Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:16:15 -0400
Subject: Minority Filibuster of USDA and R-Calf's Objection to USDA's Mandatory Animal Identification Plan
From: lcohencole@gmail.com
To: davis4000_2000@yahoo.com; seamom2007@hotmail.com
Minority farmers need support from all other farmers and vice versa. And they need to speak out against Obama's USDA since he is responsible for its actions which violate his campaign promises.
| "FILIBUSTER" |
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE:
"THE LAST PLANTATION"
Sponsored by the MINORITY FARMERS
& THE USDA COALITION OF MINORITY EMPLOYEES
Against
racism, sexism, reprisal, sexual assaults, intimidation
bullying, other widespread abuses and
A FAILED AND DYSFUNCTIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS PROCESS
SUN UP TO SUN DOWN DAILY
KICK-OFF
TUESDAY - OCTOBER 4, 2011
BEGINNING AT 12 NOON
LOCATION
JAMIE WHITTEN BUILDING
BETWEEN 12TH & 14TH STREETS,
JEFFERSON DRIVE SW (ON THE MALL)
WASHINGTON, DC
TAKE A STAND FOR CIVIL RIGHTS BY STANDING WITH
MINORITY FARMERS & USDA COALITION OF MINORITY EMPLOYEES
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.
He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it".
__Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
"Fighting for the U.S. Cattle Producer"
For Immediate Release Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
September 8, 2011 Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
USDA's Mandatory Animal Identification Plan "Is a Packer's Dream, a Beef Packer's Dream," Says R-CALF USA's Animal ID Committee Chair
Rapid City, S.D. – Speaking to nearly 200 cattle-producing members in attendance at R-CALF USA's 12th Annual Convention held recently in Rapid City, S.D., R-CALF USA's Animal ID Committee Chair, Kenny Fox, described the mandatory animal identification rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Aug. 11, 2011, as "a packer's dream, a beef packer's dream."
Fox explained the new identification rule titled "Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate" is a thinly veiled scheme to force U.S. livestock producers to provide economically valuable, source-verification information to beef packers, at no cost to the packers.
"This deceptive rule will change the current standard that export customers now require for verifying the traceability of U.S. beef," Fox said adding, "Once a government sanctioned traceability program is implemented, our export customers will rely on that for verifying the origins of U.S. beef and the premiums many U.S. producers are now receiving from export-oriented packers will evaporate."
Fox said this will occur because packers would have no reason to continue paying financial premiums to producers, who now voluntarily provide traceability information in return for marketplace premiums, when the federal government intercedes in the market and provides packers with a verifiable traceability trail for free.
"Anyone who thinks current source-verification requirements imposed by exporters will not be relaxed after USDA declares that all U.S. cattle are traceable is naïve," Fox said, adding, "In fact, it is the goal of the WTO's (World Trade Organization's) reference organization, the OIE (the World Organization for Animal Health), which is pushing USDA and all other nations to implement a national animal identification system, to encourage all nation's to rely on the one-size-fits-all minimum standards established by the OIE for the purpose of facilitating more trade among nations."
Fox said the proposed rule is designed to bring the U.S. into compliance with the WTO and OIE in yet another way.
"By delisting the hot-iron brand as an official U.S. identification device or method, USDA is inviting Canada and Mexico to file yet another WTO complaint just as they did against our new country of origin labeling law. That's because we currently require hot-iron brands on Mexican and Canadian imports. After the rule takes effect, both Canada and Mexico can legitimately claim we are imposing a higher standard on their imports than we require of our domestic herds and if they prevail, our ability to trace foreign animal diseases would be severely reduced. This is absurd."
Fox said the financial windfall for packers is hidden within the proposed rule. He explained that during the initial period of the rule, during which only breeding-age cattle – the beef from which is not typically exported – would be subject to USDA's new identification requirements, farmers and ranchers are exempt from those official identification requirements if the cattle are being shipped directly to slaughter.
However, he said, "As soon as younger feeder cattle – cattle from which exportable beef is produced – are included under the identification requirements, the rule states the exemption will expire for cattle shipped directly to slaughter. That means in the very near future all cattle delivered to a packer must bear an official identification number and packers then can legitimately claim that they only sell traceable beef, without having to pay a dime for this value-added information.
"USDA is giving the packers a valuable present by taking away from U.S. livestock producers an economically rewarding opportunity to add value to their cattle.
"I'm convinced the driving force behind this proposed rule is not disease control or prevention. Even the Agriculture Secretary touts the rule as an export enhancement tool, though he failed to disclose that the benefits are intended for exporting packers and not for the livestock producers who would bear the cost of the new system.
"If the purpose of this proposed rule was to improve our nation's disease control capabilities, then USDA would not have removed the hot-iron brand and tattoos from the agency's current list of official animal identification devices or methods as these traditional identification methods are far more permanent than the ear tags USDA prefers.
"In addition, USDA would not have ignored the livestock industry's specific request that younger feeder cattle – cattle that can readily be identified under current interstate shipment requirements and that are typically slaughtered before reaching 18 months of age – not be included in the agency's initial rule.
"This proposed rule should be flatly rejected by every U.S. livestock producer and we should continue heeding the advice of our sister organization in Australia that has urged us to fight any government-led mandatory animal identification system to the last cowboy," Fox concluded.
The deadline for submitting public comments on USDA's proposed rule "Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate" is November 9, 2011, though R-CALF USA and several other groups already have asked USDA for a 60-day extension. The public may submit comments by either of the following methods:
- Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2009-0091-0001.
- Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2009-0091, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 46 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
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