A group of Congressional Republicans are taking steps to block a proposed federal regulatory scheme that would require the tracking and surveillance of U.S. cattle.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), along with 14 Republican co-sponsors, has introduced a bill to halt the proposed regulations for taking effect.
The proposed rules would require farmers to place electronic identification (EID) ear tags on all of their cattle, sparking fears that the government will gain an unprecedented level of control and surveillance over the food supply and local farmers.
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“This rule is a solution in search of a problem that will advance a federal mandate which the American ranching community will have to pay for,” Rep. Hageman said in a statement.
“America produces the highest quality meat in the world and there is nothing wrong with our traditional disease traceability system,” Hageman said. “This unfunded mandate raises serious privacy concerns for ranchers and their herds, with the potential to lock ranchers out of their traditional markets, thereby furthering vertical integration of the U.S. food supply chain.”
The proposed bill comes in response to a new rule from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a subagency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
If allowed to be enforced, the rule would mandate the EIDs for all cattle and bison being transferred over state lines.
APHIS claims that the new rules will allow authorities to respond quickly to diseases, with the requirement scheduled to take effect in November.
Conservatives have been concerned that the rule is an attempt by the government to gain an unprecedented level of surveillance and control over the food supply, and warn that it could be a precursor to an attempt to cull thousands of cattle in the name of climate change.
That could be devastating for both farmers and the national food supply.
In Ireland, a similar EID mandate was imposed. The following year, government authorities used the tracking system to call for the slaughter of tens of thousands of cattle in the name of reducing global warming.
Far left environmentalists have long targeted cattle based on claims that the methane exuded by cows is a significant contributing factor in climate change.
“In early 2022 Ireland adopted an EID mandate, and by August 2023, its government was reporting that they needed to slaughter as many as 41,000 head of livestock – not because of a disease outbreak, but because of so called ‘climate change.’ A mandatory EID simply gives the federal government too much power,” said Hageman.
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) took to X to express his support for the bill, which he co-sponsored, saying that the EID rule could end cattle ranching in the U.S.
“The mandate of electronic identification ear tags on cattle is the beginning of the end for American cattlemen,” said Rep. Massie on X.
A companion resolution introduced at the same time into the senate by U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) would also seek to block implementation of the proposal.
The EID rules come as mainstream media, government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and liberal mega-donors such as Bill Gates, have made pushes towards popularizing lab-grown meat, claiming that it will benefit the environment.
gonna need to track to cattle to force youth-in-asia
Almost anything the megalomaniac Gates is for isn’t good. This is a really bad idea that should be buried under piles of cow manure.
Where exactly in the Constitution is the federal government given the power or authority to monitor cattle which are private property. I want a President who will promise to veto any legislation or qaush any regulation if it cannot be shown in the Constitution that the federal government has the power or authority to do what’s being proposed. Government size needs to be reduced but it’s constant meddling in people’s lives also needs to be checked.