A New “Dust Bowl” from Washington?

A new Dust Bowl faces America’s farms, only this one isn’t coming on the Jet Stream, like the Great One of the 1930’s. It’s coming from our government, threatening to bury our small farms under storms of paperwork, expenses and intervention.
In the 1930’s, the expansion of American agriculture, coupled with years of drought and shifting weather patterns, buried millions of acres of American farmland under blowing clouds and settling layers of dust. The result was the loss of thousands of small farms, and with that loss, thousands of families drifted west, seeking new homes, employment and a new start. All of this happened in the heart of the Great Depression, when more than 80% of Americans lived on small farms, growing their own food.
But today, though the atmospheric climate may portend a new Dust Bowl, there is a more imminent risk, our own United States Government. In the 1930’s, the government created the Civilian Conservation Corps, Youth Conservation Corps and the Soil Conservation Service, to try and anchor our nation’s soil to the ground, and give hope and guidance to those wishing to remain on the land. Other government authorities were created to assist these small farmers to continue farming, such as the Farm Credit Service. Why? Because there was a need to feed the people, to create housing, and to empower people at a time when many were disparaged because of the worsening economy.
Today, while the government assists large farms to continue the very practices that damaged our environment in the first place, it has also created the National Animal Identification System, or NAIS. This program, if fully realized, will financially punish the farmer who keeps a diversified, small farm. Not only will their land be branded by a Premises Identification Number, but the value of that land may be lowered because of that very brand. Potential buyers may decide they don’t want to be under the “watchful eye,” of the government, and resist paying “the real price.” The growing numbers of sustainable farmers, who are answering the call of America to grow local, naturally raised food, will be ordered to permanently mark each individual livestock animal, regardless of why they are kept, or what the farmer intends to do with them. These tags may in fact cause illness to the animals that the farmer is trying to so hard to raise humanely. How? By implanting ear tags that will be ripped out, leaving injuries, scars and infections in their wake. How can a program be about “Animal Health,” when it’s very requirements are detrimental to the animal’s health?
In this time when people are fearful of food safety, this “Food Safety Program,” will endanger the healthiest protein supplies, and cost the farmer and his/her animals in both money and health.
The last component of NAIS is the reporting or tracking aspect. Every time an animal leaves its home “premises,” such as going to the fair, a show, the vet, a classroom, or even meets an animal from a different farm, such as for breeding to keep genetic diversity strong, the farmer has to report that movement with 24 hours. If they fail to do so, they can be fined up to a $1,000 or be incarcerated. There is no concession for not having a computer, having religious convictions that conflict with the program, or even having a mechanical breakdown making it impossible to return home in time to report.
While this “dust cloud” looms on the horizon for the nation’s small farms, the industrial giants, who are practicing the same techniques that caused the original Dust Bowl, are exempt from individual tagging and tracking. Their confinement systems pollute their neighborhoods and their watersheds, abuse their animals through denying them proper exercise and housing conditions, and promote the very diseases that many people fear. Yet, they are given incentives to continue those practices, by allowing them tag and track their “inventory,” by “lot numbers,” as opposed to small farmers who identify their animals by name, and don’t need a computer system to know how each one is doing.
So why invent a NAIS? It has been explained as being an answer to Terrorism, to Mad Cow, to Bird Flu and to Food Safety. It is none of these things. Centralizing our food supply makes it easier for terrorists to harm us. Mad Cow and Bird Flu are diseases of industrial agriculture, spread by confinement and bad practices. Food safety is an issue that is solved in the processing facility, with proper inspection, and consumer education. Sick animals are not allowed in slaughter channels now, and proper enforcement will keep that from happening. The vast majority of food contamination happens inside the processing facility, not on the farm. The USDA says it needs a 48 hour traceback to be able to protect the animals, but we have existing programs, such as tattooing, branding, and existing programs, that have already proven they are successful at doing that, without a NAIS.
Sustainable farms are part of the solution to healing the climate shift problem. Such farmers are attuned to the impact they have on their land, as they share the water supply, the air and often consume the produce of the farm themselves. They feed their neighbors, providing a sense of community and educating the next generation about how to feed themselves, nourish the planet and grow a local economy.
When the Great Dust Bowl left, farms and towns were buried in layers of dirt. Families were uprooted and scattered to the winds, and entire communities were lost. If this New Dust Bowl of government intervention is allowed to blow in, the growing population of small farms, preserving our rural landscapes, and traditions, will be lost to the expense of compliance. All that will be left behind are the industrial farms who do not factor humane practices into their bottom line, and who have proven that it is their finances that matter, not their neighbors, their livestock of the land on which they operate. We will have lost the highest quality food available, and will be forced to pay higher prices for our food as it will be concentrated in the hands of the agri-giants who authored this program in the first place.
Can we afford to lose our artisan cheeses? Our rural tourism? Our open space? Can we afford to have our children growing up continuing to believe that milk comes from cartons and that they are powerless to provide for themselves? Small farms create “empowerment zones,” as the farmers, their neighbors and their customers have freedom of choice, availability of high quality food and a chance to make a living in small town America? Even urban planners are seeing the value of urban gardens, homesteads and community supported agriculture. Why can’t the United States Dept. of Agriculture?
There is a hearing on March 11 that will discuss the animal identification system issue. There is a regulation pending in the Federal Registry, that would make NAIS mandatory for many farms, through existing animal health programs. That comment period closes on March 16, 2009. If NAIS goes through the sustainable farmer will either become an endangered species or a “pirate on the land,” all in search of the freedom to raise animals in a humane, diversified, sustainable way. Please tell your elected officials that you want the tradition of the small farm to continue in America and that NAIS must not be enacted. We already face climate challenges greater than the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. We don’t need a Government Dust Bowl on top of it.

Hearing Notice - Important!

Liberty Ark Coalition Alert
February 28, 2009

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry will hold a hearing on “animal identification programs” on Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The agenda has not been released, so nothing is certain at this time. Staffers have informed us that the Subcommittee will hear testimony from organizations about NAIS implementation generally, and that this is not a hearing to pass any bills. This is the first time in several years that any Congressional Committee will hear testimony about NAIS! We are working with other groups to try to ensure that the voices of people who are against NAIS will also be heard at the hearing.

Below is information on how you can take action, including a list of the Subcommittee members. After that is an update on NAIS in the Appropriations bill, so please read all the way through!

TAKE ACTION:

If one of the Subcommittee members is from your state, call that member. Or you can contact your own Representative and ask him or her to approach the Subcommittee member to urge them to oppose NAIS. If you’re not sure who represents you, click here.

When you call, ask to speak to the staffer who handles agricultural issues, and talk with them about your concerns about NAIS. Emphasize that you want them to ask hard questions of both the industry and USDA representatives, and to make sure that people representing those who oppose NAIS are also heard at the hearing.

Once the agenda for the hearing is released, we will send out another alert with more specific action points. And, after the hearing, it will be very important to follow up with the Subcommittee members to make sure they hear all of the facts that are likely to not be raised at the hearing! So stay tuned!

SUBCOMMITTE MEMBERS:

Below are the Subcommittee members, their party and state, and phone numbers. You can also send an email by using this format: firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov

We strongly recommend that you make at least your initial contact with the Ag staffer with a telephone conversation.

Name: Phone: Fax:
Mike Rogers (R-AL) 202-225-3261 202-226-8485
Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) 202-225-6131 202-225-0819
Jim Costa (D-CA) 202-225-3341 202-225-9308
Joe Baca (D-CA) 202-225-6161 202-225-8671
Betsy Markey (D-CO) 202-225-4676 202-225-5870
David Scott (Chair), (D-GA) 202-225-2939 202-225-4628
Leonard Boswell (D-IA) 202-225-3806 202-225-5608
Steve King (R-IA) 202-225-4426 202-225-3193
Walt Minnick (D-ID) 202-225-6611 202-225-3029
Frank Kratovil, Jr. (D-MD) 202-225-5311 202-225-0254
Adrian Smith (R-NE) 202-225-6435 202-225-0207
Tim Holden (D-PA) 202-225-5546 202-226-0996
David P. Roe (R-TN) 202-225-6356 202-225-5714
K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) 202-225-3605 or 866-882-381 202-225-1783
Randy Neugebauer, Ranking Minority Member (R-TX) 202-225-4005 or 888-763-1611 202-225-9615
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) 202-225-5431 202-225-9681
Steve Kagen (D-WI) 202-225-5665 202-225-5729

APPROPRIATIONS NEWS

The 2009 omnibus Appropriations bill, HR 1105, passed the House on Thursday. The bill includes $14.5 million of funding for NAIS, which is significantly less than the amount requested by the USDA for FY 2009. Representative Obey (D-WI) included a statement in the record about the intended uses of the appropriations for USDA, including timelines and performance goals for NAIS. This statement does not mandate NAIS, but it implies approval of the USDA’s Business Plan, which includes using existing disease control programs to implement NAIS and achieve those performance goals.

Call your Senators and ask that they support an amendment to strip the NAIS funding out of the bill! You can find your Senators’ contact information here.

The good news is that it appears that the provision that would have required the School Lunch Program to buy meats only from NAIS-registered farms did NOT make it into the omnibus Appropriations bill! THANK YOU to everyone who called and wrote their Congressmen last summer and fall to oppose that provision!

To read the Omnibus Appropriations bill, go to thomas.gov and enter “HR 1105” in the search box. Click the option for “Bill Number” and then hit “search.” Rep. Obey’s explanatory statement can be read by clicking on the link for “H1653-H2088” under “Note” (towards the top of the page of the search result).


For more information, visit and support LibertyArk.net

A Good Viral

For those who wonder why farmers weep
‘Cause kids and chicks their tags don’t keep
It’s not just the pain and cost so deep,
It’s that “Government Help,” we saw in “Mad Sheep.”

Mad Sheep, written by Linda Faillace, explains her farm family’s experience with the
USDA and its early stages of the National Animal Identification System.
Published by Chelsea Green, read it and see why farmers are fighting so hard
to protect their land, their rights, their livelihoods and their animals. Read, Pass it on, and ask the President to read it. In order to protect our small farms and safest food, we all need to stop NAIS before all our food is raised by Industrial Agriculture. If you value your choice of sustainably raised local meat, dairy and eggs, voice your opposition to NAIS by contacting your elected officials, the USDA and your friends.

Please circulate this through the Internet. For those who don't understand why we're so afraid of NAIS, this book can illustrate it better than any other I know of.
Thanks,

Biding Time 'Til Spring

It seems that some folks weren't able to access this blog from my post. I hope that's been fixed now. I don't quite know what happened, as the link worked for me, but none the less, it appears people are finding us here.

Now that we're digging out from another snow event here in MA, I know that some states like NH and ME are still recovering from their bigger storm. For the whole country, I think we'll all be glad to see Spring 09 coming, in various stages of "soon." What are you doing this year that's different from the past. Down sizing, Upsizing, Changing Focus? Moving to more organic feed? browse only? Let us know what you're doing to prepare.

I just started planting our herbs for the Farmer's Markets this summer, and will be making a lot more soap. Cheese will have to wait and the milk supply is still very short, and the does that just kidded need all that they have.

Let us know what's up with you, and what you'd like to see in Ruminations. We'll be watching :)

Pat

Birth of a Blog

Ruminations is one way of reaching out to our community, but this blog is another way. Between issues we often find things we want you to know, and recently a couple of ideas have come forward that lend themselves to this kind of exchange. So I decided to start "Just Ruminatin'" as a way to keep the conversation going between issues.

Send us your photos, articles, hints, etc. to the magazine. We've been very pleased with the participation we've been getting. Thanks ever so much to our contributing editors. But we'd like to grow Ruminations into more of a community, so here goes:

1) Have any of you had the same problems I've been having with late heats, does not settling, and throwing off your breeding programs? After struggling for six months I finally had a really helpful conversation with Blue Seal Feeds nutritionist, and she suggested that we try using a chelated mineral, rather than a regular mineral salt.
Our farm well is very heavy with iron, which we've known was causing our bucks especially to suffer from copper deficiency. I have one line in particular that is "Cu Needy." We have been upping the amounts of copper, using cattle blocks, copper rods, on top of using SweetLix minerals. Our hay has been better than average, and consistently from the same sources, but still I was seeing late puberty in junior does, older does not settling after repeated breedings using different bucks, and few of my show line ready to show or be appraised this year.
We have switched to a new mineral program here, using Blue Seal EZ Pels, and taking out the mineral salts completely. We will use copper rods if we see the faded coats and bowing legs that we were seeing, but the only minerals they will be getting are in kelp and a top dress with EZ Pels. Already I'm seeing a change for the better in my buck behavior, and my top milker is acting more herself when she's in heat (Translation: loud and pushy, rather than whiny and meek like she has been.)
In my conversations around the nation this past few months, I've found many people having similar conception rate problems. Is this "one of those years," or have we been pushing copper so hard that we've thrown off the zinc, selenium, cobalt, manganese and copper balances?
Could people post their experiences and comments here?

2) The new issue of the Ruminations is currently at the printer. We are launching a new program called "Working Girls," paying respect to those hard working milking folks who are using their goats' milk and dealing with milking every day. So many herds are cutting back on their herdsize, we want to highlight how productive and useful these little "mini milkers," are. So, watch for the "Working Girls," section and for a new milking program to be launched in the upcoming year.

3) Ruminations is also publishing a "Buyer's Guide to Nigerian Dwarf Goats." Sorry, Mini dairy goat folks, but this is targeted especially at the potential ND buyer. Much of it is transferrable to your situation, but the ND buyer is often a "different creature," than the conventional goat purchaser. The guide will be available for $5, including shipping and handling, and will decipher the alphabet soup and abbreviations seen on pedigrees, discuss different types of breeding operations ie. large/small, milking/show. It invites the reader to ask questions of themselves as to what they can be comfortable with as they venture into the world of Nigerian dwarfs.
Our hope is that we can encourage more people to bring ND's into their families, providing milk and smiles rather than confusion and sometimes disappointment. It is a result of several conversations I've heard over the years with people who try to figure out which animal to buy, from what farm, and what is meant by some of the terminology.

So, 2009 is off to a running start with Ruminations. We hope that your kidding seasons are easy and "full of does." Let us know.

Also, send us pictures for the website of how you survived this past winter, and 2008 in general. Many of you faced drought, fire, floods, snow and ice, more than any of us is used to expecting. We'll start a gallery on SmallFarmGoat.com to show off your photos and stories.

Thanks, I hope you'll participate in "Just Ruminatin'" and spread the word about it, and the Ruminations.

Pat