<b>By MEGGIE I. FOSTER<br>
Assistant Editor</b> </p><p>

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — U.S. dairy producers and agriculturalists alike continue to raise concern over a new milk labeling law, asking dairymen to discontinue the use of rbST, a naturally-occurring hormone used to stimulate milk production.<br>
“This is an injustice to dairy producers across the country,” said Leon Thacker, director of the Purdue University Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in West Lafayette, Ind., in response to a push from major dairy cooperatives to stop the use of a synthetic hormone. “Putting a ban on this hormone truly limits scientific research in this industry."<br>
Merrill Kelsay, a concerned dairy producer and member of the Indiana Board of Animal Health (BOAH), explained that “this technology has been used for the past 17 years and unfortunately this is a situation where scientific data is being overlooked.”
Not all producers and individuals agree, especially major dairy cooperatives such as Monsanto.<br>
“This is being strongly enforced by major dairy cooperatives and asks members to sign an affidavit making a commitment that they will not use rBST, a naturally-occurring hormone in their dairy herd,” he said. “I found somewhere that nearly 90 percent of the hormone disappears during the process. By the time they get this rBST label on milk, they’ll be so many labels on there you won’t know what you’re drinking.”<br>
In response to the controversy, BOAH passed an addendum to Indiana House Bill No. 1300 on Jan. 17. BOAH’s statement confirms labeling standards for milk may not be misbranded in the state of Indiana.<br>
“Basically, we want to make sure people know that the agency’s viewpoint on this topic is neutral,” said Indiana State Veterinarian Brett Marsh, confirming that the language inserted by BOAH only ensures its compliance with existing standards.<br>
“This is a processor driven thing and there are absolutely no tests to show that milk with or without rbST is any different,” Kelsay said. “But I think that the Board of Animal Health is taking the right step with this statement and maybe we can work together to do something more to stop this.”<br>
Marsh explained to the group of concerned agriculture advocates and producers that “while the product is considered safe and legal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, public pressure is motivating major retailers to require their suppliers to provide rbST-free dairy producers.”<br>
Confirming the state’s neutral status, “BOAH does not regulate the use of rBST, but leaves the decision to use this product to individual producers,” he added.<br>
As a dairy producer directly effected by this movement, Kelsay said “when producers sign off on this affidavit they will lose at least five to six pounds of milk per cow, a significant loss to their bottom line and mine.”<br>
New database<br>

To date nearly 31,683 sites across Indiana have been registered under the Indiana Premise ID program and that number continues to grow everyday, according to Marsh. The Premise ID program requires that all farm sites, excluding equine and poultry, for which enrollment remains voluntary, must be registered in the state program.<br>
During BOAH’s recent quarterly meeting, Marianne Ash, director of biosecurity planning at BOAH, introduced a new database specifically designed to locate and track farm activity across the state of Indiana using premise identification.<br>
“This is a new web-based tool that we’ve had for about six months now and we’re still getting used to it,” said Ash, who has spearheaded the database project. “This database gives us the ability to distribute the workload across the state,” she said, further explaining that all BOAH state and field staff have the ability to log-in, enter data, track information and correspond with other BOAH officials.<br>
Ash explained that the foundation of the program lies within the Premise ID program.<br>
“We’ve been so successful with our Premise ID program that now we are able to manage disease programs easier online, track animal movement data to and from our state, coordinate vaccination information and really improve our disaster preparedness as a whole.”<br>
Using a tutorial, Ash illustrated that state officials can search for farms in a certain area, of a certain species or farms registered under a specific program such as the Pseudorabies program.
“We’re geared up for an emergency if in fact we may ever have to face something,” she warned. “You never know.”<br>
“This is an amazing first step in preparedness, without causing panic,” added Michael Kopp, director of BOAH’s avian health division. “We have a tool now that we didn’t have six months ago and I believe strongly that it has limitless possibilities.”<br>
Marsh later confirmed that although the information will generally be used by state and field staff, it is public information and can be used at the request of public citizens. For more information or to contact BOAH, visit their website at www.in.gov/boah