Candidates Weigh in on Livestock Identification
Local News
by
Justin Wickersham
last edited on
Sunday, February 07, 2010
The federal government has abandoned a program that was intended to trace the movement of farm animals around the country.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture instead announced plans Friday for a new, more flexible program to be administered by states and tribes to strengthen disease prevention and response.
The department said that the program will only apply to animals moved in interstate commerce and will encourage the use of low-cost technology.
Saturday, South Dakota gubernatorial candidates weighed in on the issue.
"I’ve always been against a mandatory animal ID. It’s another federal encroachment on the rights of personal property, and I’m just delighted that they finally saw the light. The problem is they didn't quit. They just took a deep breath. They’ll be back," says Sen. Gordon Howie, Republican candidate.
And Republican candidate Ken Knuppe says, "So the federal government, this might be kind of unusual. But they actually listened to the people, the producers of this country, and they decided that we better drop it and let's try to do something different. And we not only said we opposed it, we said we're not against healthy animals. I mean it's in our best interest to have healthy animals."
"Secretary Vilsack announced today that there would not be mandatory animal ID and I support that decision. I would love it if the stock growers and the cattlemen could come together and support production agriculture with one voice. In terms of that debate though, I was really glad to see the secretary's decision," says Democratic candidate, Sen. Scott Heidepriem.
Farmers and ranchers have largely opposed the mandatory national animal identification system since it was first proposed in 2004, saying the program is too cumbersome and expensive.