Electronic Identification: US Department of Agriculture reveals final rule requiring electronically readable tags for interstate movement of some livestock
Tri-State Livestock News confirmed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its long-awaited update to the animal identification rules on Friday, April 26.
The agency will now require that sexually intact cattle and bison moving interstate must be tagged with electronically readable tags where previously the metal clip tags were sufficient for this same class of livestock. Additionally cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreational events, and cattle and bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions will require electronic tags. The USDA does make an exemption for cattle and bison if they are going directly to slaughter, and they will continue to provide tags to producers free of charge to jumpstart efforts to enable the fastest possible response to a foreign animal disease
The rule will be effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register as one of the most significant benefits for farmers and ranchers will be the enhanced ability of the United States to limit impacts of animal disease outbreaks to certain regions, which is the key to maintaining our foreign markets.
Cattle already tagged with visual tags – such as bangs tags – prior to the implementation date of this rule will be grandfathered in as the rules currently in place are not changing – only the type of tags being used.
The state already keeps track of sexually intact cattle 18 months and older that move interstate. Currently, veterinarians handwrite that data at the auction barn and submit it to the state to be transcribed and entered into a digital database. The electronic tags should allow the data to be automatically entered into the digital database, without the need to transcribe the numbers in the state office.
It’s no secret that, as with many issues, the industry has been split regarding its support and lack thereof for mandatory federal identification programs, particularly anything requiring electronic identification.
In the past and currently, R-CALF USA has believed that current identification programs, such as bangs tags, brand inspection programs, back tags, etc, are sufficient.
The NCBA has traditionally supported USDA’s position over the years as well, but at its recent convention approved policy similar to USDA’s recently published rule but also calling for a “private, industry managed, nongovernment Independent Database Collaborator” to serve as a “hub” for “critical data coordination.” In the group’s official statement, NCBA said it has worked hard to secure $15 million in funding for producers to reduce the cost of implementing this change.
R-CALF USA doesn’t believe the new rule is all about disease management, commenting that the press release that accompanied this new rule clearly states “the most significant benefit of the rule’ is to maintain foreign markets.”
R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard said, “the beneficiaries of this rule are not cattle producers or consumers. Instead, this rule is intended to benefit multinational beef packers and multinational eartag manufacturers who will profit at the expense of cattle producers and consumers. In fact, because the rule is cost-prohibitive for independent cattle producers, the agency is using millions of taxpayer dollars to give millions of their unnecessary EID eartags away.
Bullard confirmed that the organization will fight against this implementation that infringes on the freedoms and liberties of our nation’s independent cattle farmers and ranchers, stating “this is government overreach at its worst.” R-CALF’s goal is to restore for the nation’s cattle producers the with flexibility the USDA promised them when they agreed to the agency’s 2013 rule that provided producers the flexibility to use a variety of different animal identification devices, depending on what best fit their individual operations.
According to R-CALF, the USDA has robbed producers of their ability to make their own business decisions, and producers “cannot and should not tolerate this as an industry.”
The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association has remained relatively neutral on the animal identification front but has adamantly opposed USDA’s proposal to establish a mandatory animal identification program for all cattle in the country.
Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman has made no secret about her concerns about more government oversight of the U. S. cattle herd. In the past, she has told TSLN that it opens the door to intrusive government policies such as those in some European countries that are forcing the reduction of cattle numbers in the name of climate change.
USDA’s final rule can be found at http://www.aphis.usda.gov and is expected to be published in the federal register soon.
Colombia becomes first country to restrict US beef due to bird flu in dairy cows
According to Reuters, the USDA has announced that Colombia has restricted the import of beef and beef products coming from U.S. states where dairy cows have tested positive for avian influenza.
Although Colombia only imports a small amount of beef from the U.S. annually, they are the first country to officially limit trade in beef due to bird flu in cows. A sign of the broadening economic impact of the virus that has already restricted poultry trade globally, the USDA said the ban includes beef products derived from cattle slaughtered in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas.
Colombia imposed temporary restrictions on raw bovine meat products the notice said, but if exporters have a valid import permit, shipments may still be held at the port.
The restrictions come as the U.S. government began requiring dairy cattle moving between states to be tested for bird flu as of Monday, while federal officials ramp up their response to an outbreak that has bled over into the U.S. milk supply. The measures aim to contain the spread of bird flu, which has been reported in eight states and 33 dairy herds since it was first detected in late March in Texas.
USDA officials confirmed that to date no U.S. beef cattle have tested positive for bird flu, and that they are talking with and providing current epidemiology information to Colombia about the issue.
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