Vermont farmers say 'no'

[Kat Kanning]

Farmers Vow Defiance Of State's Registration Rule

BY ROBIN SMITH And JACOB L. GRANT, Staff Writers
Wednesday July 26, 2006



NEWPORT CITY -- Farmers vowed Tuesday afternoon to defy any effort by the state to make them register their farms as part of the preparations for bird flu or other diseases that could jump from animal to human.

Calling the Vermont Agency of Agriculture's livestock premises registration rule a fascist or Nazi plan, the three dozen livestock owners at a hearing at the state office building in Newport City said they would destroy their animals, or pay fines rather than put their names and addresses on a state registry.

"I'm not going to comply," said Jack Lazur of Butterworth Farm in Westfield. "I'd rather pay the $1,000 fine."

Hal Bill of Enosburg, and Amber Chambers of Lowell, dairy farmers, said they would not comply either.

"This is the first step in the government controlling everything," Chambers said.

Bill asked what the state will do about the wild turkeys that mingle with domestic flock or migratory birds that will likely bring the bird flu to North America.

He'd like to see the Department of Fish & Wildlife try to tell hunters they can't shoot or handle wild birds.

Joining the angry protest was Rep. Dexter Randall, a Troy organic dairy farmer.

"I am opposed to this expensive and unenforceable program," Randall said. "We should be spending our time and money getting information to supply safe practices."

Dr. Kerry Rood, the state's veterinarian and chief animal health officer, and Carl Cushing, director of Food Safety and Consumer Protection, conducting two hearings in Newport City and Island Pond Tuesday.

The Legislature ordered the agency to get public comment on livestock premises registration.

The agency wants mandatory registration of any place that has certain livestock or birds, with a $1,000 for violations. Cushing couldn't say if the fine would be per day, per animal, or per incident.

Appeals would go to the secretary of the agency and then courts.

Locator Chips

Protesters are also furious with the federal government over mandatory identification of every animal and requiring locator chips in each animal, called National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

That is now a voluntary proposal, Rood said.

Colin Carter of Barton asked Rood who would pay to stick a chip in each of his 12 chickens.

Rood assured Carter that the state is not seeking mandatory identification or tracking of all individual livestock.

The precautions are driven by the spread around the world of diseases like SARS and avian flu virus that can lead to pandemics in human beings. The state has already conducted exercises to learn how to deal with a suspected outbreak.

Lack Of Trust

Rood said the state would not order all the birds on a farm destroyed unless a bird has died of a highly pathogenic virus, which is likely to spread to humans.

But the lack of trust in the state was obvious Tuesday, as farmer after farmer reminded Rood that sheep farmers in Vermont had their herds seized and destroyed without evidence of Mad Cow disease.

Rood, who became the state's veterinarian in 2003, said he was surprised to see how little information the state has about where farm animals are located in Vermont.

Opponents want it to stay that way.

"I don't think it's any of their goddamn business," said one farmer.

"The Nazis did a lot of that," said another.

"I don't appreciate that analogy," responded Rood.

"That's how we feel," yelled several women in the back.

Steve Merrill of North Troy said his mother had been in a concentration camp.

"If this isn't fascism, I don't know what is," Merrill said.

"I'm not going to comply. If you knock on my door, I will slaughter my chickens," said animal owner Peter Yarusewicz of Albany.

Many were offended to be included in the same category as big commercial farmers. "It puts control of our food in the hands of profiteers," said one person.

Others questioned who would pay to police violators - or whether the state would depend on neighbors to turn in those who haven't registered.

"I expect people will comply," Rood said.

Sharon Zecchinelli called the hearing "an insult." She said that Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr is on the record embracing national animal identification.

Rood said Kerr has publicly said in recent days that Vermont does not need animal ID.

Island Pond Hearing

Another hearing, Tuesday morning at the town clerk's office in Island Pond, only drew five people.

David Jefferson, of Danville, N.H., said the meeting wasn't well advertised.

"How do you expect to reach the rural population? It seems to be a problem," he said.

Bethany Creaser of Derby Line thought a morning hearing wasn't the best time.

The agency is considering evening meetings in the fall.

The state is increasingly concerned about organisms that are "zoonotic" - capable of transferring from animals to humans, who will then have no resistance, Rood said. That is the fear of the avian flu.

The state wants to find the point of origin in an outbreak, and know where it could spread, Rood said.

Registration does not create any "ownership" rights that do not otherwise exist, he said.

There is no fee for registration. Neither does it require the reporting of animals as they go to and from farms or on trail rides, Rood said.

Amy Shollenberger, director of Rural Vermont, was disappointed about the lack of information on how the rule would work.

The state needs 100 percent compliance for registration to be effective, which it will not get. The state is wasting its time, she said.

The next meeting in the Northeast Kingdom is at the Lyndonville police station on Thursday, from 1 to 3 p.m.

To view the proposed rule, to see the full hearing schedule, or to make written comment about livestock premises registration, visit http://www.vermontagriculture.com.

[aries]

GOOD!

I explained the NAIS system to my grandfather who grew up on a farm that was about 1/4 of the land in Barton Vermont and he said that it just made him sad what the country has been doing and he said he's even sadder for me because I'll have to spend the rest of my life in America's dark ages where he gets the privelege of having lived through some of the country's most prosperous times.

[Russell Kanning]

Did you thank him for passing it on to you?
Why doesn't he dooooo something about it?

[Lloyd Danforth]

The first time  heard the word Secession applied in modern times was 10 years ago in the NorthEast Kingdom of VT. Someone up there told me the idea had come up to seceede from VT as all of their tax money was going to Montpelier (spell?) and then to Brattleboro, Burlington and Rutland.
The Northeast Kingdom of VT would fit nice added to the top of NH.

[FrankChodorov]

The first time  heard the word Secession applied in modern times was 10 years ago in the NorthEast Kingdom of VT. Someone up there told me the idea had come up to seceede from VT as all of their tax money was going to Montpelier (spell?) and then to Brattleboro, Burlington and Rutland.
The Northeast Kingdom of VT would fit nice added to the top of NH.

why wouldn't they want to join the much more viable VT secessionist movement instead?

[Pat McCotter]

Farmers Vow Defiance Of State's Registration Rule

BY ROBIN SMITH And JACOB L. GRANT, Staff Writers
Wednesday July 26, 2006
...
The Legislature ordered the agency to get public comment on livestock premises registration.
...

Yep, they are getting public comment and then telling the public what is going to happen anyway.

[aries]

Did you thank him for passing it on to you?
Why doesn't he dooooo something about it?

He's too old to move around the house anymore

[aries]

The first time  heard the word Secession applied in modern times was 10 years ago in the NorthEast Kingdom of VT. Someone up there told me the idea had come up to seceede from VT as all of their tax money was going to Montpelier (spell?) and then to Brattleboro, Burlington and Rutland.
The Northeast Kingdom of VT would fit nice added to the top of NH.

LOL half of Essex county doesn't even have power lines let alone other amenities. Many people in Granby Vermont (among other towns) have to generate their own power or look for another way of getting aronud it.

Then again that county is mostly unpopulated.

Although the northeast kingdom does include orleans and caledonia counties as well.

[slim]

Downsize DC has a campaign aginst NAIS you can use there system http://www.downsizedc.org

[Jared]

these people should just move to nh. vermont is a lost cause.

[Pat McCotter]

these people should just move to nh. vermont is a lost cause.

Too late. NAIS is here.
http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=4523.msg80820#msg80820

[aries]

The farming situation in NH completely blows. All the big farms shut down and many moved to Vermont over the past 10-20 years because of how restrictive the state and federal governments have gotten on NH farms and farmers.

There's no way we could convince a Vermont farmer, who lives in a state that has not complied with several federal farming restrictions and gives farmers much more freedom, to move his farm to NH, which, besides the other reasons, has worse soil and less arable land than Vermont.

[PowerPenguin]

That's pretty pathetic. Ah well, add it to the changes-to-be-worked-on itinerary. Welcome to the machine- I hope you brought your monkey wrench!

[Lloyd Danforth]

The farming situation in NH completely blows. All the big farms shut down and many moved to Vermont over the past 10-20 years because of how restrictive the state and federal governments have gotten on NH farms and farmers.

There's no way we could convince a Vermont farmer, who lives in a state that has not complied with several federal farming restrictions and gives farmers much more freedom, to move his farm to NH, which, besides the other reasons, has worse soil and less arable land than Vermont.

VT has the worst soil in New England.  It was the last area to be settled and many of the early settlers abandoned it  and went over to NY and back to CT where most of them came from.