New plan to track animals draws snorts from ranchers

Web Posted: 04/18/2006 12:00 AM CDT

William Pack
Express-News Business Writer

A new, high-tech livestock identification and tracking plan aimed at improving animal health and consumer confidence instead has triggered a revolt among some Texas producers.

"It's an affront to my personal liberty," said Ron Hickerson, who runs a small herd in Bandera. "I find this is about the most intrusive law they've ever passed in my life."

Under the law, every livestock animal and every location where livestock can stay is to be assigned a number. If an animal is moved, its owner is expected to report that movement to a central tracking system.

The measure, House Bill 1361, addresses the fears of a global market about the devastating outbreak of such maladies as mad-cow disease and bird flu.

But it will increase the costs and record keeping for everyone from ranches to rodeos — consequences critics see not only as unwise but also un-American.

"Looking at the Bill of Rights, it's unconstitutional to have to register with an agency to keep livestock," said Debbie Davis, a Bandera area Longhorn rancher who is president of the Cattlemen's Texas Longhorn Registry. "It's Marxism."

HB 1361, passed by the Legislature last year, authorizes the Texas Animal Health Commission to implement an animal identification system for livestock, which excludes dogs, cats and other companion animals. The computerized system is designed to help authorities locate animals that have been exposed to a disease within 48 hours of its outbreak.

Foreign countries, many of which have similar programs, might be willing to ease livestock import restrictions with the United States once tracking programs are available, proponents argue.

"None of us appreciate or like additional regulation. We should look at what's needed to effectively address contagious diseases around the world that could devastate our livestock," said Bob Hillman, the commission's executive director and a veterinarian. "Right now, this is the best option we've got out there."

Using guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state proposed a three-tier development process starting with the registration of an estimated 200,000 livestock premises.

But loud protests began when the commission took up regulations governing premises registration in February. The agency put the rules on hold. Instead of pursuing plans to make premise registration mandatory July 1, the commission said it would reconsider the entire program next year.

The commission received 600 written comments on the premises proposals and listened to another 80 witnesses at the packed commission meeting in February. Most of those who commented opposed the rules, many vehemently, Hillman said.

Some of the opposition, he said, stemmed from misinformation about how far-reaching the rules would be.

Though Hillman believes the program is backed by most of the larger livestock operators, he hopes to talk more with critics to see if the plan can win wider acceptance.

That may not be easy. Critics claim the program is driven by overzealous government regulators, providers of high-tech gadgetry, and large agricultural interests who are more worried about the fears of export partners than they are about a fair domestic livestock market.

"It's structured in favor of the large producers," said Mike Kelley, an engineer and part-time rancher outside of Bastrop who is a member of a statewide group called the Texas Animal Health Commission Watch.

The cost of attaching the identifying numbers will hurt small producers, who do not reap the benefits of export markets as the big producers do, Kelley said.

Rodeo operators, youth program sponsors and others who are in the middle of dozens of animal movements monthly could be put out of business, some said.

Matt Brockman, executive vice president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, said ranchers worry whether the information entered into the tracking system will be kept confidential, whether the sales process will be delayed, and about the kind of liability they may face.

If it remains a voluntary registration system, much of the opposition might disappear. Those producers who feel a formal identification and tracking system would make their livestock more marketable should be able to participate in the program and pay for its components, critics said.

Davis, with the Longhorn registry, said ranchers enrolled in the identification system would earn more of a premium for their meat if it's a voluntary system rather than mandatory. It also would force the meatpacking industry to share more of the costs.

The USDA may have different ideas, however. If participation does not grow at an acceptable pace, it could propose that the rules become requirements.