At the end of a daylong NAIS listening session held by USDA officials, the question was, ‘where will all this input lead the USDA?’ Texas Farm Bureau director of organization, Joe Maley, told Brownfield he’s not sure, “I wish I knew that answer. It’s been brought up in thislistening session – we’ve been dealing with this, like, seven and eight years. It (NAIS) is a go, start, stop, stop, start, go. It’s been a little frustrating for us.”

Whatever is done, Maley says the underpinnings of NAIS should not be food safety-focused, “Itshould focus on disease control and eradication. This particular program is not designed as a food safety mechanism. This is a disease control.”

And, Maley says any animal id system should remain voluntary. Unless it’s voluntary, market driven, cost effective,confidential with limited liability to producers, he says the Texas Farm Bureau will NOT support it. Maley participated in the group discussions on record at the NAIS listening session in Austin, Texas.

Animal disease identification as a means of protecting the hog industry is becoming more of a priority for many pork producers. Takingpart in the group discussion at USDA’s recent NAIS listening session in Austin, Texas was Ken Horton, executive vice president of the Texas Pork Producers Association. He says his state is struggling to get out from under the cloud of brucellosis even though there has not been known a case ofbrucellosis in his state in more than three decades. Horton says there’s a group of east Texas hog farmers who are letting feral hogs interact with their herds affecting the perception in other states about the safety of the Texas domestic herd. Horton says premise identification is crucial andhis group is pressing for it, “And we think that they need to be identified and it has to do with notifying people about disease problems. And I could tell you that for the last four weeks we have been through hell over a virus that had nothing to do with pigs in the United States.”

Horton says technology tags for hogs are “not worth a flip” and the government needs to pay for any tags that are used. His group is also against recording all the movement of animals as part of a national id system.

Since he took office, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has made it clear that the USDA is not just about farming and ranching. He has repeatedly said that the department’snumber one priority is nutrition—especially for children. In an article in Thursday’s Washington Post, Vilsack calls the USDA “an everyday, every-way department”. In his words, “It’s an opportunity for us to sort of emphasize that new brand.”

Formeragriculture secretary Mike Johanns, now a U.S. Senator from Nebraska—says he has great confidence in Vilsack and hopes he will be a strong advocate for agriculture in the Obama administration.

“My hope is that, in that Oval Office, sitting there with the President—or inthat meeting in the Roosevelt Room with the President in attendance,” Johanns says, “that Tom is there, he’s at the table, and able to make the case as to why this policy is very important for agriculture.”

Johanns says he was fortunate to work for a presidentwho was very supportive of agriculture. “Having been there on the Cabinet, though—if you do not have a President who is supportive of policies that move agriculture forward, you can be a rock star and won’t get anything done,” he says.

Johanns’ says he hasconcerns about the administration’s stance on several issues of importance to agriculture—including climate change legislation and trade.