Food Safety Bill

Well, a victory for us small producers. The Senate Bill 510 was voted on this morning and it passed. While the original bill was supported by Big Ag because it did exclude small farmers, farmer's markets and farm sales from its jurisdiction, the bill that passed does, thanks to Senator's Tester and Hagan. When their Amendment was attached, Big Ag began lobbying heavily to stop the bill, but they did not succeed.
Now we have to make sure that the conference committee which will compromise the HOuse and Senate bills into one law, adopts the Senate bill over the House Bill. The Senate Bill has aspects which limit control over farms and companies with less than $500,000 in sales, which is much more "farm friendly." Keep an eye out for the progress of the conference bill. Senator Reid was hoping to get this through during the lame duck session. Who knows?

Public Meetings Re: Animal Traceability

The USDA has announced three meetings where citizens can voice their opinions about
the new proposed Animal Traceability Program. The meetings are at:

• Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Holiday Inn Kansas City – SE Waterpark
9103 East 39th Street
Kansas City, MO 64133
• Thursday, May 13, 2010
USDA Center at Riverside
4700 River Road
Riverdale, MD 20737

• Monday, May 17, 2010
Crowne Plaza – Denver International Airport
15500 East 40th Avenue
Denver, CO 80239

The meetings will discuss the impact of the new program, outlined at
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2010/02/0053.xml

The USDA wants to alert people that there will be a $4 parking fee at the Maryland
site, but there is public transportation nearby.

For those of us who aren't near any of these sites, we need to send emails, letters
or phone calls to the USDA office and to our Federal Legislators.

The USDA has stated that there will be additional public sessions in the future. We
will be posting those as we are able to discover them.

There is a page at the USDA Animal Traceability Site that has an FAQ about the program. Please take the time to read that document and make comments with those explanations in mind.

This is the USDA's new NAIS approach. We got it stopped the first time around, so let's use this opportunity to craft an approach that will work.

There is a grassroots group that is offering suggestions in a letter being sent to Secretary Vilsack, which makes helpful suggestions that affect small farmers/ranchers throughout the nation. I am a part of that group so I can assure you that many of our concerns are reflected there.
- Pat Stewart

Food Safety Bill

There is a new bill on the floor of the Senate that will make it more difficult to maintain freedom of food choice. If you want to know more about it, please visit www.smallholdersalliance.com and see what's afoot. The bill itself is dangerous, but the amendment put forward by Senator Tester is a good one, and needs to be passed. Please check it out and spread the word. Time is of the essence. If this bill goes into affect as is, the FDA could come to the farm and try an interfere with things they don't understand. The USDA may not be perfect, but the FDA is much less informed about farm matters, yet they will have control over practices and potential business that they currently don't have the authority to do anything about.

Please help protect our freedom to grow our own food and sell to those who trust us. Thanks, Pat

NAIS - The New Incarnation

There has been a lot of discussion about the death of the National Animal Identification System. Is it dead? Are we out the woods? Is it just renamed?
I'm hoping to clarify some of the confusion through ongoing comments on this blog.

NAIS, in its original incarnation, is dead. Secretary Vilsack announced on a conference call with many Ag groups that the program was a "failure," and that part of the reason was the overwhelming opposition that was heard at the Listening Sessions. However, the fact that program had essentially no funding, just a couple million dollars in this year's budget, also had a lot to do with it. That's just my opinion, there, but it makes sense.

However, the USDA still has obligations to the UN, and to other treaties, that we have to maintain, so the agenda of NAIS isn't gone. It will be retooled though.
We DO need to watch what diseases we import to this country. The new program is being developed with this in mind. We DO need to know where disease outbreaks happen, and contain them. That is being considered in the new program. But we also NEED to support the growing local ag economy through reasonable rules and regulations, education and support, and rebuild the shattered trust between farmers and the USDA.

This new program will be designed WITH the input of small farmers and local ag supporters. An Advisory Council is being developed which will include Big Ag and Little Ag, as well as other groups. I think it's the best way forward. But part of what has to happen is that the public needs to learn why we do what we do. That keeping livestock isn't like organizing a warehouse, and that "Bigger" isn't necessarily better.

We each need to communicate our concerns to our legislators. We need to develop relationships with the public, the media and the lawmakers that illustrate that we are reasonable, intelligent people with knowledge to share in the area of raising safe food.

I am going to be part of a conference call, which I thought was today, but is actually tomorrow, that will help determine who is the "Little Guy's" representative on the Advisory Council. Rest assured, there are some brilliant, informed people on our side, with the best of intentions in going forward. Some are attorneys, some are farmers, some are advocates and everyone is dedicated to supporting small farms, local food and sustainable agricultural future for the USA.

Ethics Question

I am hoping we'll get some feedback on the "Right or Wrong" section of the magazine.
Someone did ask me what I meant by "Production vs. Show," as they understood that there was no conflict in these two goals. My belief is that there shouldn't be, but there sometimes is. There are people who show off beautiful mammary systems on their goats, but in reality those goats don't milk very well. Also, there are animals that milk terrifically well, but are either over standard, or are not show material. There is some concern that there is a trend toward "putting it in the bucket," at the expense of proper standards.
Personally I have overheight animals, but they are clearly stated as overheight in the DHI papers and on my publicity. They may be oversized, but by a shade of inch, up to an inch, and not higher. In one case, I clearly overfed the doe during her growth period, and she grew too fast and suffers from joint issues and other problems. In the other case, my doe was the daughter of a foundation animal in the early stages of the breed's development, so predictability was not reliable in many herds.
So what do you all think? That's what this blog is about - conversation. Please chime with your views and let's get the conversation rolling. Thanks, Pat

Events Updated

The website now has an updated Events listing. If you have a workshop, seminar, course or show you'd like to announce, please let us know. There is no cost to use this service, we just want people to know where they can learn more about goats.

Haiti Relief

Ruminations is coordinating an effort to provide goats to the people of Haiti following this terrible earthquake. Specifics are still in the works, but I have been working with Heifer International for years, and they are working with us as to how to proceed. It may be just a collection of donations, which we use to purchase goats from their "catalog." Or we might be asking people to donate or sell their animals to Heifer so that the people of Haiti can have fresh milk now, or in the future.

Amid this terrible devastation is an opportunity for the nation to rebuild itself into a stronger country. Goats have always been "Easy keepers," and wonderful companions, as we all know. Goats are a mainstay in the Haitian diet. Our little goats offer possibilities that bigger goats can't. There may not be a place for them, but there may be. I'll let you know when I hear more from Heifer.

Until then, if you are of a mind to, say a prayer for all those affected, and those who are trying to help.

Right or Wrong?

We started a new program this issue (#67) in Ruminations. It's a conversation about ethics called "Right or Wrong?" It's our goal here to enlighten people about some of the issues we face as goat breeders and owners. It is not our plan, goal or otherwise, intent to defame or denounce anyone. No proper names, herd or farm names are to be used. Conversations should be general and not too specific about incidents. If we can't all abide by this rule, we will stop the program.

Our first topic is "Is breeding for dairy a benefit in the ring? Is breeding for the ring and advantage in the milking parlor?" The exact phrasing is in the magazine, but there is more room to discuss it, so I have enhanced the description of the question.

You do not have to be a subscriber of Ruminations to participate here, though we hope you will be soon, if you're not. You do have to register with the blog to participate. Select, representative replies will be placed in the next issue of the magazine, and a new question will be posed at that time.

Do you have a question you'd like to discuss? Let me know at Editor@smallfarmgoat.com and we'll look at how best to phrase it. We realize this can be a touchy subject, but we feel that it's important to do. I hope you'll agree and participate. Thank you,

Pat Stewart