USDA Once Again Tries to Regulate Small Farmers Out of Business

Mallory ReaderThe Department of Agriculture (USDA) is once again trying to interfere with farming practices in the name of consumer health.The USDA ’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) invited the public to comment on a plan to mandate the use of radio frequency identification tags on cattle, as opposed to the metal tags now in use. One reason for tagging cattle is to trace animals ’ movements, in order to then track diseased and at‐​risk exposed animals. The agency believes that being able to identify these animals electronically might allow government veterinarians to better contain disease outbreaks that could harm the cattle industry. But the metal tags, which have b een mandated since 2013, do exactly that.This isn ’t the first time such a regulation has been proposed. In 2019, the agency withdrew the same proposal after segments of the cattle industry complained that electronic tags are expensive, intrusive, and, most importantly, unproven. These tags are for tracking the cattle while they are alive —but contamination of meat most often occurs duringslaughtering. Unsanitary conditions and poor oversight at processing facilities are to blame formillions of pounds of recalled meat.While the proposed mandate would only apply to cattle that cross state lines, in practical terms, many state animal ‐​ID programs follow the federal one, meaning that small farms would be required to use the new tags too. At$2.00 to $2.60 a head, t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs