The National Animal ID program’s current status in the state and the nation is in limbo with no real conclusive outcome planned for the near future.

Texas ranchers against the program, which would require government registration of all commercial livestock, celebrated when House Bill 461 was passed April 24, effectively moving the program from mandatory to permanent voluntary status in Texas.

However, the fight over the NAID program in Texas didn’t end there.

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources approved an amended version, but Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst didn’t choose to bring the bill to the floor for a final vote before the legislative session ended.

The Texas Animal Health Commission effectively still retains its right to make NAID mandatory in Texas, but rights and capabilities are proving two different concepts, according to Karnes County Agriculture Extension Agent Dennis Hale.

"We did some educational programs on it for three years in a row and assisted producers if they wanted to sign up voluntarily," Hale said. "I don’t think (the TAHC) did a real good job even explaining it. I don’t think a lot of people really even understood the thing."

On top of that, the infrastructure to log and track commercial livestock in the state, along with the manpower necessary to make sure producers are notifying the state any time they sell an animal, just doesn’t exist.

It hasn’t existed since the TAHC began implementing rules in 2005 to make NAID mandatory. Every time the deadline to move from a voluntary system to a mandatory system approached, it was pushed back. Texas just wasn’t ready for it.

"The program kind of came about really watching other countries. I think what spurred it in the U.S. whether we say it or we don’t say it was the Mad Cow Disease. It kicked the USDA and the government into thinking maybe we need to initiate a program similar to some of these other countries so we can trace back any problems we might have," Hale said.

The program would require all commercial producers to get a premise ID number registered with the state government. Afterward, when an animal is sold, state law would require the animal to be tagged and the NAHC would have to be notified of the transfer.

"Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The only problem that I see is that New Zealand and Australia and some of these countries that were doing it? They’re a lot smaller than us," Hale said. "I’m not against the theory of it. If we can make our food supply safer and we can track back a problem quicker (that) would help us on the world market. If you remember when Mad Cow came out, a number of countries quit importing our beef. If we could solve the problem quicker, that would get us back on the market quicker and would help our producers. It’s just such a huge undertaking to do that. I don’t know whether it’ll work or not."

There are several organizations in the state of Texas made up of farmers and ranchers opposed to the idea.

The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance is one of the main non-profit lobbying groups trying to make sure NAIS stays dead in the water.

"Just over a year ago, most Texas legislators had no idea what NAIS even was.  Now, a majority of the House voted to strip the TAHC of its authority to make NAIS mandatory, and we had a majority of the Senate who would have voted for the bill, if given the chance.  And those who blocked the bill know we will not go away quietly," a statement on the alliance’s Web site reads.

For now, the program still remains voluntary and neither the state nor the U.S. government has the means or manpower to make it mandatory at this time. The option to do so, however, is still on the books.