Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, I am waiting for an email from the Countryside magazine to get back to me to see if I can use their article or talk about this on my blog  on this new rule that the USDA is wanting to implement on poultry and flock owners.  It is a very lengthy article that the author wrote about this upcoming plan.  It goes abbreviated as APHIS.  Go to http://www.usda.gov/ and there is information on it there, but its the gov's web site.

In what I have read, it is supposed to trace disease, both in livestock and poultry, but they are not real clear about any particular disease or anything else,  but I am reading it as a control factor to find out who has poultry, from large poultry operations to the small homestead/backyard flock.  From the way it reads, backyard flock owners will have to have chicks banded and when ordering chicks  and they have to register their chicks and flocks, the same thing as the animal id that the USDA wanted all farms and ranches to do to id livestock, which was pulled. That did not go well here in my state, and so this looks similar to the second  coming of the same  cavalry.

I would like to reprint this article, but I am seeking permission first, or if not, I am trying to find out when Countryside magazine will post their new March/April 2012 issue up on their website and you can read it from there, which may be better.  The magazine website is: http://www.countrysidemag.com/

This is just another ploy to get money from the citizens and more control about what you are growing in your backyard, and how much you have, to eventually say that you have no right to local, fresh food, eggs, or what you put in your mouth.  The PTB's (powers that be) will tell you what to put in your mouth, and how and by how much. This will affect everyone who has poultry from the farm to the suburbs and where ever. Now whether we can back them down like the last animal id ruling, is another story. 

If you all have time, please look this up or research it.  I contacted my farm bureau agent, and he hadn't even hear of it mentioned, in which I told he, well, I mentioned it, now he needs to look into it.
I am in the process of writing my representatvies, which I don't think does any good, but I am going to complain anyway. It seems that now all we have now are controls to tell you that you are an idiot and cannot run your life, that you do not know any better, but the government know everything on how to take care of you and what is good for you.

I am hoping to hear from the magazine, so I can get this out. 

On the homefront, its calmed down.  It snowed and rained a little here yesterday, the wind blew hard, and it acted like a some-what spring day, Some of my lettuces are up, and onions, but the rest, I think the seeds are old and did not germinate.  I used the seedling mat, and it, for me works well as I really don't have a dedicated room for seeds and plants.  I keep it a little cool in the house and it nice when I can get plants up and not put them on top of the hot water heater, and then I forget they are there, and then they are leggy and die.

I need to do a few errands today, so I will blog later.

Hugs to all.