Western ranchers fight push to give up brands

Ranchers have long used brands to keep track of their cattle and deter rustlers, but many now fear branding will become just another relic of the Old West as federal regulators look for new ways to track meat from hoof to plate. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been trying for years to develop a program that would allow regulators to pinpoint animals' location with 48 hours of a disease outbreak. The pressure has become greater as other nations demand the U.S. be able to trace exported meat back to the farm and other countries that already can, such as Canada and Australia, use their programs to a competitive advantage. After seeing little success with a voluntary tracking program, the USDA has said it will require farmers and ranchers to be able to trace all livestock and meat shipped or sold across state lines. The USDA's final proposal is due out this summer, and while it's leaving it up to states and tribes to decide what kind of tracking to implement, it's pushing low-cost ear tags. Bill Bullard of R-Calf USA, an advocacy group for ranchers, said brands provide a permanent means of identification that has proven instrumental in helping track cases of brucellosis and eradicate it from the domestic herd. Brucellosis causes pregnant animals, including cattle, to prematurely abort. "We find this decision outrageous that the USDA would level a direct attack on what is an iconic symbol of our industry and what has been a tried, proven and effective means of conducting disease trace backs," Bullard said...more