RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Electronic Identification, better known as EID, has farmers and ranchers across the nation concerned.
RELATED STORY: Ranchers, farmers voice concerns for mandated EIDs
In cooperation with APHIS, the USDA established a rule mandating all farm owners to tag their livestock with EIDs, which will go into effect on Nov. 5. Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman is pushing back against this rule and is urging South Dakota ranchers to tell state representatives to support her resolution.
So far Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds and Representative Dusty Johnson have yet to do so, however, Rounds is in support of farmers and says this rule is an overstep by the government.
“If you do it on a voluntary basis, great, you can use it as a marketing tool. But why in the world the federal government wants to make our local farmers and ranchers tag every one of their livestock that’s going to go out into the marketplace is beyond me. I think this was a first step. They want breeding stock to be involved and then eventually they’ll try to take the next step which is on the calves they’re going to be taking to market,” Rounds said.
Rounds concluded by saying the federal government is overreaching and this is exactly the opposite of what citizens want coming out of Washington, D.C.
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