PIERRE, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) Senator Mike Rounds introduced legislation to prevent the Secretary of Agriculture from implementing any rule or regulation that would require the mandatory use of electronic identification tags, commonly known as RFID tags, on cattle and bison.
In January of 2023, the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a proposal to require cattle and bison to have visually and electronically readable tags. This proposed rule would also require records to be entered into a tribal, state or federal database, allowing the federal government access to this information.
Senator Rounds said in a written statement, “South Dakota cattle producers don’t need DC bureaucrats telling them how to manage and track their livestock. USDA’s proposed RFID mandate is federal government overreach, plain and simple. If farmers and ranchers want to use electronic tags, they can do so voluntarily.”
Rounds’ legislation is endorsed by the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association and R-CALF USA.