Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
The new electronic identification (EID) tag ruling for cattle and bison from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services will go into effect on Nov. 5.
This ruling was made to enhance a 2013 ruling. According to the Congressional Research Service website, crsreports.congress.gov, “The 2013 final rule required that an ear tag used for official ID on certain classes of cattle and bison need be visually readable.”
According to the CRS, the new ruling “requires ear tags to be visually and electronically readable in order to be recognized for use as official animal identification (ID) for the interstate movement of certain classes of cattle and bison by November 5, 2024.”
The rule only applies to the interstate movement of the following categories of cattle and bison: All sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older; all dairy cattle of any age; all cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo, exhibition or recreational events.
According an APHIS fact sheet, the EID tags are designed for animal disease traceability. “The proven key to protecting U.S. livestock health, producers’ livelihoods, and the U.S. economy is swift detection, containment, and eradication of the disease. Having a strong ADT system— supported by EID —helps us quickly pinpoint where disease is, provide the least disruption to our producers, and keep healthy animals alive and moving to market.”
Additionally, “Official eartags provide animal health officials with a specific starting point from which to trace diseased or potentially diseased (exposed) animals.”
There has been much backlash against this ruling. In June, U. S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) co-sponsored a bill (House Joint Resolution 167 and Senate Joint Resolution 98) with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) to try to block the animal disease traceability rule. Hageman stated, “This rule is a solution in search of a problem that will advance a federal mandate which the American ranching community will have to pay for.”
Lummis said, “Wyoming’s ranchers provide some of the highest quality meat in the world, yet this administration continues to find creative ways to make their jobs harder. Forcing Wyoming’s ranchers to shell out their hard-earned money to trace and chip their livestock not only threatens to erode their privacy but puts unnecessary pressure on our supply chain. As a rancher myself, I understand the devastating impact this will have on our industry and will do everything in my power to block this administration’s chronic federal overreach.”
Speaking to livestock producers from South Dakota, Wyoming and the region at a Freedom Rally on Oct. 7, Hageman said, “...in their relentless drive to put pressure on independent cattle and bison producers, the USDA is again attempting to implement an EID requirement that will have a tremendous impact on livestock operations. Producers who do not comply will lose their access to interstate markets, thereby putting cattle and bison ranchers in places like Wyoming and South Dakota in grave peril of going broke.
“It is obvious that, while the implementation of this rule would provide an outsized benefit to large corporations, it would provide nothing but a burden to smaller producers. The consolidation of power in the hands of a few, at the expense of small and independent farmers and ranchers is a threat to our entire food supply. This rule reveals a tremendous level of cynicism towards American cattle and bison ranchers. Our livestock producers have implemented the world’s most innovative and advanced practices in relation to animal welfare and precision herd health management, while producing high quality and affordable food.”
Sherry Walter of Worland and Thirsty Dirt Ranch has been using these tags since she lived in Michigan. According to Walter, all of her cattle are tagged with the EID tags. Walter has continued to use these tags after her move to Wyoming due to some of their advantages. These tags can be used for tracking, the tags can be coded to the other ear tags the animal has, they are not removable and they work as a vaccination tag, she said.
Since the new law is not yet in effect in Wyoming, many livestock producers are against this new ruling as they may have to go through their herds and re-tag each of their cattle if they plan to sell out of state.
According to APHIS, “If your animal has been tagged with a visual only official identification tag prior to the rule’s effective date, you are not required to apply an electronically readable tag to the animal. All visual only official identification tags applied to cattle and bison prior to the date the rule is effective will be considered official identification for the lifetime of the animal.”
Some of the concerns these ranchers have, according to Danny Vigil, owner of Big Horn Basin Livestock Auction, is too much government control, the increased labor of retagging their cattle and not having the proper equipment to read the tags.
There is also the concern of the cost of the EID tags.
These tags do come in bulk for around $3 per tag depending on where they are ordered from.
APHIS is currently providing electronic ID tags at no cost through State Veterinarian Offices. Producers are encouraged to check with their State Veterinarian to inquire about the availability and distribution of these tags in their State. Per an APHIS fact sheet, “Producers should only tag animals that are subject to the 2024 rule when using the EID tags provided at no cost by USDA. Tagging animals that are not subject to the rule with USDA-provided tags may lead to shortages of those tags. Owners who wish to tag all their animals may purchase at their own expense additional EID tags directly from a manufacturer or distributor.”
For more information see the fact sheet from APHIS athttps://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USDAAPHIS/2024/10/11/file_attachments/3030115/fs-adt-mythbusters.pdf.