Promoters of national livestock ID plan shift to focus on benefits of global traceability

From Rodale's New Farm Newsletter

"Why would farmers who don't export their livestock and focus on improving
the health of their stock rather than detecting disease after the animals reach
the market want a new bureaucracy that would cost them money and benefit someone
else?

That's the nub of the ongoing unease in the farm community with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's plan to have track-back data capacity for every
animal on every farm. The department and exporters say they need this capacity
to provide global assurances for disease-source detection. Most farmers with
on-farm, local and regional markets—and those who already clearly brand
everything that leaves their farm, with pride—agree that the system offers them
little while costing them much.

To see how its supporters are promoting the concept, its technology and its
benefits, Amy Shollenberger of Rural Vermont (a nonprofit supporting local food
systems in Vermont and beyond) attended an event this summer. Here she
summarizes developments in the past year and reports what she saw."

http://www.newfarm.org/features/2007/1107/nais/shollenberger.shtml