American Farmers & Ranchers, a general farm organization and mutual insurance company, issued a statement of support for action today by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) to require exhibitors in swine shows to have their premises identified prior to show participation.
“AFR supports ODAFF in its’ decision to continue swine shows in Oklahoma,” said AFR President Terry Detrick. “AFR is a strong supporter of all rural youth programs in the state. We agree that all 4-H and FFA members should continue to be able to compete and this process allows that opportunity. The premise identification requirement prior to exhibiting swine is a much more favorable solution to the alternative of shutting down these much loved family involved shows. It is less burdensome to have premise identification than to trade it for the possibility of a communicable disease with an inability to trace the problem.”
Oklahoma joins the ranks of Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and other national shows which require premise identification for participants.
AFR policy adopted by its delegates at its’ last annual convention on the subject states: “we support the current USDA premise identification program. Any future programs dealing with animal identification should be least burdensome to producers and maintain producer confidentiality.”
“The actions by ODAFF are consistent with our policy. The purpose of the program is to improve efficiency and speed of control by state health officials to combat any agriculture disease that might threaten the assets and very livelihood of Oklahoma agriculture producers. This action protects both social and economic concerns,” said Detrick. “Premise identification is a free service. ODAFF does not charge for it, and there are strict mandatory guidelines in place that such information cannot be released and must remain confidential.”
“We commend Governor Henry, Secretary Peach, the Board of Agriculture and state health officials for being pro-active in preparing in advance for issues that may affect the state’s pork industry,” concluded Detrick.
