HR 875 - The Federal Take-Over of Food Regulation

This just out from The Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund...  please read...

On February 4, 2009 Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (HR 875),
a bill that would establish the Food Safety Administration (FSA) within
the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).   HR 875 represents
a tremendous expansion of federal power, particularly the power to
regulate intrastate commerce.  While the proposed legislation tries to
address the many problems of the industrial food system, the impact on
small farms if the bill becomes law would be substantial and not for
the better.  HR 875 is a major threat to sustainable farming and the
local food movement.  READ MORE >>

House AG Committee

Dr. R.M. (Max) Thornsberry, D.V.M., President of the Board, R-CALF USA, Richland, Missouri gave excellent testimony before the US House AG Committee on March 11th in opposition to the National Animal ID System (NAIS). He eloquently describes how history proves that the USA has an effective program against disease and that the NAIS program is soley for the interset of foreign markets. This is a must read for those concerned about NAIS.

Tag, We're It

AT first glance, the plan by the federal Department of Agriculture to battle disease among
farm animals is a technological marvel: we farmers tag every head of
livestock in the country with ID chips and the department
electronically tracks the animals’ whereabouts. If disease breaks out,
the department can identify within 48 hours which animals are ill,
where they are, and what other animals have been exposed.

At a
time when diseases like mad cow and bird flu have made consumers
worried about food safety, being able to quickly track down the cause
of an outbreak seems like a good idea. Unfortunately, the plan, which
is called the National Animal Identification System and is the subject
of a House subcommittee hearing today, would end up rewarding the
factory farms whose practices encourage disease while crippling small
farms and the local food movement.

READ MORE :  Op-Ed Contributor - Tag, We’re It - Pitfalls of an Animal ID System - NYTimes.com

People Who Produce Real Things...

“Agriculture’s been a horrible business for 30 years. For decades the money shufflers, the paper shufflers, have been the captains of the universe. That is now changing.

The people who produce real things [will be on top]. You’re going to see stockbrokers driving taxis.

The smart ones will learn to drive tractors, because they’ll be working for the farmers. It’s going to be the 29-year-old farmers who have the Lamborghinis. So you should find yourself a nice farmer and hook up with him or her, because that’s where the money’s going to be in the next couple of decades.”

~ Jim Rogers

By the way, Lamborghini used to make a great tractor, but I will stick with my International. - Farmer Brad