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Mandatory Tagging of Dairy Cows Will Go Into Effect March 2008

In May 2007, the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) proposed a regulation to require that all dairy cattle be identified with an "official device or device approved by the Commssion."  FARFA sent out an action alert and submitted comments to the agency opposing adoption of the regulation. At the September TAHC meeting, the Commissioners voted to approve the regulation despite the objections raised by FARFA and dozens of Texans. After additional protests, implementation was delayed until January 1. 

FARFA filed a petition to change the rule, but TAHC denied the petition at its September 2007 meeting.  The agency did extend the deadline for implementation until March 30, 2008.  Although the agency is stating that it will allow multiple forms of identification to be used, the rule leaves the decision as to what type of tag to require entirely within the agency's discretion, and they can change their minds anytime they want to.  
 
We can petition and comment to the agency, but the agency is under no legal duty to do anything different than what they have planned.  The bottom line is that we need the Texas Legislature to rein in the agency's legal authority through legislation.  The next legislative session is 12 months away, but the Senate and House Committees on Agriculture will hold hearings during 2008 on a variety of issues.  So it's a good time to tell your elected officials that you want them to take action to deal with TAHC.
 
Take Action #1:  Write your state Representative and Senator.  You can find out who they are at http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/
 
Follow up with a phone call.  Ask to speak to the staffperson who handles agricultural issues, and engage them in a discussion about NAIS.  Explain the problems with NAIS - the cost, the intrusion, the infeasibility of the whole system - and what it will do to you and your community.
 
Tell your Representative and Senator that you want the legislature to take a hard look at TAHC, including its lack of responsiveness to the average animal owners of this state.  TAHC received 30 comments opposing the dairy tagging rule, and it made absolutely no modifications to address people's legitimate concerns!  Tell your legislators that you want them to pass legislation next session limiting the agency's authority.
 
If your Representative voted "yes" on HB 461 last session, please tell him or her "thank you."  You can see how your Representative voted at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/Legislators-votes
 
 
Take Action #2:  Contact Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst.  The LG decides the topics for the Senate Committee hearings.  Tell him that you want hearings about the TAHC's implementation of NAIS and mandatory tagging programs.  The Lieutenant Governor's phone number is 512-463-0001, or you can email through his website at http://www.ltgov.state.tx.us/Contact .
 
While you're talking with Dewhurst's agricultural staffer, you should also mention that you are very disappointed that he did not recognize HB 461 for a vote in the Senate.  Ask for a commitment that he will allow a bill to stop NAIS to be voted on next session.
 
 
Take Action #3:  Educate more people.  We need many more Texans to know about NAIS and what it will mean to them!  Download a flyer or the Top 10 Myths from our website, www.farmandranchfreedom.org, and put them out at your local feed store, auction barn, farmers market, or food co-op.  NAIS is not just about animal owners - it's about our food supply, and it will affect everyone.  The more people you educate, the more people will call and write the legislators, and the better our ability to get legislation through next session.

More Information

"What's the downside?"  That's the question I put to the Commissioners at the meeting. If the agency is telling the truth, and it has no intention of using the regulation to require electronic tagging and premises registration in the future, then why not make the language of the regulation reflect the stated intention?  It would be a step in the right direction in regaining the trust of Texas animal owners, and would do the agency no harm.  Yet not one Commissioner spoke up in favor of considering a change to limit the agency's authority to impose electronic tagging.  It's clear that the agency's agenda has not really changed since they tried to impose mandatory NAIS in February 2006 - they've simply decided to do it piecemeal and in disguise.
 
Thank you to Stayton Weldon, Regional Director for R-CALF USA!  He made a long drive to Austin to testify to the Commissioners that cow/calf owners oppose NAIS, and that R-CALF supported FARFA's petition to change the dairy cow rule 100%.  Even though the Commissioners disregarded both our testimony, this type of unity is what we need to succeed in the long run.
 
Unfortunately, only one dairyman showed up to testify.  He was not there to support the petition to limit the agency's authority.  Instead, he put forward a proposal for a tag to be issued by the agency with a code on it that only the agency would be able to link to the original owner. 
 
If you are a dairy cow owner, and you are not happy with the outcome of this hearing, then next time you need to show up and testify.  FARFA will always stand up for your rights, but we can have a much greater impact if concerned individuals also come to hearings and tell the Commissioners and legislators that this is an important issue to them. 
 
Regardless of who you are, please take a few minutes now to tell your legislators that you are against NAIS, including this back-door method of implementing it incrementally species-by-species.
 

Old News: HB 461 is dead for this session  

Texas currently has a law that allows the state agency to implement NAIS on a mandatory basis at any time. HB 461 would have removed the agency’s authority to make NAIS mandatory and the civil and criminal penalties that are in the current statute, along with protections against misleading information or coercion being used to force people into NAIS.  The House voted to approve it, 88-57, and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources approved an amended version.  But Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst did not bring the bill to the floor for a vote. 

So, for now, TAHC keeps its authority to make NAIS mandatory.  We will be watching the agency closely in the nineteen months between now and the next legislative session.
 
There are legislators and organizations we need to thank -- and many others that we need to hold responsible for not representing the interests of Texans.
 
But we'll leave the discussion of the who's and why's for a little later.  Right now, despite out disappointment and anger, let's look at what we accomplished.  The political insiders said we'd never get our bill out of the House, and certainly never get it through the Senate committees.  We fought every step of the way, and we got further than the proponents of NAIS (and even some of our friends) ever thought we would.
 
Just over a year ago, most Texas legislators had no idea what NAIS even was.  Now, a majority of the House voted to strip the TAHC of its authority to make NAIS mandatory, and we had a majority of the Senate who would have voted for the bill, if given the chance.  And those who blocked the bill know we will not go away quietly - our calls yesterday showed them that!
 
Thank you to all of the people who called and wrote their legislators, who supported FARFA by becoming members, and who came to the Texas Independence Day rally to show the legislators how much the people of Texas care about independent agriculture.  You truly made a difference.
 
The industrial agriculture interests and technology companies have spent almost 20 years developing their plans for NAIS.  In the space of 1 year, we've made them and the legislators sit up and take notice of us.  We won't give up.  We can, and will, win this fight in the long run.

Stay tuned for an analysis of the who's and why's of what happened, along with plans for where we go from here.  Our fight to protect independent agriculture has just begun!

Past news:

HB 461 was approved by the House of Representatives on April 24, by a vote of 88-51!! 

 A floor amendment was also approved that included the protections from HB 637, to insure that "voluntary" really means voluntary.  HB 461, as approved, would: (1) require the agency to give full disclosure and get informed consent before registering anyone; (2) allow a person to withdraw from the program at any time; and (3) forbid any person (which includes government agencies) from conditioning "any service, benefit, license, payment, or permit on participation" in the program.  In other words, people would be free to buy and sell animals, get feed, go to a veterinarian or a show, without being part of NAIS. The bill even requires the TAHC to notify those people already registered, and inform them that they have the right to withdraw.

BACKGROUND

The current law in Texas gives the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)  the authority to implement NAIS on a mandatory basis, including the power to impose civil and criminal penalties if people do not comply.  See section 161.056 of the Agriculture Code here.

Texas Representatives introduced three bills that would amend section 161.056 to limit NAIS.  HB 461 originally insered the word "voluntary" into the statute, and remove the civil and criminal penalties.  HB 637 had additional protections to insure that "voluntary" really means voluntary.  HB 3573, introduced on March 9, would delete section 161.056, and replace it with the pre-2005 version that provided for identification of exotic animals and limits such identification to a voluntary program. 

On March 12, HB 461 was approved by the House Committee on Agriculture by a unanimous, 7-0 vote.  On April 24, HB 461 was amended to include the protections from HB 637, and then approved by the Texas House.

Report on the House Committee Hearing on HB 461

Chairman Miller provided a committee substitute for HB 461 that incorporated all of the protections from HB 637: (1) full disclosure before anyone is signed up; (2) the right to withdraw at any time and have one’s information deleted; and (3) a non-discrimination clause that states: “A person may not condition a service, benefit, license, payment, or permit on participation in a program under this section.”  In other words, private companies and the government could NOT force anyone to sign up for NAIS in order to buy feed, be in 4-H, go to a sales barn, get a veterinarian’s help, etc.

The Committee heard several hours of testimony on the bill, and ultimately left the bill pending for another meeting.  For more details on the hearing, keep reading.  As we keep repeating, please contact your own Representative and Senator to ask for their support.

When HB 461 came up, Chairman Miller handed over Chairmanship of the Committee to Vice-Chair Anderson.  Representative Miller then explained why he was sponsoring HB 461.  He gave a wonderful discussion about why NAIS is not needed, speaking at length about all of the tracking and disease control programs that we have already.

Vice-Chair Anderson then started the public testimony phase of the hearing by calling FARFA to speak.  After FARFA, several other organizations and individuals testified, mostly in favor of the bill and limiting NAIS.  Below is more information on all the testimony.  I apologize in advance if I spell anyone’s name wrong or don’t hit all of the points they think should be mentioned from their testimony!  This discussion is just based on my notes from the day.

FARFA kicked off the morning testimony by testifying for the bill.  Our testimony addressed (1) the lack of scientific support for the program; (2) the costs in both money and our freedoms; (3) the problems Australia has experienced; (4) and what USDA and other states are doing.  The written copy of the testimony is at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/HB461-testimony-2.27.06 

Exotic Wildlife Association testified for the bill.  Their speaker made some excellent points about what happened to the elk market when NAIS was required for them last year.  Elk bulls that had been selling for $1,200 or $1,300 weren’t selling at all, while cow prices dropped from $500 or $600 to $100.  Many people simply decided to stop buying or selling elk because of the regulations, which have since been changed.  She also spoke to the problems with tagging every animal, since some species simply won’t tolerate being confined in a chute or handled that way.

Diane and George Moore both testified against the bill because it isn’t a full repeal of the program.

Tony McClenny testified for the bill, even though he wants a complete repeal.  He is the Farm Bureau director in Coryell County and spoke about the way the FB resolutions have been happening.  He described them as being driven from the top down. 

The afternoon testimony can be watched at http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/broadcasts.php?session=80&committeeCode=020

Dr. Don McLeod kicked off the afternoon session by testifying for the bill.  He spoke about his long experience as a veterinarian with the existing mechanisms for addressing disease, and the Texas traditions of freedom and independence.  Like many, he too wants a full repeal but supported the bill.

Then we got to the pro-NAIS people.  Jay Gray, Texas Farm Bureau, testified against the bill.  Chairman Miller posed some very hard questions to him about why Farm Bureau is opposed to the bill, since they claim to be in favor of a voluntary program.  Ultimately, the answer appeared to be that they want the “flexibility for it to be mandatory at some point in time.”  Both Chairman Miller and Vice-Chair Anderson asked hard questions about how the policy had been made and whether Farm Bureau had polled its members.

Josh Gardner, Cattle Feeders Association, testified against the bill. He claimed that Texas would “lose the safeguards we already have in effect” because the bill would prevent any type of mandatory identification, even for existing programs such as scrapie.  Chairman Miller told him that it just wasn’t so.  As with Farm Bureau, Chairman Miller asked Cattle Feeders about how the decision to support NAIS (and oppose this bill) had been reached.  When Gardner admitted that it had been the Board of Directors, and not the members, who developed the policy, both Chairman Miller and Vice-Chair Anderson said they were members of Cattle Feeders and they did not agree with the policy! 

Dr. Bob Hillman then testified for the Texas Animal Health Commission.  The agency can’t testify for or against a bill, only “on” it, but Dr. Hillman was clearly opposed to it.  Like the Cattle Feeders, he claimed that it will stop the already-existing disease control programs, and he and Chairman Miller went back and forth over that issue for quite a while.

Jimmy Gaines, Texas Landowners Council, testified for the bill.

Pam Cantwell testified for the bill as an individual.  She gave a passionate speech about freedom, including her father’s service in the military, and what NAIS would mean for horse owners.

Brad Stufflebeam, Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, testified for the bill.  He painted a compelling picture of the importance of small farmers and local foods, and the harm that NAIS would cause.  Both Brad and Pam said they want a full repeal, but support the bill.

Texas Eagle Forum filed an affidavit to support the bill.  Randy Givens, Mary Beth Westcott, Mike McGeary, and Jeremiah Griffin all filed affidavits as individuals supporting the bill without testifying.

The Texas Association of Dairymen and the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed affidavits “on” the bill.

Last, Ken Hodges, Texas Farm Bureau’s lobbyist, stood up to try to address Chairman Miller’s questions to the previous Farm Bureau speaker, basically saying that they were simply following their policy that supports the current statute.  He noted that the Texas Farm Bureau’s first policy on NAIS was adopted in 2004, supposedly in response to the 1st case of BSE.