Cattle Tracking Provision That May Limit Beef Supply Passed In Omnibus Bill

A controversial measure to include $15 million for the electronic tracking of livestock has made it through Congress via the recently passed omnibus bill, raising fears among critics that the new system could be weaponized by the government to limit beef consumption.

"In the European Union, they used these measures under the guise of climate change lies to limit the cattle supply, and if they do that here, it will destroy our industry."

"The left wants to ban cattle and before you can ban anything you need a registry, you need to know where it's at and who owns it and that's why they want to tag cattle," he said in a March 23 post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The full text of the provision reads: "The agreement directs the Department to continue to provide the tag and related infrastructure needed to comply with the Federal Animal Disease Traceability rule, including no less than $15,000,000 for electronic identification tags and related infrastructure needed for stakeholders to comply with the proposed rule, 'Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison,' should that rule be finalized.

"Livestock," under the regulation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; includes all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age and older; all female dairy cattle of any age; all male dairy cattle born after March 11, 2013; cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreational events; and cattle and bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions, according to the proposal.

The beef cattle supply has already dropped to its lowest point in decades, raising the price of beef to another all-time high and renewing concerns over the long-term health of the nation's farming community.

A series of severe droughts, coupled with government policies that continue to favor large, industrial food processors, has reduced the nation's supply of beef cattle to a level not seen since the early 1950s, according to Mr. Tupper. 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/cattle-tracking-provision-that-may-limit-beef-supply-passed-in-omnibus-bill-5614508?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge