[Jacob-list] Us auctions and F&M

[Black, Tiar and Jason]

I just came from the Marysville Wa Livestock auction. I was dropping off a few crosbred ewes that we didn't want to keep and boy were the hauler hollering. Apparently the government has impossed a waiver on the auction houses. The waiver has to be signed by the owner of the livestock basically declaring that the animals being presented for auction have never been fed any animal by products etc...  If you do not sign the waiver they will mark the animals and tell the people bidding that these animals are not 'signed for' which basically means the packers will get those animals for pennies on the dollar. Well the haulers are having a fit about it. This all just started yesterday morning here. The funny part abou it is that they are only doing all of this to the cattle not the sheep or anything else. It sounds to me like the packers here in our country are already trying to get everyone in an uproar just so that they get cheaper meat - you know that they will still buy it to send it to the big food chains so we will still be eating it. The auction house was also telling everyone that the ' government' (I have no clue who they were talking about in the gov) is also going to be doing 'spot checks on the farms randomly to make sure that the animals are not being fed animal by products. It didn't seem that the people who worked at this particular auction house were very happy about this but it sure seems to me that if it has not been passed by our governmant - which I have heard nothing about it if it has - then how in the world are they getting away with it? It is only cattle right now but just wait - it will be us next. Any input would be nice - maybe I am just getting to worked up about all of this?
Tiar Black
ZLazyJ Farm
Friday Harbor WA
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