As Tea Party activists gathered in Nashville over the weekend, rallying their cause of rebellion against Washington's bloat, farm-country reformers celebrated a quieter grassroots victory.

On Friday, the U.S. Agriculture Department announced an end to the National Animal Identification System, a federal program to track the health of specific animals. The surveillance effort, introduced by the USDA in 2002 but never really gaining traction, met resistance from livestock producers, who called its requirements overly bureaucratic and burdensome.

In its announcement Friday, the USDA spun the NAIS dismantling as the introduction of "a new, flexible framework for animal disease traceability in the United States." This framework would "only apply to animals moved in interstate commerce," the announcement said.

Paul Hamby, a Maysville, Mo., man involved in the dairy industry and also the Missouri Campaign for Liberty, celebrated the USDA decision but urged caution about what comes next.

“In politics, things are often not as they appear," Mr. Hamby said. "The USDA says they are scrapping NAIS. Just like the recycled cash for clunkers cars, the USDA animal ID program is coming back in a different form, not yet disclosed.”

Opposition to NAIS crossed political affiliations. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, has been a long-time critic of the program and lauded its discontinuance.

“For years, I’ve opposed a mandatory national animal identification system because it would have been a huge burden on small producers without significantly improving food safety," she said in a statement. "It’s about time the USDA wised-up.”

Mr. Hamby found an inspiring message in the USDA decision.

"When enough patriots work hard, they can fight city hall, and even Washington, D.C.," his statement said. "A peaceful 'Don’t Tread On Me' revolution is possible in 2010."