February 2010 Issue

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Subscribe FREE now! Monthly issues with new articles and other educational information on meat goat health, nutrition, and management written by Suzanne W. Gasparotto of Onion Creek Ranch and Pat Cotten of Bending Tree Ranch. In all cases, it is your responsibility to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information provided in these articles. Neither Suzanne Gasparotto nor Pat Cotten are veterinarians. None of the contributors to this website will be held responsible for the use of any information contained herein.

JeffersLivestock.com

item6a1a1a1Want to save this country from the professional politicians and their lobbyist cronies and bring Government back to the people?

Check out the non-partisan organization GOOOH at www.goooh.com and get involved. There is no time to waste!

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Click HERE to visit American Stewards of Liberty to learn how you can help protect your property and your community

THE U.S.D.A. 'STARTS OVER' ON NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION

Goat producers need to understand that Sept 11,2001 was the *excuse* used by the federal government for implementing national animal identification. The push to create such a program was in the works years before 9/11 occurred. If you doubt this statement, google NAIS on the Internet and start reading. There are many documents relating to establishing a national animal identification system in the USA that pre-date 9/11. Justifications included human food safety and animal health, neither of which was possible to achieve under the methods established in the proposed NAIS rules. Details backing up this statement can been found on websites like that of the Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance.

NAIS has always been pushed by the big agricultural firms and the companies making microchips; the original lobbying group was and still is controlled by these people. The 9/11 attacks gave them one MORE justification (biosecurity) to lobby to pass regulations requiring microchipping every animal in this country.

The real underlying reason behind big ag's desire to implement NAIS has always been to give them a marketing edge to export their products to Japan and the EU and *certify* the meat as *healthy.* A bonus side effect is that small producers will bear the brunt of the cost and will therefore be marginalized and many put out of business. The microchip manufacturers are lobbying to expand their market, i.e. sell more microchips and microchip readers. Follow the money.

Dr. Lou Nuti, PhD, reproductive biology, International Goat Research Center at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas, has the following comments:

"The USDA still won't answer the question, ''Is this system going to improve the method of identifying and reporting individual animals and herds over what we currently have in place? What is it going to cost the taxpayer to run such a large governmental oversight agency on top of what it will cost the producer on the farm?

The main thrust of the 'old NAIS' was supposedly to speed up the method of tracing diseased animals and keep the food chain safe, especially in the event of a terrorist event.

How are they going to control the greater potential of spreading livestock disease caused by migratory animals and insects (buffalo, elk, moose, carribou, flies, migratory birds)? The USDA has refused to address these issues as well as the problem of disease transmission by feral hogs and smuggled animals.

Here is another bit of info you may not know. We have a local USDA Inspector whose sole job is to make sure we are feeding only permitted feeds to our goats. Any feeds which contain any special medications which are not approved for goats cannot be used with animals which are intended for human consumption. Recently he came to Prairie View A&M University and asked us how we feed our livestock guardian dogs. He told us that we cannot feed dog food to our dogs if they are with the goats because there are some dog foods which contain bone meal from foreign sources which potentially may be a source of the prions associated with mad cow disease.

What a crock. This goes not only for PVAMU, but for all of you that have LGD's running with your goats who are feeding these dogs with the goats.

I think we have too many of these regulatory agencies who have too much time on their hands. Why do they put the burden on us rather than regulating food that is being imported into this country for our own consumption?"

FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto
Onion Creek Ranch 2-8-10

It is cold and icy here at Bending Tree Ranch in Arkansas but it hasn’t stopped the TexMasters from kidding. All these babies shown here were born out in the snow/ice and have had no problems dealing with the cold, wet weather.

BendingTree Ranch TexMaster Goats
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If you are looking for hardy goats, with excellent mothering skills, and ones that produce MEAT look no further.

Contact Pat Cotten 501-581-5700
or send an e-mail to:
bendingtreeranch@cyberback.com
or you can visit our website at www.bendingtreeranch.com

Lots more kids to come………..watch our website for updates

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All information and photos copyright © Onion Creek Ranch and may not be used without express written permission of Onion Creek Ranch. TENNESSEE MEAT GOAT ™ and TEXMASTER™ are Trademarks of Onion Creek Ranch . All artwork and graphics © DTP, Ink and Onion Creek Ranch.

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