The Arkansas Freedom to Farm Act HB1046
Anita Messenger, Arkansas Animal Producers Association: The Freedom to Farm Act HB1046 to limit the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to voluntary in Arkansas has already been passed through the Arkansas House of Representatives with 60 YES votes. But it is now hung up in the Senate Ag Committee. Six of the 8 Senators on that committee are not involved in agriculture or animals in this state. Senator Wyatt is on this committee and owns 6,000 acres of farm ground and 1,000 head of cattle. He's FOR the Freedom to Farm Act. This Act will insure that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) remains completely VOLUNTARY in Arkansas at the state level. Sen. Ruth Whitaker is also voting for this Act. We need THREE more YES votes on that committee to get it out of there and to the full Senate floor for a vote there. Senator Taylor is leaning toward voting for the Act. We have approx. 10 days of this legislative session left to get this done.
Arkansas has hundreds of thousands of Arkansas animal owners who will be adversely affected by the NAIS if it is allowed to become mandatory in Arkansas. And these animal owners ARE working to help get this bill passed by emailing, calling, faxing those six senators on that ag committee, telling them to change their vote on HB1046 and to give it a DO PASS out of that committee.
They need your help and are asking YOU to help them protect Arkansas small agriculture businesses in the next five days by calling the committee members and your Senator and demanding that this act be passed. Three of these Senators sat in the Act's first hearing two weeks ago and ADMITTED on record that they know NOTHING about the NAIS or how it will affect Arkansas animal owners. And yet they are saying they won't vote for the Freedom to Farm Act even when they admit not knowing what they are talking about. It is most disturbing that people who are not involved with agriculture are on a Ag committee making decisions for the people in the Ag business and not listening to Ag business owners on such serious issues as the NAIS.
Included in this post are a few charts of Arkansas livestock ownership,from the USDA's own farm surveys - they show beyond a shadow of a doubt that the vast majority of Arkansas animal owners are the Small Businesses that the NAIS will hit the hardest. If you own Horses, there is a report tilted "Economic Impact of the NAIS on Horse Owners and Horse Shows" which uses the USDA's own documents and points out that the NAIS sucks in over 30 species of animals - owning just ONE animal of one of those species gets you. No exceptions, all inclusive.
Sen. Luker is the Chair on this Ag committee said this week if three more Senators will agree to vote "Yes" on the bill, he'll bring the Act up for a vote immediately. If not passed this year, it will be two years before Small Ag businesses will have the opportunity to try again for Freedom to Farm Act. Hard to believe, we live in Arkansas, where small Ag businesses have been a mainstay in the culture and now "Freedom" is threatened. If not passed now, NAIS may be mandatory (100% for every owner of animals) within the next two years.
We are being told that "nothing gets through this committee unless Jon Fitch of the Ark. Livestock & Poultry is FOR it" - but Mr. Fitch doesn't own everyone else's animals! This appears to be a last chance for Arkansas. This bill helps protect Arkansas! Missouri passed a law limiting NAIS a year ago. Now it is time for Arkansas. Remember: A vote against the Freedom to Farm Act is a vote against Arkansas animal owners. Our animals are OUR property - not the government's! We need the Freedom to Farm ACT NOW. Please call/email/fax the Arkansas senators below. If you get a busy signal, that is what we want - to keep things so tied up for the next several days that they cannot do anything else. And they do NOT want that happening at the end of the legislative session right now. We need them to listen to us! | Arkansas Senate Ag Committee: ------------------------------------- | |
| Sen. Mary Anne Salmon (D) 29 Heritage Park Circle, NLR, AR 72116 Hm: 501-753-4521 Bus: 501-753-4521 Fax: 501-753-2492 msalmon@arkleg.state.ar.us Sen. Gene H. Jeffress 1483 Ouachita 47, Louann, AR 71751 Hm: 870-689-3537 mailto:gjeffress@arkleg.state.ar.us Sen. Jimmy L. Jeffress (D) P.O. Box 904, Crossett, AR 71635 Hm: 870-364-8291 jjeffress@arkleg.state.ar.us | Sen. Jerry Taylor (D) 6203 Ridgewood Dr., Pine Bluff, AR 71603 Hm: 870-879-3233 Bus: 870-540-9423 FAX: 870-535-7970 taylorj@arkleg.state.ar.us Sen. Jim Luker (D) CHAIR PO Box 216, Wynne, AR 72396 Hm: 870-238-2223 Bus: 870-238-8588 FAX: 870-238-7680 lukerj@arkleg.state.ar.us Sen. Shane Broadway (D) 201 SE 2nd, Bryant, AR 72022 Hm: 501-682-6050 sbroadway@arkleg.state.ar.us |
| Orgs./Groups Supporting the Freedom to Farm Act HB1046: | |
| Arkansas Animal Producer's Association North American Rural Land Owner's Assoc. United States Boer Goat Association Farm Bureau Coalition For the Freedom to Farm R-CALF, USA Secure Arkansas Arkansas Horse Council International Dairy Goat Registry The Cornucopia Institute International Texas Longhorn Assoc. Arkansas Companion Dog Breeder's Assoc. Arkansas Equine Sales Concerned Citizens of the Counties of Arkansas Liberty Ark Coalition | Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance Arkansas Eagle Forum Gorton Land Surveying, Ltd. Town & Country Properties Weston A. Price Foundation Farm-to-Consumers Legal Defense Fund Debbie's Awesome Blossom Nursery PRCA Group of Arkansas, Inc. (Pro Rodeo) Arkansas Rodeo News Ouachita Goat & Sheep Producer's Assoc. Organic Consumers Assoc. American Goat Society Clark County Livestock Feed Little Flat Farm and more! |
| "Animal Owners Working Together"- We need the Arkansas Freedom to Farm Act HB1046 | |
Tags: Animal Id, ARAPA, Arkansas, Arkansas Animal Producer's Association, NAIS, National Animal Identification System To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 9:21 PM - Post Link
4 Comments:
At this time, ONE man is keeping Arkansas animal owners from getting the bill they want passed to keep the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) completely voluntary in Arkansas - that one man is Senator Jim Luker, Chair of the Senate Ag Committee. For two weeks he has assured us that he would allow the bill to be voted on again if we have the votes. Now he is saying he will NOT allow it to be voted on even if we do have the votes! Why is ONE MAN - a man who is not even involved in agriculture - allowed to keep Arkansas citizens from having a law that is so extremely important to those of us with animals in this state?
Here is his contact information again - give him the most miserable next four days that you can. The Ag committee is meeting Tuesday and Thursday of next week, and either day our bill can be voted on but that is the last chance we have for this session. Angry cattlemen in the state are convincing some of the other senators that they DO need to vote FOR this bill on that committee. Now LUKER needs to be convinced that it is in his best interests to listen TO THE PEOPLE. Please get everyone you can to call, fax and email Sen. Luker for the next four days! Remember, if you only own ONE animal on that list of over THIRTY species of animals, the NAIS sucks you in! A parrot in a condo gets you! Catfish in your stock ponds! This is NOT just about CATTLE owners! Why should the Ark. Cattlemen's Assoc. be the only one the senators listen to?
Sen. Jim Luker (D) CHAIR
PO Box 216, Wynne, AR. 72396
Home: 870-238-2223 Bus: 870-238-8588
FAX: 870-238-7680
lukerj@arkleg.state.ar.us
Utah just passed their bill into law to limit the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to VOLUNTARY ONLY in their state (anyone want to move to Utah now?)!! This makes FIVE states that have done this - Missouri, Kentucky, Nebraska, Arizona and now Utah.
ARKANSAS MUST BE NUMBER SIX! DON'T LET LUKER KEEP US FROM HAVING WHAT WE NEED!
More NAIS news just out:
The New U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack is for MANDATORY NAIS:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE52Q6FZ20090327
The following is my email to the legislators. Get motivated people, before we no longer have any rights!
Dear Legislators,
I awoke this morning, contemplating the consequences of NAIS. This overblown, hugely expensive and freedom robbing power grab for control of the nation's food markets, is socialism at its worst. How will you face your constituents if there is ever a food shortage, when you have devastated the economics of small farm or individual food production by a top heavy identification system that favors big agribusiness and in reality, does nothing for the reduction of disease in the food supply. What good does it do to identify a sick animal 2 days after slaughter, (which will be a realistic trace back time)? Look at the history of food outbreaks of disease. They are from producers who rely heavily on chemicals, antibiotics, and poor feeding practices, not from the small time, organic producers, or the families who feed out the occasional cow or other farm animal.
This bill would systematically destroy the national past time of equine competition, by micromanaging the movement of horses at every turn. As a constituent who grew up at horse shows, I find this identification system to be abhorrent. I would like someone to tell me what they find attractive about this legislation that seeks to erode our liberties.
I am a veterinarian, and I am horrified at this abomination of power from our government. Those who would profit from this are microchip producers, those who manufacture readers, and big food producers who only have to chip a single animal in a group. How un-American is that? The costs of this mandate have not been realistically presented to the people, and how can you justify it, in the face of economic meltdown?
We are rapidly heading down a path of destruction of individual self determination, on which our country was founded, in the guise of "protecting us". It stinks of "Big Brother" in action, and I hope that you will reach deep into your memory of the history of America, and recall what made us great- rugged individualism. Keep Arkansas free of governmental tyranny, and vote FOR the Freedom to Farm Act.
PJ Broadfoot DVM Van Buren, Arkansas
To our president, representatives in Congress, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and any State representatives who may be foolish enough to support NAIS,
We are your nation's veterans. We have answered your call and served you with honor and dignity. You cannot dismiss our voices. We are your greatest patriots. We have been willing to bear any burden, sacrifice our health and even lay down our lives for our country when needed. Now you ask too much. We do not take our freedoms lightly. We know full well their cost. We paid for them, many of us dearly. We deserve to enjoy the ability to raise food for our families and our neighbors without this level of intrusion and we will not tolerate NAIS. This was never part of the bargain we made with the great country we love. If you are in support of NAIS, you have been mislead, but we are willing once again to lead you out of the darkness. Remember, for every misguided veteran or person in uniform trotted out in support of NAIS, there will be a hundred of us to answer. We have emerged victorious from much greater struggles than this before. You still have time to reverse course and abandon this program. NAIS is an unwise, intrusive and wasteful idea whose time has passed. Rest assured, if you insist on moving forward with NAIS, we will stand together and we will defeat it.
http://petition2congress.com/2/1903/veterans-against-nais/
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