NAIS

[Tobina+1]

My apologies, Karma!  I just had a thought!  Your comment about the "microchips" and then my comment about the "horse owners"... Made me just realize that we may be talking about 2 different aspects of NAIS. 
Since we don't want our horses running around with these big round EID ear tags (poor things), but yet NAIS does apply to that species of the industry, too... it has been proposed that horses can get microchips implanted.  Although these microchips have the same basic aspects (no data storage, passive, etc), they will probably be more expensive than just $2.00!  Also, the basis of NAIS is ANIMAL MOVEMENT to/from different Premises... so Wilma's husband wouldn't have to ID his black cow and calf until he sells one of them and they leave the ranch of origin.  Which is a LOT more difficult in animals like HORSES!!!  For the meat-animal industry (cattle, bison, goats, swine), I think NAIS is fairly straightforward.  They move a lot, but they also get more contained and in larger groups.  It gets difficult in animals like horses that constantly move to/from different locations (rodeos, day workers, neighbors helping out, etc).  I'm not sold on that aspect of NAIS.  I'm not sure that part can work effectively!  Although horses still can carry diseases just like cattle can... I guess I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth now!  (isn't there a smiley for that?)   
Another aspect that kind of irritates me is the poultry industry.  Somehow, they think they are exempt from NAIS... but I think that chickens carry way more diseases than cattle!  Maybe because they are usually kept in the same group and not really moved around?  Heck, even FISH are included in NAIS (farm-raised)!  That's a little sketchy to me, too.

[pam]

Sorry Tobina, hadn't looked at this for a while. You are right about the horses, in theory you would have to notify the USDA ( or whoever) everytime you rode your horse past your property line! Talk about ate up. And as for animals grown for personal use I really don't see why the government needs to have their fingers in that pie either I'll give you it might be a good idea for the big corporate farms just because of the volume and mobility of the animals. Small farmers, I don't see the need either because they have a good paper trail already. This just ain't a one size fits all kinda deal. And personally, if I have to mark my horses I'd just as soon tattoo or brand em.

[Lookatmeknow!!]

I wouldn't mark my horse with this system either.  We move them around alot from pasture to pasture and Parker shows them in 4-H.  I will be very frank, most of the problem is with not wanting to change.  I know that my husbands grandfather doesn't take to change very well.  It worked for him years ago, and it works for us now.  We have changed ways that we do things on the farm, but the majority has not changed.  But we have to have a premise ID for Parker's 4-H animals that she takes.  Last year it was a steer and this year it is lambs.  So, Tobina if this goes into affect do we use the same premise id for our cattle as she uses for 4-H?  But what about a partnership farm.  Do each of the guys get their own premise id, or is it based on where the pastures are???  There are alot of questions on my mind on whether or not this is a good thing or not.  I just know that we won't take anything to the sale that is sick.  It makes us look bad, and we really want to sell the best cattle that we can. 

[Tobina+1]

Karma; yes, there may be some sort of exclusion in the system for cattle that are home-raised and sent straight to a local packer for personal use.  Not really any reason to have an EID tag for that purpose.  Again, this is mostly for livestock that moves a lot, like stocker cattle.  Even for pigs, animals that tend to stay in one group throughout their life, might not have to have individual ID's; just a group ID that can be tracked from location to location.  I think that's why NAIS has been tabled and labeled as "voluntary", because there are so many aspects to the industry and no one can agree how to manage each one.

Angie; as far as the 4-H premises ID, I don't really know.  Did you have to apply with the state for your Premises ID?  Or did the 4-H just assign it to you?  If it was assigned by the 4-H, I would imagine it wouldn't be an official one; just one that could be used for research purposes within the program.  But I also imagine that if you already had an official state one, it could be used for your 4-H one, too.  To be honest with you, I imagine that the 4-H's program is more to prevent cheating rather than animal tracking for diease purposes.  Since the EID tags are tamper-proof (can't be cut out and put in another animal's ear), it's preventing people from weighing in one animal and then taking another animal to the fair.  Kind of like they used to do with nose prints, only easier to read! 

I agree about change.  If you look at the Agriculture industry in general, it is one of the most non-technology and non-changing industries!  "I do it the way my grandpa did it."  (Hey, that's the same thing MY dad used to say, too!)  Unfortunately, Grandpa didn't have to worry about pollution, diseases, or a lot of the stuff we have to deal with today.  In any other industry, Grandpa would have retired (or forced to retire) years ago, and a new forward-thinking manager would have been hired in his place.  My favorite picture that depicts the industry is an old man sitting on a chair with his pants rolled up and his feet in 2 different buckets of water... the left bucket is sitting on a block of ice and is blue with cold... the right bucket is sitting on a fire pit and is steaming and red with heat... the man is saying "On the average, I'm happy."