July 14, 2020

USDA reseeks public comments on cattle radio tags

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is taking comments until October 5 on a mandatory rule to require adult cattle and bison moving between states to have radio tags by January 1, 2023, The Observer reported.

The agency withdrew the same proposal in 2019, partly due to complaints from segments of the cattle industry that the electronic tags are expensive, intrusive and unproven.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and electronic records are an upgrade over visual tags and paper files, enabling state veterinarians to more quickly retrace a sick animal's movements, the USDA argues.

The USDA currently allows cattle and bison with metal tags or radio tags to enter interstate commerce.

"RFID tags and electronic record systems provide significant advantage over metal tags to rapidly and accurately read and retrieve traceability information," according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Cattle producers continue to raise concerns on who is going to pay for the electronic system, and whether records collected from their operations will be kept confidential, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.