VoteKansas.org

Our dairy goat herd is on standard milk test. We use a computer software program called PC-DART on the farm. This program is an on-line system tied to the Heart of America DHIA lab in Manhattan that processes our monthly milk samples. It is a total dairy management program but primarily gives us almost instant access to our monthly milk test results. Recently we attended a workshop in Lawrence to get updates on this software program and learn more about how to use it to it's fullest potential. During this workshop there was a pretty good discussion on NAIS. The presenter was from the Dairy Records Processing Center [DRPC] in Ames, Iowa, which is also tied to the PC-DART program. The presenter used a power point to demonstrate how cattle dairies could benefit from the NAIS. It showed a dairy farmer going along in front of the milk stanchions in his milk barn waving a wand over the ears of his cows as they were being milked. This wand/transponder/readers [much like the one you see the UPS driver use when he delivers packages to you, only much bigger and longer] gathered information and sent the information wireless to a small pocket computer being carried by the farmer. Then after each animal's Radio Frequency Identification Tag [RFID] had been scanned, the small pocket computer was taken to the office and connected to the larger computer and downloaded into it. The information is then sent on-line to the Dairy Records Processing Center [DRPC] in Ames. Iowa. Ostensibly, this information is sued by the DRPC for things like removing a cow from their production list/records/system when she is sold or dies, etc. so the DRPC won't be carrying her in the system as a dry cow. In other words, its a kind of on-going way to keep records instantly and accurately updated.

Now that all sounds pretty good until they put the forms on the screen and show you that they have added a box for NAIS notification. It is not yet a requirement in Kansas but in Pennsylvania you cannot sell an animal with out "premise identification" number. You also have to notify the state veterinarians office of the animal movement, regardless of the reason for the movement.