary program and remove the existing civil and criminal penalties, was unanimously approved by the House Committee on Agriculture on March 12. We expect a vote by the full House to be scheduled shortly, on both HB 461 and a floor amendment to bar coercion.

Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture adopted regulations making premises registration mandatory back in 2005. Until now, there have been no reports of enforcement actions. But in March, dairy farmers received letters informing them that they had to register in the NAIS database, or they would lose their license to do business.

For more information about these and other states, go to http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/latest-updates or the State Activities section of www.libertyark.net.

If your state has not introduced a bill to stop NAIS, or if the bill has been defeated, don't be discouraged! This is going to be a long fight, at both the federal and state level. We have made incredible progress in educating legislators and the public about NAIS in the last year, and we must continue those efforts! Download the flyers and other materials on the Take Action page, and use them to help spread the word.
Bumper Stickers and T-shirts

We've added a "Fun Stuff" page to the FARFA website: http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/fun-stuff We have bumper stickers and T-shirts available. There are also links to videos from the March 2 "Don't Tag Texas" rally, and we will be adding pictures soon.

Changes to E-Mail List

As a grassroots organization, our strength comes from our members and supporters. As we work on legislation, we often need to target specific legislators. To do that effectively, it helps to know where our members and list subscribers are located, so that we can ask people to focus on their districts. So we have added an option in our mailing list to indicate both your county and your state. This is completely optional - you do not need to give us any information in order to get email alerts. But please consider adding this information, to help us be more effective in representing you. You can click the "Update profile/email address" link at the end of this alert to add this information to your profile.

Also, because of the bulk email programs and ISP restrictions, not every email alert gets to every subscriber. Please add this address to your white list, and check your spam filter for blocked messages. If you have not been getting regular alerts, you can check our website to see what you've been missing. Past alerts are posted at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/action-alerts.

Join FARFA
Many thanks to all the people who joined in the recent weeks, and to our existing members who donated, enabling us to meet our $1,000 matching grant!

If you are not yet a member of FARFA, please consider joining us! Membership starts as low as $10. Your membership dues help fund FARFA's work. Plus, more members means the legislators pay more attention to what we have to say. We have a long way to go this fight. Please help us to continue this important work by joining today. Visit our membership page.
Working together, we can make our voices heard!