Barre, MA – A Massachusetts sustainable farmers group has called upon Douglas Petersen, the state’s newly appointed Commissioner of Agriculture, to halt his department’s latest attempt to turn over to the federal government data showing the locations of all livestock animals in the state.

“The resources spent to track down every chicken in the Commonwealth and put its location in a federal database could be better spent,” said Jack Kittredge, owner of Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, and Public Policy Coordinator for the Massachusetts chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA/Mass), in a letter to Commissioner Petersen. In addition, the group has urged state farmers and animal owners to “opt out” of the program, called the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

Kittredge asserted that NAIS was designed to reassure foreign markets that US meat animal production can be traced in the event of a disease outbreak, and it is not appropriate for small scale producers that raise food for themselves or for local markets. The costs to small farmers of complying, he says, could put them out of business and restrict the already small supply of animal products raised outdoors on pasture.

In the letter, Kittredge said that diseases of animal origin are the result of the unprecedented rise of large-scale feedlot and factory farming operations in the last half century, and not of small farms where adequate space, soil, sunlight, fresh air and pasture serve as natural sanitizing services. “We feel that state and federal funds would do more to assure public health if spent making and enforcing reasonable regulations to restrict the size and anti-environmental practices of confinement animal facilities,” he said.

In early November the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) sent a letter to approximately 10,000 state farmers and residents who raise livestock animals. The letter stated that if the recipient did not want his or her data uploaded into the USDA system, "please contact MDAR within 45 days of the date of this letter." Farmers pointed out that the next full sentence reiterated the previous one with a different number. The letter said, "If we do not hear from you within 30 days of the date of this letter, your data will be entered into the federal system." The letters were dated October 30, but Joao Tavares, MDAR database administrator, said they were actually dropped in the mail on November 9 and went out around November 12th.

MDAR officials have since clarified that the department intends to honor the longer 45-day deadline, or December 14. The letter instructs animal owners to contact Tavares to opt-out of the registration program, and provides an e-mail address, joao.Tavares@state.ma.us, and a mailing address, Joao Tavares, MA DAR, 251 Causeway St., Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114-2151. Mr. Tavares has also offered to accept opt-outs by phone at 617-626-1719.

Joanne Karohl, who raises Nigerian Dwarf Goats at Dragonfly Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts assumed when she received the letter on November 17 that she had 12 days, including the Thanksgiving holiday, to reply.

"I'm annoyed that I have to spend 20 minutes responding to this letter…I am paying taxes for MDAR to collect my info, write me a letter, and then read an email from me and talk to me on the phone about why I want no part of it. It's a colossal waste of energy and resources that is purely for the benefit of some RFID tag maker somewhere," she said.

Kittredge said that in addition to issues about whether this program is truly voluntary at all, given that you have to go to such trouble to opt out, he was “surprised at the timing” of this round of premises registrations. Although Mr. Petersen’s appointment was public knowledge, he was not consulted about this decision. Instead, it was approved by Acting Commissioner Scott Soares. “In a matter this controversial,” Kittredge said, “I would think the MDAR would want to wait a few days until the new Commissioner was on board. It is important that such decisions be approved at the highest level, by the elected representatives of the people – in this case the governor and his appointees."

NAIS is controversial among small farmers who are concerned about the costs of complying with NAIS’s intrusive labeling and reporting standards. After first announcing the program would be mandatory, the USDA backed off in the face of a fire-storm of protests from farmers around the country and last November said that the program would be “voluntary at the federal level.” In the same document, however, the USDA said the program could become mandatory again at any time. Vermont, has decided to not participate in the program at all, and Arizona passed legislation restricting any state participation to what is purely voluntary on the part of affected animal owners. In Massachusetts, legislation has been filed this year (Rep. Anne Gobi’s H757) to terminate the state’s participation in the program, and has so far gained 14 House and 3 Senate sponsors.

Ben Grosscup, also of NOFA/Mass, organized livestock owners and consumers of locally-produced animal products to testify at a committee hearing last July on legislation that would stop MDAR's role in NAIS. Concerning the state’s announcement, Grosscup said: "MDAR's latest action will justifiably prompt many farmers to opt out individually from its misguided registration program. Next, Massachusetts should opt out from the whole NAIS program."