A passage in the upcoming omnibus bill which includes $15 million to electronically track livestock could be weaponized by the government to limit beef consumption, according to critics.
The omnibus bill, proposed on Sunday and combining six essential spending bills into one ahead of the Friday deadline to avert a partial government shutdown, includes text that allocates $15 million to “related infrastructure” needed for the program.
The full text of the provision states, “The agreement directs the Department to continue to provide the tag and related infrastructure needed to comply with the Federal Animal Disease Traceability rule, including no less than $15,000,000 for electronic identification (EID) tags and related infrastructure needed for stakeholders to comply with the proposed rule, ‘Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison,’ should that rule be finalized.”
Since its initial proposal last year, the mandate for electronic ear tags for cattle and bison crossing state lines has stirred controversy, particularly among small ranchers. They fear the added costs, which large corporate ranchers can absorb, will drive many smaller operations out of business.
Currently, most livestock are tracked using tags that display 11-digit numbers, which are both visible and trackable. On Jan. 19, 2023, the Federal Register published proposed regulations to mandate the inclusion of radio-frequency identification in ear tags. These enhanced tags must be “both visually and electronically readable” to be recognized as official for the interstate movement of cattle and bison.
Livestock under the regulation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service includes all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age and older, all female dairy cattle of any age, all male dairy cattle born after March 11, 2013, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreational events, and cattle and bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions, according to the proposal.
Since 2003, following the discovery of the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, in the United States, ranchers have been pushed to adopt electronic identification tags for livestock movements. The cattle industry has been gradually advancing toward enhanced traceability rules and technology ever since.
However, the federal mandating of electronic ear tags would place unnecessary and punitive costs on American ranchers while also further raising the price of beef, according to Justin Tupper, president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association.
“If this bill passes it would put the ranchers in a real quandary, especially when it comes to costs,” said Mr. Tupper. “We do not support mandatory ID in any shape and form.”
The beef cattle supply has already dropped to its lowest point in decades, raising the price of beef to another all-time high and renewing concerns over the long-term health of the nation’s farming community. A series of severe droughts, coupled with government policies that continue to favor large, industrial food processors, has reduced the nation’s supply of beef cattle to a level not seen since the early 1950s, according to Mr. Tupper.
“The United States ranchers are already facing a lot of difficulties in trying to keep the price of beef low, if this passes we would be forced to pass on the cost of this new expense to the consumers,” he added.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have argued against the excessive number of earmarks in the bill, which includes $1 million towards the renovation of an LGBTQ Center in Pennsylvania.
Slipping the funding for the electronic ear tag infrastructure into a single paragraph in the omnibus bill allows lawmakers to pass legislation without the scrutiny that would normally occur, according to Mr. Tupper.
“There is real power in having the data because if the federal government knows exactly how much cattle everyone has and where it could go, it isn’t a far stretch to see where some of these entities could abuse it,” said Mr. Tupper. “There is no reason to try to hide this kind of important issue in a bill like this. It is just a way for them to hide and sneak it by the people. Hopefully, someone can put a stop to it.”
