Rules are Changing, The

Cattleman, The, Sep 2008 by Brisendine, Ellen H

USDA's Knight Battles NAIS Misunderstandings

Required for Trade? Maybe. Needed for Disease Control? Yes.

"Our industry is about to face confluence of economic conditions and policies that, taken separately, would be sobering. The fact that they will happen simultaneously, over a very short period of time, is almost numbing." John Welch, chair of the TSCRA Marketing Committee opened that committee's meeting at TSCRA's March convention in Corpus Christi with that quote from Barry Dunn, King Ranch Institute at Texas A&M University, Kingsville.

Welch, manager of the Spade Ranches, continued by saying, "Change is inevitable. Change has been going on since this industry began - but it's picking up speed."

Welch co-chairs the committee with Missy Bonds, Bonds Ranch, Saginaw. Prior to introducing the featured speaker at the widely-attended committee meeting, he offered a few observations:

"Most of the changes we're seeing are the result of changes in the local economy. As I see it, the main things that are happening are more people [around the world] are moving from the poverty level to the middle class level of existence at a faster rate than has ever happened in history.

"Although we don't like the way this feels, the U.S. is no longer the lone dominant power in the world. The value of the dollar has fallen to lows against other currencies. I find all of these radical changes disconcerting; I think a lot of us do. They take us out of our comfort zone. But they also provide great opportunities," Welch said.

He acknowledged some sectors of the U.S. economy are struggling, but industries that produce a product an increasingly affluent worldwide population wants, such as fuel for more vehicles, are flourishing. "At the same time, a cheaper dollar makes it easier for those consumers to buy those products," Welch added.

Another reason some industries flourish is their willingness to embrace global trade. "We also have a product the global world wants," Welch says, referring to high-quality beef. "I did not realize until the other day that the most consumed meat in the world is goat. It has to be a great mark of affluence when you can go from goat to beef! No offense to any of you who raise goats."

Welch concluded his comments by saying the tools are available for the U.S. beef industry to participate in the global market. "We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to do what is necessary to grow our share of that global market."

NAIS sparks high emotions

With that preface, Welch introduced Bruce Knight, USDA undersecretary of marketing and regulatory programs, who had been invited to talk about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a widely debated and, in some sectors, largely unpopular program.

Knight, a farmer/rancher from South Dakota and past chief of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), said, "When I was asked by then-secretary Johanns to take this job, I found a charge that was highly emotional, an issue that had a lot of people in a lot of corners and a great deal of misunderstanding."

Knight explained the first goal of a national animal identification system is to provide the U.S. livestock industry with "48-hour traceability in the event of a catastrophic disease."

The "cow that stole Christmas" in December 2003 from Washington state, lit a fire under this issue of a national animal identification program. "We selected 48-hour traceability because of the threat of, and imminent risk of, foot and mouth disease (FMD). That's the driver," Knight explained.

The U.S. livestock industry has a long history of testing for and eradicating disease. Just this year, Texas achieved brucellosis-free status, thanks to the determined testing of cattle producers. However, the industry then becomes a victim of its own success, Knight said. "As we eradicate these diseases, we eradicate traceability," because we stop tagging tested animals, and stop keeping records of the movement of those animals. "In the event of a catastrophic disease, we need to be able to respond very quickly."

Knight says his plan since he took on the job of rolling out the National Animal Identification System has been to earn the respect of the ranching community for the program. He explained that sec. Johanns told him the program should be voluntary and should respect individual and private property rights. "This last year-and-a-half I've seen a real turnaround," in attitudes toward a national animal identification system, Knight observed.

"It's the right thing to do," he says. "When we start looking into the future at the changes coming at our industry, we're going to see it is also fundamental to some of the marketing opportunities as we move forward."

"Please register your premise"

The basics of the NAIS are this: identify the premise where an animal is born and the location where it was harvested. "Under our current system," Knight explained, "all we can do now is identify the place of harvest and then start traceback. If we also have, through ID, the ability to identify the place of birth, then we can then trace to the center. That will immediately cut down the timeframe.