When it comes to the Farm Bill, the status quo is what the massive meatpacking corporations want on a lot of fronts, especially mandatory electronic Animal ID.

If Congress does nothing, then USDA’s new rule mandating electronic ID for cattle will go into effect later this year – burdening small farmers and undermining our already stretched thin infrastructure of local sale barns and vets willing to work with those farmers.

Mandatory electronic animal identification DOES NOT address food safety or animal disease concerns, but instead, unreasonably burdens farmers and ranchers.

You may have heard that the last omnibus funding bill included electronic ID, which is unfortunately true … but it still hinges on the USDA rule going into effect.  So we can still stop it if Congress takes action in the Farm Bill!

We have fought this Big Meatpacker-driven program since 2006 because of the loss of privacy, cost, inefficiency, and the burdens on small-scale farmers and ranchers.  We've stopped it multiple times before, and we can do so again -- with YOUR help! 

We urge you to take immediate action and voice your opposition to the USDA's electronic animal ID mandate. 

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Call your U.S. Representative: Urge them to include a provision in the Farm Bill that protects farmers’ ability to use traditional forms of identification on their cattle.  Don’t know your Representative? Look them up here: Find Your Representative

Need help thinking of what to say?  Check out the information below and in our fact sheet.

• Spread the word: Share this information with your friends, family, and fellow farmers. Encourage them to also call their Congresspeople and voice their opposition to the mandate.

Your action is vital to protect small farmers and ranchers and all those who depend on them for their food.

Thank you for your commitment to speaking up to tell Congress to stop the USDA's electronic animal ID mandate.  Thank you for taking action now!

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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!

Download our fact sheet to share with your Congresspeople.