09/06/07 Electronic ID protest

Electronic ID of animals has a protestor coming from a different direction that has not been heard before. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back in one minute to tell you where that protest is coming from. Up until now resistance to electronic ID of animals has been a controversy between producers who think it is needed and those who think it is not needed, but now a new reason has surfaced to be against electronic ID. According to an article in the Western Livestock Reporter, some Amish farmers are against a state requirement in Michigan to tag their cattle with electronic ear tags. The Michigan State Department of Agriculture has stated any cattle leaving any farm must be tagged, but Amish farmers say that goes against their religious beliefs. Amish people are generally not in favor of technology, but the state of Michigan is trying to be able to track cattle movements easier to control bovine tuberculosis. Their goal is to achieve bovine TB free status for part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. State officials say the Amish produce a very small amount of the total beef sold in Michigan and are willing to tag the Amish cattle after they arrive at a livestock auction sale barn. This seems to me like a pretty fair compromise on the part of the state of Michigan, but I wonder if all other producers will want and expect the same consideration so they don't have to tag their cattle at home? I also wonder if this religious controversy will become a problem in the National Animal Identification System. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Report 8/22/07