By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed amendments to animal disease traceability regulations.

The proposed rule requires electronic identification (EID) for interstate movement of certain cattle and bison to be visually and electronically readable.

The EID system aims to help U.S. cattle ranchers with emergency response to animal disease.

“Farmers and ranchers across Texas are concerned with marketability of livestock, which disease issues can halt,” Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory activities, said. “Texas Farm Bureau members support an animal identification system that provides disease traceability to protect our healthy herds and to maintain trade of livestock and their products.”

Rapid traceability in disease outbreaks would help farmers and ranchers get back to selling their products quicker and keep more animals from getting sick, APHIS officials said. These changes would strengthen the nation’s ability to quickly respond to animal disease outbreaks through early detection, containment and eradication of disease.

“Texas is home to the largest cattle herd in the U.S. and upgrading the current identification system for cattle will make a disease response more efficient. That alone will help reduce the impact of a disease outbreak and help mitigate an extended period for quarantined herds across the state,” Tomascik said.

APHIS’s proposed rule requires tags to be used for interstate movement of cattle and bison that are visually and electronically readable six months after a final rule is published in the Federal Register.

The updated changes would apply to specific classes of cattle crossing state lines and meet certain criteria. Those include cattle that are sexually intact and over 18 months of age, female dairy cattle of any age, male dairy animals born after March 11, 2013, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreational events, as well as shows or exhibitions.

APHIS said it is committed to implementing modern systems that track animals from birth to slaughter, using affordable technology for farmers and ranchers that allows for quick tracking of sick and exposed animals to stop the spread of disease.

APHIS is accepting comments on the proposed rule due March 20.

Comments can be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov or by mail. Comments should be mailed to Docket No. APHIS-2021-0020, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.