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---PLEASE BROADCAST FAR AND
WIDE---
FDA Raids Amish Farmer Dan
Allgyer
Please take action (see ACTION at end of
notice)

Kinzers, PA At 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday April 20,
Amish farmer Dan Allgyer went outside to begin milking his small herd of
dairy cows. On the normally quiet Kinzer Road in front of his farm, just a
few miles from the Nickel Mines Amish massacre of 2006, several unfamiliar
vehicles drove slowly past. Two months prior, on February 4, FDA agents
had trespassed on Allgyer's farm, claiming to be conducting an
"investigation." Allgyer had suspected they would be back at some point,
because many other small dairy farms around the country have been
similarly treated by the FDA. Following is Dan's account of Tuesday
morning's events:

I became aware of the cars as soon as I walked
out on the sidewalk as part of my morning routine around 4:30 a.m. and
immediately said to myself something is going on, there is too much
traffic on Kinzer Road. I was watching and noticed three cars were
cruising down Kinzer Road right behind each other, and immediately
thought, hey, that looks like trouble. I watched and pretty soon one car
came back and parked on my neighbor's farm, on private property, just as
the FDA agents had when they came on my property in February; it was
exactly the same place.

A couple minutes later, the other two cars
pulled up and joined the first on my neighbor's property, where the
occupants appeared to be in conference with one another. Shortly after
that, they turned their headlights on and drove in my lane - this would
have been at about 5:00.

I stood back in the dark barn to see what
they were going to do. They drove past my two Private Property signs, up
to where my coolers were, with their headlights shining right on them.
They all got out of their vehicles - five men all together - with big
bright flashlights they were shining all around. My wife and family were
still asleep. When they couldn't find anybody, they prepared to knock on
the door of my darkened house. Just before they got to the house I stepped
out of the barn and hollered at them, then they came up to me and
introduced themselves. Two were from the FDA, agent Joshua C. Schafer who
had been there in February and another. They showed me identification, but
I was too flustered to ask for their cards. I remember being told that two
were deputy U.S. Marshals and one a state trooper. They started asking me
questions right away. They handed me a paper and I didn't realize what it
was. Agent Joshua C. Schafer told me they were there to do a "routine
inspection." At 5:00 in the morning, I wondered to myself? "Do you have a
warrant?"
I asked, and one of them, a marshal or the state policeman, said, "You've
got in your hand buddy." I asked, "What is the warrant
about?" Schafer responded, "We have credible evidence that you are
involved in interstate commerce."

They wanted me to answer some
questions, my name, middle initial, last name, wanted to know how many
cows we have on the farm. I answered those questions and some more.
Finally, I got over my initial shock and said I would not be answering any
more questions. They said O.K., we'll get on with the "inspection."

I went to go talk to my wife. As I walked away, they held a quick
excited conversation and I heard one of them say, "I'll take care of him."
At that point, apparently, they had designated one of the marshals to
stick close to me and dog my footsteps. He followed me as I walked toward
the house. I went in the house quickly and told my wife a few words to let
her know the situation, then immediately came back out of the house before
the marshal had time to follow me in. When I came back out, they were
inspecting all the coolers sitting out. They spent about a half hour
digging through the packed coolers filled with milk and other food - all
private property - taking pictures.

At one point during the cooler
inspection the state trooper said to me, "You have a nice farm." I
responded, "We're trying to be sustainable, but they don't want to let
us."

While they inspected the coolers, I read the warrant.
Among other things it said that any search was to be conducted "at
reasonable times during ordinary business hours." When I exclaimed,
"Ordinary business hours!" and pointed this out to the marshal who was
dogging me, he said, "Ordinary business hours for agriculture start at
5:00 a.m." I challenged him that the warrant does
not say agriculture hours, it said ordinary hours. He replied, "That's
what the government told us."

Then they started looking around, as
though in search of something in particular. They went up to one door that
had a clear No Trespassing sign on it, specifically including government
agents, and they did not go in the room, though they shone their
flashlights around in it. Then they asked me, "What is on the other side
of the door in that [same] room?" Agent Joshua Schafer asked this. I
looked him in the eye and did not answer. When they saw I was not going to
answer, the other FDA agent said, "Okay, come on," to agent Schafer, and
they went into the room and through the closed door on the opposite side.
I had another one of those signs on my walk-in cooler adjacent to my
freezer, so they went through that door also. They spent probably another
half hour rooting around, like a couple of pigs, in the freezer and cooler
area and took many pictures.

When they came out, they asked me
where I keep my containers and jugs for milk, and I refused to tell them.
I figured they could look for themselves. Then they were walking all over
the farm, checking everything out, everything except the house. Agent
Joshua Schafer even opened my dumpster and inspected inside it, as though
he thought I was hiding something in it. At that point I went and started
milking my cows - it was way past milking time.

When I was just
about done milking, Schafer and the other agent came in the barn and
wanted me to answer some more questions. I told them I would not. The
second agent said, "Are you gong to deliver those coolers to Bethesda and
Bowie Maryland?" I just looked at him. Then Schafer made a gesture and
said, "The stickers with those towns names are on the coolers," as through
to say, you might as well tell me.

I replied, "I told you I won't
answer any questions." After that they said, "We are done for today.
You'll be hearing back from headquarters."

Then they got in their
car and left. The state trooper and the marshals had left already.

They came in the dark, shining bright flashlights while my family
was asleep, keeping me from milking my cows, from my family, from
breakfast with my family and from our morning devotions, and alarming my
children enough so that they first question they asked my wife was, "Is
Daddy going to jail?"

THE NEXT MORNING Allgyer received an
overnight, extremely urgent Letter of Warning from the FDA stating that "Failure to
make prompt corrections could result in regulatory action without further
notice. Possible actions include seizure and/or injunction."

ACTION: Please call and write the number and
address below. Express yourself. Tell them that you support Dan Allgyer.
If you drink fresh, unpastuerized milk tell them that. Tell them that more
people every day are drinking fresh milk and this is going to increase.
It's not going to stop no matter how many farmers they persecute. Tell
them the government has no place between individuals and the farmers from
whom they get their food.

Philadelphia District Office
Serves
Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Food and Drug Administration
U.S.
Customhouse
Second and Chestnut Streets, Room 900
Philadelphia, PA
19106
(215) 597-4390 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Eastern time)

Yours
for food freedom,
Deborah Stockton, Executive Director
National
Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
(NICFA)
www.NICFA.org
[email-masked]

National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
Our
purpose is to promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer
trade
that fosters availability of locally grown or home-produced food
products..
NICFA opposes any government funded or managed National
Animal Identification System.

A Local Foods Feast for
Congress
Farm Food Voices DC 2010
NICFA's Fourth
Annual
National Small Farm and Ranch Grassroots Lobby Day &
Legislative Reception
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Lobbying 10:00 - 3:00
(Individuals meet with Legislative Aides)
Local Foods
Reception 4:00 - 6:30 Room SD-106, Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington DC

Lobby Training
Conference Calls

Joel Salatin, Emcee
Congressman Ron Paul of
Texas and Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia will address the reception
along with our fine group of
speakers.

Speakers:
Doreen Hannes - Truth Farmer Radio & NICFA Director of
Research
David Gumpert- The
Complete Patient Blog
Joan Veon - Women's Media
Group
Spike Gjerde -
Chef/Owner Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore

The Food Safety bills in Congress threaten the viability
of all local food production - the safest food available and our country's
most important economic engine.

Be the face and voice of the local
foods movement to Congress. Join NICFA, its state affiliates, and others
from around the country to lobby Congress and serve the LOCAL FOODS FEAST
OF THE YEAR, featuring food from small independent farmers prepared by
local chefs. Let's again show Congress that local food is the best Safe
Food System, highlighting the benefits available only from community based
agriculture -- prosperous local and national economies; health and
nutrition for people, land and animals; and low energy impact from minimal
transportation, processing and distribution.

ACTION:
Please make an
appointment now to meet with your legislators' agricultural aides on March
10.
(If you can't be in DC please still call, your voice matters!).

Steps:
1. Call your Representatives or Senators
2. Ask to speak to the
Agriculture Aide.
3. Tell the Aide you will be in Washington DC on
March 10 for this grassroots lobby day and you would like to schedule a
meeting.
4. Invite the Aide and the legislator to come to the reception
and experience the beauty of local food. Any legislator who attends is
welcome to speak.

New to lobbying? Fret not. We will provide a
lobby training conference call and Talking Points.

Yours for food
freedom,
Deborah Stockton, Executive Director
National Independent
Consumers and Farmers Association (NICFA)
www.NICFA.org
[email-masked]

National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
Our
purpose is to promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer
trade
that fosters availability of locally grown or home-produced food
products..
NICFA opposes any government funded or managed National
Animal Identification System.
.....

FDA Agents Invade Amish
Farm in PA

Kinzers, PA - At 9:40 a.m. last Thursday, February
4, only a few miles from the scene of the Nickel Mines Amish massacre of
2006, another drama against the Amish began as agents of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) came onto the property of Amish farmer Dan
Allgyer, without permission, claiming to be conducting an investigation.
Agents Joshua Schafer and Deborah Haney, from the Delaware FDA office,
drove past Allgyer's "No Trespassing" signs and up his driveway almost to
his barn, where Allgyer happened to be outside. Allgyer approached the
car, the agents got out and Allgyer asked them why they were there. They
produced a piece of paper, asked Allgyer if he was Dan Allgyer, which
Allgyer confirmed, asked him his middle initial and phone number, entered
the information on the paper, told Allgyer they were there to do an
inspection and started reading the paper to him, saying it gave them
jurisdiction to be there.

The agents - Schafer did most of the
talking - said they had a right to be there because "you produce food for
human consumption." Dan asked why they believed that and they said, "Well,
you have cows. You cannot be consuming all the milk you produce." They
further stated, "If you get a milk truck in to move all this milk you sell
milk to the public, therefore we have jurisdiction."

Dan said,
"This is a private farm, I do not sell anything to the public."

As
they continued to harass him about doing an inspection, Allgyer said, "You
can sit in your car. I will call my lawyer." The agents remained standing.

Allgyer called his attorney who advised him to have the agents
call him. When Allgyer told them to call his attorney Schafer replied,
"You are the owner and you have to speak for yourself."

They
pressed him to talk and Schafer asked, "Are you refusing us an
investigation? Allgyer replied, "That's not what I'm saying." They kept
repeating, "Are you refusing an investigation?"

Allgyer kept
saying, "Call this guy" - meaning his attorney.

Allgyer said they
must have asked him six times.

One of them said, "Even if you do
not say so, you are still refusing an investigation."

Eventually
Schafer said, "If you refuse an investigation will you answer some
questions?"

Allgyer said, "I'd rather not."

When the agents
continued to push him Dan said, "Is that a question?

Sheepishly,
they said. 'Yes."

Allgyer said, "What did I say about
questions?'

They replied, "Well we're going to write this up as a
refusal to have an investigation and give it to our higher
officials."

Dan felt they were threatening him at this
point.

After that, they got in their car, drove out the driveway
and parked on the neighbor's property watching Allgyer. A visitor, Ivan,
who had been on the farm, though not part of the conversation, left in his
truck soon after, and the FDA agents proceeded to follow him in their car,
even when he stopped at a convenience store to use the facilities. After
forty or fifty miles, Ivan called 911 and told the police he was being
followed.

The state police - in two cruisers - pulled the agents
over. Ivan pulled over as well.

Ivan said the police told him that
the agents explained they were FDA agents and they had the right to follow
him because they were conducting an investigation on the farm he left.
They thought he had product and they wanted samples of the
product.

Ivan responded by opening the back of the truck and
revealing it was empty. The agents photographed the inside of the empty
truck and gave Ivan a paper, claiming they had a right to inspect his
truck. He told them they were harassing him. The state trooper said they
had a right to follow and pull him over but they were in an unmarked car
so Ivan would not have had to pull over.

As with Allgyer, the
agents asked Ivan some information which they wrote on the paper they
produced, then handed it to him.

Ivan asked them, "Why are you
writing up a paper on me when you have no cause?"

They said, "We
have a cause, because you left the farm."

They claimed he had a
load off the farm and they wanted samples.

Ivan said, "I didn't
know who you were."

An agent replied, "You saw us at the
farm."

Ivan said. "That doesn't make any difference, I didn't know
who you were."

Ivan pointed out that he was at the farm but did
not hear what they said. He was twenty feet or more away from them and was
not involved in their conversation.

Ivan said the police told him
they would record that the agents had been following him.

A
spokeswoman for the FDA (reached at the phone number on the paper the FDA
agents gave to Allgyer) said the FDA has no comment at this time because
it is an ongoing investigation.

Dan Allgyer will meet with his
county sheriff in the near future to apprise him of this
incident.

We will update this story as needed.

Yours for
food freedom,
Deborah Stockton, Executive Director
National
Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
(NICFA)
www.NICFA.org
[email-masked]

National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
Our
purpose is to promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer
trade
that fosters availability of locally grown or home-produced food
products..
NICFA opposes any government funded or managed National
Animal Identification System.

NICFA's Doreen Hannes on The Knowledge Congress:
Food Bills Seminar Webcast - November 18

Press passes available for
credentialed media representatives.

WHAT: Webcast Seminar on the Food
Bills
WHEN: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (ET)
WHERE:
KnowledgeCongress.org, by registration only
WHY: To provide information on
the food bills from a variety of perspectives

Doreen Hannes, NICFA's
Director of Research, will represent NICFA on a panel of experts about the food
bills in a webcast seminar, held by The Knowledge Congress. This "webinar"
provides CLE/CPE hours (continuing education) for attendees. Please encourage
your state officials, a representative of your group, and other industry and
business leaders to register and attend so they can learn the enormous impact
these bills will have on American farmers and agriculture, food security and
sovereignty.

Register and learn more about this event and the panel members: http://www.knowledgecongress.org/event_2009_Food.html

Panelists include:

DLA Piper
Kimberly K.
Egan
Partner

SuperValu, Inc.
John Hanlin
Vice President, Food
Safety & Quality Assurance

Crowell & Moring LLP
Steven M.
Niedelman
Senior Consultant

National Independent Consumers and
Farmers Association(NICFA)
Doreen Hannes
Director of Research

USDA,
Agricultural Marketing Service
Kathleen A. Staley
Food Safety Officer
Fruit and Vegetable Programs

NOTE: Though there is a registration fee for
this seminar, Doreen Hannes and NICFA will not receive monetary compensation for
participating.

"The Knowledge Congress was established in November 2005
with the mission to produce unbiased, objective, and educational live webinars
that examine industry trends and regulatory changes from a variety of different
perspectives. The goal is to deliver a unique multilevel analysis of an
important issue affecting business in a highly focused format." [from
http://www.KnowledgeCongress.org]

For more information, please
contact:
Deborah Stockton, Executive Director
National Independent
Consumers and Farmers Association (NICFA)
[email-masked]

Pasco Washington Listening Report -
http://www.heraldnet.com - Published: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Peeved
ranchers lambaste federal effort to ID herd animals By Shannon Dininny -
Associated Press
PASCO -- Five years after the federal government started a
program to trace livestock in the event of a disease outbreak, just 36 percent
of ranchers are taking part.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials
found out why Monday, when 75 Western livestock producers gave them an earful
during a meeting. The "listening session" was one of seven scheduled around the
country in May and June to hear ranchers' concerns, with the goal of increasing
participation in the program.

Those concerns haven't changed much in
five years: The cost is too high for small farmers. The regulations amount to
bureaucratic suffocation. The program neither prevents nor controls disease. And
what's in a farmer's pasture is nobody's business. Read entire article and comments

NICFA Secretary Liz Reitzig Testimony before U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture - April 15, 2009
"The United States Department of Agriculture
claims that the Animal Health Protection Act of 2002 authorizes it to implement
a National Animal Identification System (NAIS). However, nowhere in the AHPA is
the USDA authorized to assign a federal, permanent 7-character number to private
land. Neither is it authorized to require application to any animal of an '840'
prefix tag indicating the animal is US born, and it is not authorized to require
RFID devices, like implantable microchips, or RFID tags, on a privately owned
animal. Further, the AHPA does not authorize the USDA to require reporting
movements, vet visits, or any of the 23 'reportable' events listed in NAIS
documents. The AHPA authorizes the USDA to track shipments of animals that have
been imported. Any assertion beyond that is an extrapolation by the USDA". Read the
entire testimony.

NICFA NAIS Report:
The United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) has spent considerable taxpayer money and
physical resources on the "National Animal Identification System" (NAIS), acting
without Congressional mandate and creating widespread opposition from farmers,
ranchers, livestock owners, homesteaders, consumers and agriculture supply
businesses' a massive grassroots response that NAIS is a bad idea, unwanted, and
not grounded in the reality of farm life, animal husbandry or healthy food. Read more....

California Raw Milk Hearing: Four ICFA Members Testify on Panel
Read
Testimonies

Read Joel Salatin's
Testimony before the United States Congress; April 17, 2008; House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform. Subject: After the Beef Recall: Exploring
Greater Transparency in the Meat Industry.

The USDA's New Strategy for
NAIS and a New Texas Program of Cattle "Tuberculosis ID Requirements" Click here for the full
article.

WE WILL NOT COMPLY Click here for updates and more
information on Greg Niewendorp and Mark Nolt, two NAIS resistors who are leading
the way.

Click
here for more information on Richard Bean's and Jean Rinaldi's arrest.

Read Anti-NAIS Talking Points
document for your use and to distribute.

Read Additional
Anti-NAIS Talking Points document for your use and to distribute.

Read the Cooperative
Agreement between Virginia Department of Agriculture and the USDA on
implementaion strategies for NAIS for your use and to distribute.

Read the Virginia Tech RFID research
agreement for your use and to distribute.

Read the rebuttal to
Booby Orrocks letter on NAIS legislation in Virginia for your use and to
distribute.

Mary Zanoni Articles on
NAIS.

See movies from Farm Food Voices DC 2007 and read the reports.

HR2749 - The Food
Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 - Read the Bill
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act to improve the safety
of food in the global
market, and for other purposes. [emphasis added]
The End of Small
Farms and Local Food
This bill passed the House, 283-142, on July 30. It now
goes to the Senate.
Let's stop it
there.

ACTION:
Please
work with your Senator to STOP this bill. Call and speak with the Agriculture
Aide. Explain the problems to the Ag Aide and refer them to the NICFA website
for more information. The Senate is on State Work Period from August 10 -
September 7. The most effective action is to meet in person with your Senator or
Senator's aide during this period. A face to face meeting has more effect than
you can imagine. It is worth the time and energy to do it. Senate contact info:
http://www.Senate.gov.

BACKGROUND:

By treating all food
produced in this country as exports to be under international regulations, this
bill will:
* Authorize NAIS-style traceability on food
* Drive small farms
into regulatory nightmares
* End local food by regulating growers out of
existence
* Require many farms, no matter how small, to pay annual fees of
$500 or more to exist
* Concentrate livestock and food production into fewer,
larger industrial farms

TALKING POINTS

1. Farms and
producers that only sell locally and domestically will be regulated like
exporters, yet the United States is a net importer of food. Americans import
more beef, for instance, than we export.

2. Restaurants and stores that
buy from any but the largest industrial distributors could lose their sources.
Organic farms will not be immune to the effects of this bill.

3.
Exceptions for small farms and local sales listed in the bill are superceded by
language that requires even the smallest farms to have the kind of
record-keeping and inspections that could put them under the same regulations as
huge industrial, exporting businesses.

4. The term "harmonize with
international standards" used throughout the bill, means that international
standards will be imposed by regulation. The USDA will coordinate with the FDA
on this Act. These requirements are so burdensome and costly with penalties at
$20,000 to $1,000.000 per infraction and up to 10 years in prison that a farmer
could lose everything for a simple mistake.

5. NAIS is not mentioned by
name, but "harmonizing" with "traceability" requirements in the international
guidelines and standards authorizes the components of NAIS, so it authorizes the
program without using the name.

6. The biggest threats to food safety,
and the USDA agrees, are centralized production, centralized processing, and
long distance transportation. This bill will make those problems worse by
eliminating smaller farms and local production and concentrating food production
further into large industrial farms.

7. The "Administrator" created by
this bill is given authority for unwarranted search and seizure; quarantining
and stopping movement of food if they think there is cause, they do not have to
prove it; authority to require any farming and management practices they choose
on any farm; and more, all without accountability or judicial review.

Further information: See "Welcome to the
Global Plantation," for more information and page number references in the
bill for all the facts stated above.

U.S. MARSHALLS TO SEIZE FARMER'S HOME FRIDAY - June 26,
2009
Farmer Herman Schumacher disputed big packers, loses
home
NEWS CONFERENCE FRIDAY, JUNE 26 1 p.m. Central
Time
WHERE: Herman Schumacher's front lawn: 102 6th Ave. NW, Herreid,
S.D.
WHAT: R-CALF USA news conference to stop U.S. Marshals seizure of
Herman Schumacher's home after Schumacher sued Tyson.
BRIEF: A federal
jury unanimously sided with Schumacher, but then a three-judge panel for the 8th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the jury's decision. The judge did not
dispute the jury's findings that the Tyson et al had violated the Packers and
Stockyards Act, but instead decided it wasn't enough for Schumacher to prove
that the packers had violated the law, the plaintiff must show that a packer
intentionally committed unlawful conduct. Read more

National Animal Identification System A Report by the National
Independent Consumers and Farmers Association ... Read
More

BeefMagazine.Com ran a poll on NAIS in early June.
Final results below. Thank you everyone who voted! -- Total Votes: 30737

Should USDAï¿½s National Animal Identification System (as
currently proposed) be:
* Mandatory: 19%
* Voluntary: 4%
* Scrapped :
76%

Harrisburg NAIS Listening Session - Darol
Dickinson
Harrisburg, Pa---the first of a series of NAIS Listening
Sessions was held today at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center,
Harrisburg, Pa. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated, "I encourage
individuals and organizations to voice their concerns, ideas and potential
solutions about animal identification." And---voice concerns they did!

The Pennsylvania location was a choice spot for this first national
effort by USDA. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture has been mellowed by USDA
with $2,127,411 of cooperative agreements directly for the purpose of NAIS
property enrollments. The state's generous grants were successful in energizing
one of the highest percentages of farm enrollments of any state, not counting
Massachusetts, who according to USDA records have a 227.1% enrollment.

Pennsylvania should have a very high percentage of favorable NAIS
listening session enrollees, but it didn't happen.

Those responding to
the invitation to "voice their concerns" requested formal speaking time up to 2
weeks in advance and signed up a second time this morning on arrival. Each
hopeful speaker got to speak up to 3 minutes if their name was drawn. A total of
187 people requested to speak and 36 actually were successful.

The
beginning agenda allowed for senior USDA staff to cajole the perceived merits of
NAIS for a scheduled one hour period. Staff members Jere Dick, Neil
Hammerschmidt, and John Weimer defined the goals and theory of the troubled
program.

Crowd control was a consideration. Due to the "touchy" nature
of this USDA effort up to eight law enforcement officers were positioned on
perimeters of the Expo meeting room. Farmers and ranchers are normally law
abiding country folk, so fortunately no arrests or altercations took place. USDA
staff member and blue group leader, Larry Miller, requested speakers have a
"respectful attitude" at all times during the process.

As approved
presenters rapidly verbalized their three minute allotment, USDA staff were true
listeners with seldom if any comment. Their reaction was somber regardless of
the charged efforts of livestock producers, with many far from polite, and
seasoned with colorful barn yard vernacular in many cases.

A large Amish
delegation were represented offering passionate pleadings against mandatory
NAIS. Others of faith expressed major concerns. Two livestock producers from
Ohio attended, one lady from Oregon and most from within a five hour drive of
the eastern Pennsylvania area.

Of the successful speakers, 27 were
clearly opposed to NAIS and 4 spoke in favor. Three indicated they were enrolled
in NAIS without their knowledge and one indicated they had enrolled by mistake
and wish they had not. One lady said her husband enrolled against her will and
now he understands.

Afternoon attendees were divided into three
break-out groups with the assignment from Secretary Tom Vilsack (not present)
"discussions will be less about concerns and more about ideas and solutions to
create a NAIS that we can all live with." Each group was to study seven
questions and focus to identify workable solutions. The seven questions centered
around, cost, impact on small farms, privacy and confidentiality, liability,
premises registration, animal ID, and animal tracing. These are considered the
most concerning objections to NAIS.

The three break-out groups recorded
the following concerns:
* "There is no problem that NAIS will fix."
*
"Drop the program."
* "Don't use the word premises. I own property, not a
premise."
* "Trace only international imported and export animals."
* "It
is obvious enforcement is big with USDA by the looks of the police guards
present here today. We are scared of your enforcements of NAIS mandatory on our
farms."
* "Leave us alone! I am just here to say, NO!"
* "We don't trust
USDA."
* "USDA has a tarnished reputation of raiding family farms without
cause. NAIS is designed to make farm raids more prevalent."
* "If a
government program isn't worth doing, it is not worth doing right."
*
Statement to the break-out moderator, "Thank you for listening. The longer you
listen---NAIS won't be mandatory."
* "NAIS is OK with me except for just one
part-----MANDATORY."
* "You have not been honest with us about the enrollment
numbers for NAIS."
* "USDA are amateur liars. I like to be lied to
professionally."
* "NAIS has a trust issue. We don't trust NAIS."
* An
R-CALF USA eight point proposal for an alternative animal health program was
recommended six times during the break-out session. (It was the only alternative
solution offered.)
* "The country is in serious economical trouble. It is not
the time to add more costs to farm production."
* "Over 90% of farmers are
opposed to NAIS. Will you still demand mandatory NAIS regardless of listening
session results?
* "The USDA animal health program currently is effective,
NAIS is not needed."
* "Don't call me a stakeholder. I am a land and horse
owner. I am insulted by calling me a stakeholder. I am not holding the stakes
for others."
* "USDA should be working on vaccines to prevent disease instead
of NAIS trace back."

USDA's John Weimer was asked about the results of
the letter writing effort to USDA with a designated comment period about NAIS
several months ago. Where were the results published? He did not recall the
comment effort and did not know what happened to the hundreds of communications
USDA received.

In the blue break-out group all speaking participants (43
total) were clearly opposed to NAIS. USDA's group leader Larry Miller continued
to redirect the emphasis from NAIS concerns, over to solution issues to make
mandatory NAIS a palatable program. One dairy farmer said, "We have answered
your questions. You are not listening. There is no way NAIS will work. No part
of it will work. All seven questions are not solvable. Any people who want to do
NAIS should be able to volunteer, but mandatory NAIS will cause bloodshed in the
streets. We will refuse to surrender."

Future USDA listening meetings on
NAIS will be held at Pasco, WA, Austin, TX, Birmingham, AL, Louisville, KY,
Storrs, CT, and Loveland, CO. Comments for those who may not be able to attend
should be sent to the Federal eRulemaking Portal.

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Swoope appears in this episode of
Nightline.
Swine Flu Outbreak: The Facts.

The EPA is considering regulations to tax farmers for
owning livestock, $20.00 per hog; $87.50 per beef cow, and $175.00 per
dairy cow. This would, of course, drive most small to medium farmers out
of business.

Listen to Tim Young of Georgia Independent Consumers and
Farmers Asso. address this on a Fox televison interview

Contact Tim Young at [email-masked]
See Tim's farm
at: http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com/

National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association
(NICFA)
P.O. Box 915
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

Letter to Bruce Knight, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and
Regulatory Programs 5 March, 2008

Dear Mr. Knight,

Thank you for
meeting with us today to discuss issues of importance to the small farmers of
America and the consumers, communities and economies dependent on them.

Earlier today, we hosted a reception for our federal legislators where
we joyfully served food produced by independent unsubsidized farmers, from
animals without Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, raised on open
pastures on grass--not subsidized GMO grain, on private properties without
Premises Registration numbers, with soils enriched by ecologically harmonious
amendments like sea salt, compost, and natural mineral sources.

In
short, we are not part of the industrial agriculture system.

We are the
rich tradition of heritage farming. We are your local community family farm. We
are your neighbors. Some of us are organically certified, some of us are beyond
organic.

The USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System
(NAIS), and its concomitant Premises Registration, is in direct conflict with
our way of life and our ability to maintain responsible, safe farming methods.
The people of America demand the food we produce. The Real food, Local food, or
Heritage food movement, is growing every day. Beyond organic, the real food
movement is farmers, and other artisan producers, selling directly to customers,
neighbor to neighbor, generally without interference from local, state, national
or international regulation.

As the industrial food system continues to
generate incidents like the recent recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef,
more and more people will turn to the food we produce, food made by their
neighbors, food they trust. We will continue to meet this growing demand.

You, as an administrator of the USDA, have already encountered this
movement in the form of farmers who will not comply with behavior not fit for a
free people.

We are the face of this movement. We are the National
Independent Consumers and Farmers Association and all state affiliates. All
efforts to push NAIS will only strengthen our movement.

We will not
participate in a program designed by and for international agencies and
globalist industrial agriculture that persecutes independent traditional farms.
We will not comply with the NAIS.

Yours respectfully,

Deborah
Stockton, Executive Director
National Independent Consumers and Farmers
Association,
on behalf of all people, farmers and consumers, who oppose the
NAIS and support unrestricted domestic trade.

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Pro-Consumer

"All individuals have the God-given, inalienable right to procure the food of
their choice, from the source of their choice."

Pro Farmer

A farmer's livelihood depends on his/her ability to cater to consumer's
demands without unfair government restrictions.

Pro Freedom
"... Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation
on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." ~Declaration of
Independence

Anti-NAIS
NAIS imposes on all livestock and animal owners a high-tech,
high-cost livestock backtrack system requiring:

Registration of any premises where even one animal, a chicken, pet donkey,
etc� is kept, in a database accessible to many agencies and foreign
governments.

Radio Frequency ID (RFID) microchipping or tagging of every animal.

Reporting and recording each animal�s movements within 24 hours, under
threat of severe penalty, including confiscation of animals and fines of $1000
per day, per infraction.

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