Feed stores gathering Personal Information

Anyone else feeling annoyed that every time you go to the feed store you have to provide your name and address to them. I've inquired as to why they should need to know who is buying feed or vet supplies from them, and they tell me it is government regulations. Since when does the government need to know what animals I am feeding?
What is their real reason for gathering this information?

after BSE feed rules got very strict and they want to know where the feed is going chicken feed contains bone meal for protein and bone meal cannot be fed to cattle any more.

I asked the same question at the store I purchase from. They said it was in case they ever had to do a recall...they would know who had bought the recalled supplies and how to get ahold of them to let them know. I thought it was weird too but after hearing that it makes sense.

Some have been doing it for years, some don't bother. In Draton Valley both feed stores don't bother.

They don't ask here, but then again the feedstore owner is the husband of our grandson's teacher.

Buckerfield's & South Country Feeds asks for your information in case of a problem with the feeds or a recall, but the other feed stores don't

My buckerfields here in Kelowna doesn't ask me for my personal info.
hmmmm weird

We feed our flock whole grains, whole corn wheat and barley. On occasion I will share some of my oatmeal in dry form with them and the get all sorts of greens and organics from our kitchen * no meat product* Other than that they forage and scratch around. Sometimes when I can get them they get mealworms or worms. I stopped given them the Layer feed. Chick starter is a bit different. I don't see there being a recall on whole grains?

We too had to submit our address, although at the time I never questioned it as it only made sense cause they use a customer database that takes care of inventory, purchase transactions, receipts all in one. We are there every two weeks, we get feed and always the same thing and amount, at this point they know us rather well and by the time I am even at the counter they have already started to put the order in on the computer. * But how do you not remember me*

If you go there on a regular basis they don't ask you they know your name and boom just like that they have found your information in the computer
Truth is I worked at a feed mill in the office for a bit. They do not share the information you give them, it is incase they have a problem they can contact you. That on it's own should give you piece of mine, nothing more nothing less.
Mind each feed bag has a lot # and that as well as your information it kept on the invoice. I think as much as you feel like you are giving too much information out there it is to protect you

Ah that would explain it then.
everyone at the local buckerfields knows who I am, asks me "hows biz" and how my kids are.

As far as I know it is just in case a batch of feed is contaminated then they can contact all buyers and thus elimante any false claims that might be made as in the past where some saw these sort of cases as a cash cow and put in false claims .If there is another purpose I woulld not no of them and won't waste my time thinking the worse case scenario !got tierd of always suspecting that there has to be more behind everything when it could be just a simple as what we thought the first time !

I buy whole grains, too, and personal information has never been a big deal to the clerk. However, I get really annoyed that so many stores you go to want to have your personal information on their computer. Some can be a bit pushy. No thanks. I am here to buy clothes, and you don't need to know where I live! Sorry - one of my pet peeves.

Well I am not a paranoid kind of person, and would like to blindly trust that everything is for my own good, but it bothers me that Peavey Mart outright refused to sell me poultry vitamin mix unless I supplied my name and phone number. I was peeved at them and walked out of there just on principal, but then on another visit I asked why they needed to know my info. The cashier said it is government regulations and they could face huge fines if they don't report everything they sell that is livestock related. So I have to assume this is more than just having your name on record for recalls and marketing purposes. maybe it is only in Alberta? I just don't know, and I guess that is what is bothering me.
Thanks for all the replies and comments.

We were also told they need it for recalls and that it is govt regulations. I have to give info at Ida and peavey mart, but not at the feed store in grande prairie. It is really weird that if it is govt regs that not all stores have to do it. The store in grande prairie does not know us and still sells without the info. So I really don't believe that it is totally due to govt regs. I have my suspicions that it is an optional buy in for the companies and they maybe get some type of kickback for doing it. Just my opinion!

I always thought it was incase the CFIA and govt need to perform a knee-jerk mass murder of poultry again, they'll know who in the area has backyard flocks by knowing who buys chicken feed.

This idea that it's incase of contaminated feed is a load of hooey, if you ask me. If the govt was so concerned about food contamination,then you'd have to give your name at the grocery store everytime you bought a pound of ground beef!

I am feeling very snarky and suspicious today, but I feel that when the Govt wants to know your personal business, everything you say can and will be used against you.

It stands to reason that they need it for recalls and given the stuff that goes into these feed mixes I would rather have them be able to contact me before harm comes to my flock. After all the if there are humans involved or computers there can be mistakes. I would rather know as I have nothing to worry about.

Heather

uno wrote:I always thought it was incase the CFIA and govt need to perform a knee-jerk mass murder of poultry again, they'll know who in the area has backyard flocks by knowing who buys chicken feed.

This idea that it's incase of contaminated feed is a load of hooey, if you ask me. If the govt was so concerned about food contamination,then you'd have to give your name at the grocery store everytime you bought a pound of ground beef!

I am feeling very snarky and suspicious today, but I feel that when the Govt wants to know your personal business, everything you say can and will be used against you.

......in case you haven't noticed the grocery stores are all recording what is being sold at that store location ? they just can't ask everyone for there personal info ,although if you use a grocery store card they most likly have your info already ,likewise a card or any other transaction that doesn't involve straight cash .There are many recalls every year and they know where the product was sold so they can avoid the buyers who want to cash in on a easy money racket .In most cases this is another reason for the info ...........someone took advantage of a situation and profited from it when they shouldn't have ? so in a sense one bad apple ruined the bunch ! It is scarey thought if you let your imagination run wild and I refuse to do that !I have enough stress in my life with out me adding to it .We had a local supplier of dog feed here and they had a bad batch ( for what ever reason ) and they were able to contact all the buyers and avoided a major accident from happening .........so that was a good thing in my book .But to each there own

I have no choice, the feed store, Surecrop, that I buy all my stuff from knows everyone personally, smiling. They know me and can see me take my feed home right from the mill, we are across the road. I think that it is good, it seems like it is invasion. But in all honesty, if there ever were a problem with something gone wrong in feed milling, I would certainly like to be told. I was wondering how many of our forum members went through that awful Asian bird thing a few years ago, wherein the farms were invaded and poultry slaughtered. Don't know much about it, but that was when I became active in keeping chickens again. I would like to hear what happened. Anyone with experience, it would be a very good thing to talk about this event in a new thread (bring it...we all love information, well, I do, I love to know things). Think it would have been around 2008, pleeeeeeeze, someone, a new thread. And we all know it is good to talk about trauma, and this hit many people very hard, I do know that thing....Have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

I think it was 2004 cynthia
the outbreak was at the coast they shipped thousands of birds (bodies)up to princton bc where they were burnt.

If I bought feed and it was later recalled, I would definitely want to know so I could stop feeding it as soon as possible. So I don't have a problem with that.

Maybe the sales clerk didn't know the whole reason for collecting the info so rather than finding out and explaining it to me, she made it sound all "ooo, it's secret government stuff" which naturally didn't sit well with me.

But if you could bare with me for just a minute more here, I still think it's a good point someone (Uno) made that groceries stores don't track every purchase made by every individual who buys food in case of recalls. How will Sobey's be able to phone me if my perogies or corn flakes are found to be unsafe for consumption, or the kid's flintstone vitamins are contaminated? I'm thinking it would be done as a public announcement rather than phone calls. So why is it different for poultry vitamins or chick starter?

On another note (sort of another topic maybe) I do strongly feel that livestock antibiotic sales need to be regulated in Canada. They are horribly mis-used by commercial poultry and pig barns to the point where we are now facing the crisis of superbugs...bacteria which is resistant to antibiotics.

If this information collection was possibly a step towards forming a data base to track antibiotic use, I would be all for it.