Independent Cattlemen of
IndependentCattlemen@gmail.com
Date August 25, 2019 -- NEWS RELEASE
For more information, contact:
ICON President: Jim Dinklage 402-340-6791
ICON Director: Dr. Don Cain 308-870-0831
ICON Communications: Maureen Cain 308-880-1505
LB 344: “Animal Health and Disease Control Act”
Review and Discussion at the State Capital
August 20, 2019 Independent Cattlemen of
The meeting was chaired by Senator Halloran of the Agriculture Committee. The purpose of the meeting was to go over the details of to LB 344 and entertain suggestions or amendments to the bill being considered and debated on by the Legislature. After some discussion, it was suggested by Al Juhnke that each section of the bill needed to be discussed in depth. Many questions concerning animal health were brought up.
Section 54 of LB 344 was noted to be of concern by Dinklage from ICON. It deals with complying with Federal animal disease traceability requirements for official identification of animals as set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations Citation section 86.4-official identification. In this section it does not specifically state as to what is an official ear tag. But when it describes an official animal identification, it talks about an “electronic” number. Dr. Cain informed the group that at the annual NE State Veterinarian meeting, the veterinarians were informed that by 2023 the mandatory official identification ear tag for health reasons would be electronic. Dinklage closed this discussion on section 54 of LB 344 by saying that ICON would not support the government using mandatory E-ID tags as the ONLY official animal health identification. That it would probably lead to all cattle being identified with E-ID tag and premise identifications.
The meeting went on to discuss the remaining sections of LB 344.
In closing, it was decided that the NE Department of Agriculture, Legislative Research Analyst Rick Leonard, and any at the meeting would re-review LB 344 and make more corrections or changes to the law. These changes would again be reviewed in a group meeting by those of interest and then sent to the Agriculture Committee.
ICON Resolution #3 for 2019, “Animal Identification”, more specifically spells out the position ICON has regarding mandatory E-ID tags. This resolution will be available at www.IndependentCattlemen.com or contact ICON directly for a copy of the 2019 resolutions. The Independent Cattlemen Of Nebraska are the “Voice of the Mother Cow” and our goal is to make sure that this voice is heard and the burdens of her caretakers are lessened.
Jim Dinklage, President Independent Cattlemen of
-------
The Independent Cattlemen of
of the state’s independent cattle producers and feeders.