The NAIA Trust supports the breeding and raising of animals for food, fiber, and draft when responsible and humane animal husbandry practices are followed. Modern American agricultural methods supply Americans with an unprecedented bounty of quality meat, eggs and dairy products. About 94 percent of the American public enjoy one or more of these products as part of a well balanced diet or lifestyle. Developing countries look to US agriculture to help them overcome the devastating problems of malnutrition and starvation that plague the people of their nations.
Many Americans prefer environmentally-friendly natural animal fibers such as wool, leather, and fur over synthetic fibers that use non-renewable petroleum-based resources in the manufacturing process. The byproducts of meat and fiber production are invaluable as raw materials for products ranging from pharmaceuticals to industrial oils, photographic film, and fertilizer. The NAIA Trust believes that livestock agriculture is beneficial to society and to the animals that are raised in accordance with established humane animal husbandry practices.
The use of draft animals is rare in our society, but some homesteaders, religious groups and family farmers use horses and oxen to plow their fields or for transportation, and many living history museums demonstrate past farming practices with horses, mules, and oxen. Some horse breeders and fanciers participate in parades or provide horse-drawn carriages as tourist attractions, and horse-drawn vehicles are also a mainstay of the religious groups that rejects modern conveniences. The NAIA Trust appreciates and supports these uses of draft animals under circumstances that provide for their well being.
Suggested Reading
- AgNIC (Agriculture Network Information Center) is a distributed network that provides access to agriculture-related information, subject area experts, and other resources.
- Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Transforming a Renewable God-Given Resource into Food for the Hungry
- Friends of Fur Our aim is to enhance and preserve the cultures that surround the fur trade, to educate and inform.
- Fur Commission USA is dedicated to educating the public about responsible fur farming and to celebrate and secure fur-farming families.
- Fur Institute of Canada A national non-profit organization with a broad-ranging membership including trappers associations, aboriginal groups, fur farmers, the federal, provincial and territorial governments, conservation and animal welfare agencies, auction houses, manufacturers, retailers, and other support groups.
- NAIA: New law to boost trust in legitimate fur trade (Winter 2000)
- NAIA
- Tennessee Farm Bureau