Darol Dickinson,
Eye Witness ag.ed@nafaw.org
740 758 5050
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EYE WITNESS REPORT October 29, Sugar Creek, Ohio ANIMAL DISEASE TRACEABILITY final USDA rules for livestock moving interstate.
Yoder, Apple Creek, Ohio, on the left. Veterinarians, state staff and ranchers were in attendance.
The Ohio State Veterinarian, Tony M. Forshey, officiated an ADT rule — cattle requirements overview meeting with producers on Oct 29. This was one of about a dozen in Ohio and similar to a few hundred held in most states.
My appreciation of Dr. Forshey was increased as I watched him carefully articulate the maze of complicated and difficult federal rules for state veterinarians and animal producers. The tight rope he had to walk being forced to enforce federal rules and yet having “state rights” to tweak certain parts of the rule making process — his assistant called it “ability to relax” federal ADT rules.
If the Affordable Care Act is confusing, the facial expressions of Ohio farmers attending told the story. One major veal producer, RC Farms, said “I am not going to do it!” No reply was offered by Dr. Forshey as to the enforcements, fines or penalties for future non-compliance. (I sensed he did not want to go there in this crowd.)
New ADT changes and procedures defined include:
~ There are federal rules of ADT that are enforced federally and there are ways a state veterinarian can increase enforcements or “relax” these rules. Although the feds have a solid rule process, states can and may or may not relax or add to these rules. The state veterinarian has that authority. More