June 5, 2006

One tenth of Kentucky's farms registered for animal identification system

About 10 percent of Kentucky's livestock farms have registered for a voluntary national farm identification system, in line with the national average, said Tim Turney of the state veterinarian's office.

Turney says about 8,700 of the state's 87,000 livestock farms have registered so far.

Requirements that farmers state the kind of livestock they raise are causing concerns that the government would begin monitoring farm activity, sparking privacy issues.

Some have said the system would hurt small livestock farms, raise food prices and burden producers with red tape.