Experts tout animal ID plan

Animal and premise identification programs will help prevent the spread of devastating diseases and should not cause any undue burdens for farmers, a panel of federal, state and local experts told farmers at the First Pioneer Farm Credit office in Burville on Wednesday night.

The meeting, designed to explain the often controversial identification programs, included presentations by representatives from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Jefferson County Farm Bureau.

The reactions to the presentations were mixed: some said they had new insight into the plans; others said downsides of the programs had been downplayed.

Sarah L. Blood-Szentmiklosy, state coordinator for the National Animal Identification System, said all the state wanted was the name, address, phone number and the type and rough number of animals on each farm.

She said that 78.5 percent of all farms in the state, or just over 20,000, were already participating in the voluntary animal identification program.

Such programs would give health officials the ability to find farms to disseminate information and vaccinations more effectively, to understand the spread of any diseases and to respond more quickly when and if an outbreak did occur, said Mrs. Blood-Szentmiklosy.

The urgency of her message was echoed by Dr. Dwight A. Bruno, with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, who raised the specter of previous foot-and-mouth outbreaks in Britain.

"This is a very serious issue," he said. "The consequences of not having ourselves organized is very dramatic."

Again and again, particularly in the question and answer session, the officials sought to calm fears that the program would be expensive for farmers, or become mandatory.

Mrs. Blood-Szentmiklosy said the state program had no charge, that many locations had been signed up through vaccination programs already and that farmers could opt out at any time.

"It's voluntary. There are not future plans to make it mandatory," she said. "It's strongly encouraged and strongly recommended."

Jefferson County legislators Philip N. Reed, R-Fishers Landing, who co-sponsored the event with Barry M. Ormsby, R-Belleville and Jefferson County Farm Bureau, said the session had been helpful.

"It's important that we get as much information about what's facing our agricultural industry as possible," he said.

Some of those attending, such as Lee R. Bowhall of Gouverneur, said the meeting had changed their previous perception of how such identification programs work.

Mr. Bowhall had come with two friends to learn about how his poultry, raised for shows and not for commerce, would be affected under the program.

He had previously believed that chickens, no matter how young, would be required to have an identification chip. He said the meeting had dispelled that myth for him.

"It's not as bad as a program as we were hearing about before," agreed Gary Wells, of Madrid.

Retired dairy farmers Paul C. and Elaine F. Mason, Cape Vincent, also walked away with a better understanding of the program. The couple had attended on behalf of their sons, who are running their River Haven Farm.

"It is totally different than what I had heard before," said Mr. Mason. "It sounded like more positive information that I got tonight; before it was strictly negative."

But others remained unconvinced that the panel had provided an accurate picture of the identification programs.

Mary-Louise Zanoni, a freelance writer from Canton, and Floyd R. Hall, a Depauville dairy farmer turned activist, said the meeting had been misleading. Ms. Zanzoni said that, through vaccination efforts, the identification programs were more mandatory than the officials had let on. She said it was difficult to get delisted from such programs.

"I disagree with the whole thing," agreed Mr. Hall. "It's an overbearing surveillance of my life."