Here's one to get the juices flowing. Is the 4 H operation teetering on extinction?

Question

4-H vs. Big Brother
Will this great tradition of 4-H and FFA draw to an end when the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is mandated and every animal is tagged and tracked? Many say “yes.” There is a strong feeling among small producers and hobby farmers that if the National Animal ID is forced upon them, George Orwells’ quote will become reality when he said, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever." .....
http://www.newswithviews.com/Morrison/joyce35.htm
by Joyce Morrison. Once again, children are the focus; the persecuted, the ones without someone in their corner. Will you stand for them?

Answer 1

I already know families that will drop out of 4H over the NAIS issue if it becomes mandatory. Protesting directly to 4H officials is useless -- 4H is directly under USDA, which wants the NAIS program. So even if NAIS does not become mandatory for everyone, it will probably be mandatory for 4Hers and FFAers (sigh). A lot of parents are not going to be willing to register their premises with USDA and go through all the paperwork necessary to report moving animals to all the shows. So yes, considering that 4H is already struggling in other ways, NAIS could be the death toll.

I also find myself wondering about classroom incubator projects. A lot of science teachers hatch chicks as part of embryology lessons. I myself donate fertile eggs to the local science class every year, with a "return" policy that I'll take the chicks if nobody wants them. (Never a problem -- the kids who live on farms always take the chicks home, with parents' permission.) If NAIS is implimented, will the school have to register as a farm premise because a few chicks are hatched there? Will the parents have to be registered for a kid to take a chick home? Where will the idiocy stop?

NAIS was described by Cattleman's Magazine as "a finely detailed blueprint for a cement blimp." Something that might look good on paper, but will never work in the real world.

Answer 2

Yes, it will have an effect, but it won't end 4-H. There are a lot of projects besides animal raising. What small producers and hobby farmers are more afraid of is PAWS. I'm involved in raising show rabbits, and if we're capped at selling $500 worth in a year...well, that's a couple really good ones in some breeds. I'm sure we'll circumvent it by dealing in cash only and/or trading. But many children earn their way to shows by selling breeding or pet stock and have their own bank account specifically for the rabbits. Do we teach them that it's OK to sneak around Uncle Sam while also teaching them to be responsible, honest, and caring to living creatures??

Answer 3

4-H and FFA aren't just about showing! They have so much else to learn and do in and with these programs that I can't imagine that having to identify an animal would close theme down. If they close, its because of the lack of the public to be involved with them. Its a shame our future generations spend their time playing on computers, video games, and going to teenage clubs instead of participating in great clubs such as the 4-H and the FFA.

Answer 4

funding has already had many programs on the brink for years. It will be harder to do it but some will continue to participate unless the programs are closed altogether. That'd be a huge loss.