NAIS meeting strikes out again

A stakeholders summit on the troubled National Animal Identification System (NAIS) Wednesday in Washington, D.C., ended -- again -- with no consensus from the livestock industry. Officials from major livestock groups, representing a full range of viewpoints on the issue, met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to lay out their positions. Vilsack called the meeting after House agricultural appropriations subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) told him earlier this month that "the clock is ticking" on future funding for the program. Both she and House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson (D., Minn.) have threatened to end spending based on the underperformance of NAIS, which so far has cost taxpayers more than $120 million. Following today's meeting, Vilsack announced a new round of public "listening sessions" in an attempt to find a way to design a system that works effectively for market protection and animal health. He noted that there were entrenched positions among some species groups, but he remained optimistic on finding a solution for a system that would be effective for all participants. With sharp criticism coming from Congress about the failed effort to develop such a system, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is under considerable pressure to find a solution before funding is for the program is zeroed out in the fiscal 2010 agricultural spending bill...Feedstuffs