The USDA is back at it and trying to mandate electronic livestock identification to track cattle crossing state lines. 

But we have a new way to stop it! 

USDA claims mandatory electronic IDs will help with animal health, but it doesn’t. In fact, mandatory electronic animal identification does not address food safety or animal disease concerns, but instead, unreasonably burdens independent farmers and ranchers, while giving corporate multinational meatpackers yet another unfair market advantage.

The real reason for mandatory electronic animal identification is to satisfy monopolistic meatpacker interests to increase their exports markets, profits, and control of the U.S. cattle industry.

Mandatory electronic animal identification is a step in the wrong direction, especially at a time when the negative impacts of corporate consolidation of our food supply are becoming ever clearer, with shortages and skyrocketing prices (while the corporations’ profits also skyrocket).

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. Click on this link to find your U.S. Representative: Find Your Representative
2. Call your rep today! Ask to speak to the staffer who handles agricultural appropriations and briefly (in just one or two sentences) share with them why you are opposed to mandatory electronic Animal ID. Explain that USDA appears to be ignoring the public comments and Congress needs to step in!
3. Urge them to co-sponsor Representative Harriet Hageman’s Amendment #78 to HR 4368, the Agricultural Appropriations bill, to cut off funding for the mandatory electronic ID rule.

You can also download our fact sheet on Animal ID to share with them in a follow-up email.

The vote on that bill and the amendments will be sometime in September … and the more support we can get NOW, the better our chances!

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?

Consider this: The only state to mandate electronic ID provides evidence that imposing such requirements not only hurts small farms, but drives the whole industry towards consolidation into mega-sized operations!

In 2007, the State of Michigan began to require electronic ID tags on cattle for in-state movements. Based on the USDA Agricultural Census from 2007 and 2012, Michigan saw a significant loss of small farms and an increase in the consolidation of the industry, notably worse than national trends:

• Michigan saw a 3% decrease in the number of very small cattle operations (fewer than 10 head), even though nationally the number of such farms increased by 4%.
• Michigan saw a 35% increase in the number of very large cattle farms (over 1,000 head), even though the number of those operations decreased slightly nationally.
• Plus, Michigan saw a 50% increase in the number of cattle on those large farms, even though the number of cattle in large operations remained about the same nationally.

The impact of electronic Animal ID isn’t just the cost of the tags themselves. It’s all the infrastructure to support an electronic system, combined with the loopholes created for large corporate-controlled operations.  This plan is bad for small farms, independent ranchers, and consumers who want to buy American beef!

Please, help us stop this program by taking action NOW! Thank you for your support!