The overwhelming majority of Nebraska farmers and ranchers are vehemently opposed to the efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to enforce its final rule mandating electronic identification (EID) eartags for cattle and bison. This is nothing more than Big Brother in the barnyard.
- 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, 2024 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.
- The mandatory EID rule is costly for producers with no opportunity to recover the cost in the marketplace.
So where is Sen. Fischer on USDA’s animal ID plan? Missing in action, that’s where. Fischer has not issued any public statements since January 2023 when the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), first issued the proposed rule. Fischer is full of talk about opposing regulatory burdens on farmers and ranchers but yet the Senator is silent on the animal ID rule. Why? Does she support burdening Nebraska cattle producers with mountains of more paperwork to further the interests of the big meat packers who fund her political campaigns? In the context of raising livestock – leave it to the professionals to decide how to manage their herds and keep the bureaucrats out of it.