Background:  The House of Representatives will debate and vote on the House Agriculture Appropriations bill most likely the week of July 22. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman from Wyoming has filed an amendment to the appropriations bill that prohibits the U.S. Department of Agriculture from enforcing its final rule mandating electronic identification (EID) eartags for cattle and bison.

Action:  Please call your U.S. Representative as soon as possible and urge them to vote YES on Rep. Hageman’s amendment to the appropriations bill that will stop the USDA from mandating EID eartags.

You can reach your U.S. Representative by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for your Representative by name.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

Here are a few talking points:

  • The mandatory EID rule is costly for producers with no opportunity to recover the cost in the marketplace.
  • The mandatory EID rule will not improve the disease traceability we already have because it only mandates EID eartags, not an electronic record keeping system. As a result, the errors in transcribing numbers will continue under the final rule.
  • The mandatory EID rule will promote more concentration in the cattle industry because the large, vertically integrated cattle feeding and packing operations are allowed to use group identification and are not required to use individual EID tags.
  • The mandatory EID rule is just Phase 1 of an extremely costly plan to expand mandatory EID tags. In its April 26 news release, the USDA stated it “is committed to implementing a modern animal disease traceability system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter…”
  • The mandatory EID rule infringes on the freedoms and liberties of U.S. cattle producers by robbing them of choice and by exerting control over their independent businesses.

Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or call (406) 252-2516.