MM Livestock Co

I just got our packet from Animal Welfare Approved. We're almost done! There are a few things we need to improve like cleaning the debris from the new pasture land and getting a derogation to continue docking our lambs tails, re-seeding and irrigating the field we will use to finish our steers, castrate earlier and getting the stock dogs to move more slowly. All in all a darn good audit! Animal Welfare Approved and American Grass Fed are The Toughest Certifications to get. I am Thrilled that we have met these standards. The audit forms will be available for review here at the farm. We will be listed on the AWA website shortly. This is an example of what stewardship and attention to detail does for credibility. Its fun to be able to give proof of your practices to nay sayers too! You should check out AWA's site to see what they require. It is well worth the effort to be able to gain their stamp of approval. Meg

First let me say that I was very disappointed by the low turnout at Todays Session. This was a perfect opportunity to have a say in the way this process is going to be implemented. If we want to have a voice in shapeing Government Policies that directly affect us we need to show up and voice our concerns. Once we got folks understanding that Animal Welfare was not the issue and traceability and disease prevention is, the discussions took off. In the Break Out session I was in there were large producers, family farmers, and home consumption advocates. The consensus was that traceability needs to follow the animal. Those of us that graze our stock move them regularly and having each field and pasture Id.ed is not practical. We also felt that small holders that deal in LIVE ANIMALS should be exempt. We must protect our food supply and ANYONE selling meat to consumers needs to be accountable for the product they sell. Accountability does not begin nor does it end at the packing house. In the event of a disease outbreak the actual source of that outbreak must be identified quickly and accurately. Most producers already have extensive records covering the health of their animals and they are not the problem. The problem lies with the people that don't care if what they are doing is wrong as long as they get top dollar. There was also discussion about the implementation of an incentive program for producers that would help offset the cost of compliance. Yet another suggestion was that the program remain voluntary but in order to benefit from programs offered by the USDA one must register. I think that if we producers, large and small work together an equitable solution can be reached. If you don't go to the sessions, send in written comments, and do your homework, don't cry about how unfair the rules are. You can get copies of the actual transcripts of these sessions from the USDA website. Get busy, get informed, and if you are unwilling to do that GET OVER IT! Meg