OK folks I just talked to the state vet to get the low down on all this NAIS stuff.
Yes, originally, the government (State in conjunction with the Fed) wanted to track all the animals in the country in order to track diseased animals. Llamas because they can get hoof and mouth disease. And the reason for the chip in the llamas was because they realized that NO BREEDER or owner of llamas wants a tag on them. Other animals in case they get into the food chain.
However, they realized early on that this was not going to be feasible due to the vast amount of small farms, hobbyists, etc. and the millions of animals across the U.S. that NEVER leave their farm. It is still a voluntary situation if you want to go ahead and do this.
The way it's going to work is that any animal that comes through the sale/auction yards will automatically be given a number and the owner's will get a premise ID as well. This is now going to pertain primarily to the animals that go through all the sales in the country figuring they will be sold for food (meat or milk).
NO, they are NOT going to go farm to farm. If you have diary goats, a micro dairy (that is not state licensed), a few cows or even 30 of them and they don't leave the property (raised, bred, live and die on the same property) or get sold at auction, they WILL NOT be given an ID number and you won't have to have a premise number. So, if you sell a couple calves, kids or other animals privately, you have nothing to worry about. If they are going out of state, they will need all the normal paperwork anyway.
Yes, there was a deadline that was closer, but now, it's been extended to 2009 and may go beyond that. And in some smaller states, they may have the resources to go to the farms, but that's not how it's being set up. So, if someone comes to your farm, you still have till 2009 to comply. Larger states with vast areas and many small farms are not going to have anyone come out and insist they get ID tags or numbers for their premises or animals. This has apparently been agreed upon by one and all involved at the state and federal levels.
At any rate, the time frame has been extended to 2009, so you have plenty of time to figure out how you want to deal with this.
Also, originally, she said the old timers were initially for this because they thought the IRS was going to be involved and they would have some tax benefits from it. However, since it is only for tracking diseased animals found in the food chain, the old timers have backed off of supporting the program. So, that told the state and federal agencies that this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought and is part of the reason they have extended out as far as they have. And who knows, if they get more opposition, it may never become mandatory even for the bigger operations.
