LA VISTA - As a long procession of critics pounded away at the federal government's floundering animal identification initiative Tuesday, federal veterinarian Dave Morris sat in the back of the room, mostly expressionless and sometimes occupied with his cell phone.

It would be easy enough to believe that Morris, of the national program staff in Riverdale, Md., was texting somebody to "Beam me up, Scotty."

"I think this one was consistent with many of the others," he said later of the 14th and final listening session held across the country.

The government's long listen is aimed at overhauling a widely unpopular program launched five years ago.

The original appeal to livestock producers was to voluntarily accept identification numbers for their operations as a means of pinpointing and controlling disease outbreaks.

It happens that the Nebraska session comes at a time state and federal officials are testing thousands of cattle and trying to contain the first two cases of bovine tuberculosis in Nebraska in 17 years.

But that chilling Rock County development did not seem to affect the attitudes of many of the cow-calf producers who stepped to the microphone on the outskirts of Omaha on Tuesday.

To them, the livestock identification plan is a government invasion that's likely to become mandatory, add to their cost of production and infringe on their ability to run their operations as they see fit.

The aggrieved included Bim Nelson, manager of the Bassett Livestock Auction; Grant County Commissioner and rancher Dan Vinton; and Jo Stec of Long Pine.

Stec's 159 cattle are among Rock County herds under TB quarantine. She expects to have a clean bill of health on her cows and the quarantine on her ranching operation lifted as soon as Friday.

In the meantime, she wants to make it abundantly clear she doesn't need what the government calls a premise identification to keep track of what's happening with her cattle and her neighbors' cattle.

"For all us producers, this is our livelihood. We know these cows. We have health records on these cows."

Although she tried to refuse a number, Stec said, she got one - and her cows got ear tags with government numbers, too - as a state and federal veterinary team conducted TB tests at her ranch.

The same ear tags indicate cattle can't be moved while in testing mode.

"When I asked if I could take them off" when the quarantine is over, "their statement to me was they wouldn't try to stop me."

Nelson said the government will probably want to assign identification numbers to people next.

"That's when the good Lord will step in and say, 'That's enough!'" he said. "And the last time he did that, it rained for a good long time."

Vinton worries animal identification will lead to situations in which he and his peers will be blamed for meat contamination problems that aren't their fault.

"Ranchers need to be protected from frivolous lawsuits naming anyone who has ever had any contact with an animal."

The Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation and Nebraska Farmers Union also testified Tuesday and suggested the problems dogging the identification program could be, and should be, fixed.

Government veterinarian Morris said the prolonged pit stop on the road to implementation comes at a time when about 523,000 of the estimated 1.4 million livestock premises in the United States have numbers.

It's all about disease control and about being able to account for the whereabouts of animals when there is a disease incident, he said.

"Where were they? Who are they? When were they there?"

Lingering in the background at the La Vista listening session was Rock County rancher Ben Fischer, recently identified as the owner of the two diseased cows.

Fischer was reluctant to answer any questions, but did say he's still waiting to hear if the government will compensate him for the likely liquidation of his herd.

While he waits, he can't earn any money in the beef market.

"I can't sell a hoof," he said.

Reach Art Hovey at 473-7223 or ahovey@journalstar.com.