South Dakota cattle producer, former NCBA president fires back at Wyoming lawmaker who spoke against electronic identification tags earlier this month in Rapid City

Recently (Oct. 7, 2024), Congresswoman Harriet Hageman from Wyoming was in our state for a rally against one of the most important animal health tools farmers and ranchers have. Congresswoman Hageman says that animal disease traceability through the use of electronic identification tags is all a big government conspiracy, but the truth is South Dakota ranchers need effective traceability to protect our herd against foreign animal disease.

Traceability should not be a controversial issue. Since 2013, farmers and ranchers who ship cattle 18 months of age or older, rodeo and exhibition cattle, or dairy cattle across state lines have been required to use a form of “official animal ID,” which has previously been a metal ear tag. Other producers have been using brands or tattoos, and those options are still available to them. But now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is simply changing the type of tag used from a metal one that must be visually read to an electronic tag that can be scanned or read. Frankly, I’m fed up with the fearmongering going on in our industry about this change.

Animal disease traceability is not some sort of government conspiracy. These EID tags will not track your movements. They are not GPS devices. They cannot track emissions. Your private information will not be exposed to activists. Yet, Congresswoman Hageman keeps trying to muddy the waters and talk as if a simple cattle ear tag that thousands of producers are already voluntarily using will be the death of the U.S. cattle industry.

As a rancher, I have fought tooth and nail against government involvement in our business. I know we don’t want to invite more government involvement on our farms and ranches, but you know what would bring the government right to our doorstep? A foreign animal disease outbreak.

If a foreign animal disease like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) were to appear in this country, all cattle movement from coast to coast would be shut down for a minimum of 72 hours, and likely much longer. Think of those three days without a single head of cattle on a truck, moving to a livestock barn, or leaving a farm or ranch—our rural economy would be crippled. After that, the U.S. government would move state to state to test animals and see which producers could move their livestock and which would be forced to depopulate their entire herd. If you don’t like the thought of the Department of Agriculture knowing the serial number of an ear tag on cattle moving across state lines, you really won’t like a government inspector stopping any of your cattle from leaving your ranch.

The U.S. hasn’t experienced a large-scale outbreak of FMD since 1929 and it’s too easy to think it will never happen, but the risk is very real. FMD can be spread on equipment or vehicles, through airborne transmission, or even on a person’s clothes or shoes. The federal government estimates that over 77.7 million international visitors will travel to the U.S. this year, every day we are unloading cargo at ports across the country, and that doesn’t even count the millions of illegal aliens encountered by U.S. Border Patrol this year.¹  All it takes is one person walking across the border or getting off a plane to track a foreign animal disease like FMD into the country.

To protect our unique American farming and ranching legacy, we need a fast way to trace and isolate foreign animal disease at the speed of commerce, and that is exactly where EID tags come in. These tags are insurance at the price of $3 a tag that could save us billions of dollars in losses from a disease outbreak. Sending paper documents from the farm or ranch, then to the veterinarian and then to the state or federal government takes time. Time is something we simply don’t have the luxury of when we are facing a disease outbreak. Instead of coming to our state to scare ranchers, Congresswoman Hageman should be working to secure our border, protect our American cattle herd, and make it easier for ranchers like me to access tools like EID tags. Perhaps the best explanation of Hageman fear mongering is that she was R-CALF’s attorney and logic doesn’t seem to mean anything.

¹ U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations Encounters. Accessed via: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters

OCTOBER 11, 2024:

On Oct. 7, 2024, over 400 cattle producers gathered and hundreds more joined online for the Livestock Producers Freedom Rally.

Producers from nine states were represented at the rally as they joined together in opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS’) final rule mandating the use of electronic identification (EID) eartags on adult cattle shipped across state lines.

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming kicked off the event. Hageman stated that this mandate is an effort by the government to control cattle producers and to foster a fully integrated livestock industry that will force the small and independent producers out of business as producers will likely be denied access to the market for cattle that are not in compliance with the mandate.

Presentations were also heard from South Dakota state Rep. Marty Overweg, Wyoming state Rep. Chip Neiman, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, “Feeder Flash” host Corbitt Wall, and United States Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Tupper.

During his presentation, Bullard announced that R-CALF USA and the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, along with several area ranchers, will be filing a lawsuit against the USDA’s EID mandate with the help of the New Civil Liberties Alliance.

Bullard said that his organization has exhausted all available remedies with USDA, which has summarily ignored their concerns; and that they continue to urge Congress to step up and help block this burdensome and independence-robbing rule by passing H.J.Res.167, S.J.Res.98, and S.4282.

“We will soon be asking our third branch of government – the U.S. judicial system, to intervene to protect the freedom, liberty, and independence of the American rancher,” said Bullard. “As unfortunate as it is that we must fight our own government to preserve the independence of our U.S. cattle producers, the time to do so is now.”

Also at the rally, the group launched a petition drive to further demonstrate the mass opposition to the EID mandate from across the industry. All producers and industry stakeholders can sign the petition at www.StopMandatoryEID.com.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2024:

American cattle producers will gather next month (Oct. 7, 2024, from 10am-12:45pm MDT) at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel and Convention Center in Rapid City (2111 N. Lacrosse Street) for the Livestock Producers Freedom Rally.

The event will include multiple presentations discussing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) final rule mandating the use of electronic identification (EID) eartags on adult cattle shipped across state lines.

R-CALF USA, America’s largest organization exclusively representing independent cattle producers, has partnered with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association and several other groups nationwide to highlight the broad opposition to the mandate.

Speakers for the event will include U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, South Dakota state Rep. Marty Overweg, Wyoming state Rep. Chip Neiman, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, “Feeder Flash” host Corbitt Wall, and United States Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Tupper (from St. Onge, SD).

“The intention is to encourage Congress to pass the legislation that has already been introduced in Washington to overturn the EID mandate,” noted Bullard referring to Senate and House bills S.4282, S.J.Res.98, and H.J.Res.167.

“Everyone is invited to attend and should know that your participation will make a huge difference in our ongoing effort to stop USDA’s EID mandate,” Bullard said.

The event is open to the public and will be live-streamed at cattleusa.com and dvauction.com.