[AT] Mad as H***: Cattle ID cont. (long)

[Greg Hass]

I had not intended to respond to this thread, however I received in the 
mail today my official notice from the MI Dept. of Agriculture informing me 
of the need for a "Premises Identification Number."  They have already 
assigned me one.  The way my letter was addressed is not my normal way of 
listing my address or name, but is the way it has been required to be 
listed on the agricultural surveys, which are required by law.  So much for 
the government's promise that information would be held in confidence and 
only used for statistical purposes, not personal identification.  (By the 
way, I have not had cattle or any other livestock here in 10 
years.)  Although now a Michigan law,  the only reason they give is that 
the USDA MAY require electronic tags for moving Bovine TB Zones to higher 
status, and MAY be part of the NAIS system soon to be implemented by the 
USDA.  I will try not to get political, but in Michigan this is a 100% 
political issue, so some of this may spill over.

First, a little history...  For the past 20 years or so, the deer herd in 
Michigan has been completely out of control.  For as long as I can 
remember, for cattle trade purposes we have been a certified TB-free 
state.  About 10 years ago, MI Farm Bureau sued the DNR, saying that if 
they did not get the deer herd under control, they would become diseased 
and it would spill over into the livestock industry.  An out-of-court 
settlement was reached to reduce the deer herd.  After 2 or 3 years of the 
DNR doing nothing and more deer herd increases, Farm Bureau again took them 
to court.   Again, an out-of-court settlement was reached to reduce the 
deer herd within 2 years.  Again, the DNR broke all their promises.  In the 
meantime, in our northern counties the deer herd became infected with TB 
and infected several dairy herds in the northern part of the state.  As a 
result, our state has lost its TB-free status after many years of hard work 
and expenditures on the part of farmers and breeding groups.  Our northern 
counties have to test all of their animals on a reegular basis.  So far, in 
our part of the state we do not have to test regularly, but to my knowledge 
no breeding stock can be shipped out of the state without first passing a 
TB test.  Farmers have lost millions of dollars, not only because of the 
expense of the test, but because many out-of-state buyers are unwilling to 
risk the test possibly being wrong.

Our state has mandated radio-frequency ear tags which will cost $2 or more 
(depending on maufacturer) and we do not have a choice in the matter, and 
no longer have a choice of which manufacturer to buy them from.  We must 
purchase them from the state.  Also, in true government fashion, the tags 
have been designed in such a way that no present applicator will put them 
in, so everyone must buy a new applicator specifically for these tags at a 
price of over $20.  Remember now, this is not speculation.  This came in my 
official state notification.

Now rant mode!!!.....

It angers me that if these rules are for the good of all the people, then 
let all the people pay for it.  I see no reason why we, as farmers, should 
have to pay to protect everyone from everything when all non-farm programs 
are arranged in such a way that the cost is passed on.  Especially where, 
in this case, it was the DNR which caused the problem in the first place 
when they refused to do what needed doing despite being warned.  An example 
of passing it on is: our local fertilizer plant has to have a company come 
in every year and drill 6-ft. test holes to test for leaching of 
chemicals.  Do they pay this fee?  No!  Every load of fertilizer I buy has 
an environmental fee added to the bill cover this extra cost they incur.  I 
have a cousin who sells 10,000 head of cattle a year, so this means he now 
has to absorb an extra $20,000 cost in tags every year.

I could go on for 10 more pages, but I think everyone gets the idea.  Sorry 
for the long letter, but I didn't know how to clearly explain it in a 
shorter one.


Greg Hass
Bad Axe, MI
 From the tip of Michigna's Thumb