NPIP fees going up in Michigan

[Russ Blair]

Just received a letter from Michigan Allied Poultry Ind today. Looks like the fees are going up in Michigan. For initial NPIP Registration it is now $300  and annual renewal for non commercial NPIP participants it's now $125. That does not include the tester fees. I don't see how anybody that is not already a participant could justify this outrageous price. Or am I just out of touch with reality here. What are the fees other places? I will be honest, I have shipped several orders years ago without it. So what's the real incentive for people to participate. Alright I will now end my rant lol.

[John W Blehm]

I received the notice in the mail yesterday.  Shocked is the word for my reaction...hoping I was misreading it somehow.  We are all used to prices and costs going up, but from $15/year to $125/years is worse than the increases in my health insurance.

[Beth Curran]

Wow, guess I should be happy mine only tripled. My tester straight up told me it was done to get rid of the small backyard flocks that they consider a waste of time.

[Rebecca G Howie]

Oh my Gosh, I am making calls Monday.

So far there had no charge here in Florida for testing / certification for AI and pullorum Typhoid. $35 for necorpsy. Went to the website and same info as last year - basically nothing but link to poultryimprovement.org.

Russ, those look like prices for HUGE, HUGE hatcheries to me.

Besides, Isn't this a national program at it's roots but administered by states? There should be some consistancy (by following Florida's lead of course) IMHO

[Jensen Pierson]

It was 75 for me this year. My NPIP tester said my price jump was due to the drop in egg prices in Ohio. The loss of money for the poultry department  needed to be offset somewhere so that is why ohios fees went up. 125 sounds absolutely rediculous.

[Beth Curran]

Compared to you guys I'm getting off easy. When I joined it was $5 OR 10c/bird, whichever was greater.

Two years ago I was informed, AFTER they were finished, that the fee had not only doubled from $5 to $10, but it was now $10 PLUS 10c/bird. Still not a lot of money, but a huge inconvenience, since I was out of checks. I had the $7 I was expecting, but the tester couldn't break a $20 - had zero change, even though collecting money is a big part of her job, so I had to dig in drawers, pockets, cushions, etc. to come up with $10 worth of coins! I should have refused and told her to bill me.

Then last year I was told that the enrollment fee of $50 they implemented a few years back (there wasn't one when I joined) would now be an annual fee, plus the $10, plus 10c/bird. Oh, and they no longer accept CASH, only checks or money orders. I was really tempted to make her wait while I make the 16 mile round trip to the PO, but it wasn't worth the bother since this time I had checks.

Who knows what they'll hit me with this year, but I'm about done with them...

[Mike Gilbert]

Compared to you guys I'm getting off easy. When I joined it was $5 OR 10c/bird, whichever was greater.

Two years ago I was informed, AFTER they were finished, that the fee had not only doubled from $5 to $10, but it was now $10 PLUS 10c/bird. Still not a lot of money, but a huge inconvenience, since I was out of checks. I had the $7 I was expecting, but the tester couldn't break a $20 - had zero change, even though collecting money is a big part of her job, so I had to dig in drawers, pockets, cushions, etc. to come up with $10 worth of coins! I should have refused and told her to bill me.

Then last year I was told that the enrollment fee of $50 they implemented a few years back (there wasn't one when I joined) would now be an annual fee, plus the $10, plus 10c/bird. Oh, and they no longer accept CASH, only checks or money orders. I was really tempted to make her wait while I make the 16 mile round trip to the PO, but it wasn't worth the bother since this time I had checks.  Who knows what they'll hit me with this year, but I'm about done with them...   

That is exactly the way so many government programs work.   First they get their foot in the door, and then they inch in farther and farther until they have the power to destroy you or put you out of business.    The power to tax and regulate is the power to destroy.   And ultimately I think they will make lawbreakers out of many of us.   Maybe the new administration will put a halt to some of this, but I'm not holding my breath. 

[John W Blehm]

but I'm about done with them...

BIG ag and BIG brother have been in cahoots for a long time and they are very inventive finding ways to rid the world of small farms of any sort.  RFID didn't get the results they hoped for, but everybody knows the pocketbook in where it hurts the most.   

Some may think I'm getting off the subject, but if only the APA were a reputable lobby/advocate on behalf of poultry fanciers as the NRA is for 2nd amendment constitutionalists I would have joined decades ago. 

[Beth Curran]

if only the APA were a reputable lobby/advocate on behalf of poultry fanciers as the NRA is for 2nd amendment constitutionalists I would have joined decades ago.

You said it, my friend. I am not a member of the APA, either. But I am a life member of the NRA.

Mike, I'm cautiously optimistic, but Merle Haggard's song keeps playing in my head:

When a president goes through the white house doors
And does what he says he'll do
We'll all be drinking that free bubble up
And eating that rainbow stew

[Dennis Heltzel]

The Government, state and federal, would like to see the end of all small farming operations. The return on their investment is not big enough to the government to justify their existence. I remember celebrating "agribusiness" in high school FFA, but having seen the results, I now hate those companies. Land of Lakes was a cooperative of farmers at one time, implying their reason for being was to benefit all farmers, but they are now only benefiting large operations. I see my brother-in-law's dairy operation shutting down within a year, a family farm that has been in operation for over a century, put out of business by the cooperative formed to help them.

It's happening in all areas of Ag and it will stifle the innovation and diversity that made American Ag the world leader. I applaud everyone who makes the NPIP effort so they can supply livestock to those of us without the will to do it.

[Beth Curran]

I remember celebrating "agribusiness" in high school FFA, but having seen the results, I now hate those companies.

Same here. But I remember even then, as I was defending them, my dad saying "these big, corporate backed operations" would be the death of farming as we knew it. Pretty insightful for a guy who grew up in Harrisburg. 

[Dennis Heltzel]

Harrisburg has some smart people. They are the ones NOT working in government jobs.

[Beth Curran]

Lol, he did end up with a gov job but not that kind. After WWII he settled in WV and was a dental technician at the VA hospital in Martinsburg.

[Russ Blair]

Well I am glad you guys are reaffirming my worst nightmares. I thought this was ridiculous. I was hoping it was like when I grocery shop with my wife. Which is seldom, because I am in disbelief of the cost of most things. I am with you John, the APA and the ABA should advocate on behalf of the poultry enthusiast. If they are not currently doing so, they really need to start. It's a shame when lobbying is necessary to keep the Government in check. Hopefully this new administration helps put things back in perspective.

[Harry Shaffer]

It is going to be a long road for a small operation to exist in this climate.  If the APA and ABA does nothing to protect the small breeder operations they will not have the donations available to exist after their large bank account is depleted.  This is the year they need to do something because administration will take notice.