May 03, 2024

Banning Lab Grown Meat and EID Final Rule

3 minutes

It’s the Ranch It Up Radio Show Herd It Here Weekly Report! A 3-minute look at cattle markets, reports, news info, or anything that has to do with those of us who live at the end of dirt roads. Join Jeff 'Tigger' Erhardt, the Boss Lady Rebecca Wanner aka 'BEC' by subscribing on your favorite podcasting app or on the Ranch It Up Radio Show YouTube Channel.

EPISODE 27 DETAILS

FLORIDA BECOMES THE FIRST STATE TO BAN THE SALE OF LAB GROWN MEAT.

The first bill banning lab-grown meat was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on May 1. According to SB 1084, the bill prohibits the manufacture for sale, sale, holding or offering for sale, or distribution of cultivated meat in the state.

In a press conference in Hardee County, which is one of the top five cattle-producing counties in the state, the Governor spoke about the importance of supporting rural economies and agriculture.

Governor Desantais said, “We’re fighting back against an ideology that ultimately wants to eliminate meat production in the U.S. and around the globe”. He went on to say, “In the state of Florida we’ve put down the marker very clearly; we stand with agriculture. We stand with the cattle ranchers. We stand with our farmers because we understand it's important for the backbone of the state. It's important for our culture. It's important for our heritage so the bill that I'm going to sign today is going to say basically take your fake, lab-grown meat elsewhere. We're not doing that in the state of Florida.”

There has been an ongoing debate across the country in regard to cultivated meat products. Currently, lab-grown meat is only approved to be sold in the U.S. and Singapore. Italy was the first country in the EU to ban lab-grown meat, a decision made in February 2024. For the entire article, click HERE.

FINAL RULE: ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION TAGS.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is getting set to publish the agency’s final rule, “Use of Electronic Identification Ear Tags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison,” in the Federal Register.

The rule would require official eartags sold for or applied to cattle and bison to be readable both visually and electronically (EID).

Cattle organization R-CALF has strongly opposed the rule stating, “The USDA has slapped independent cattle producers, who have worked closely with the USDA in the past to very successfully control, contain, and eradicate foreign animal diseases, in the face.

“We will fight against the implementation of this disastrous rule that infringes on the freedoms and liberties of our nation’s independent cattle farmers and ranchers. This is government overreach at its worst.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher, issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) final traceability rule:

“USDA’s final traceability rule updates the existing requirement for animal identification that has been in place since 2013, switching from solely visual tags to tags that are both electronically and visually readable for certain classes of cattle moving interstate. Many producers are already familiar with using these visual tags and under the new rule, they will instead use electronic tags. NCBA has worked hard to secure $15 million in funding for producers to reduce the cost of implementing this change. We also remain committed to safeguarding producers’ private data and continuing to reduce the cost of ear tags for farmers and ranchers. Our industry faces a tremendous threat from the risk of a future foreign animal disease on American soil. To avoid devastating financial losses during a potential outbreak and to help producers quickly return to commerce, we need an efficient animal disease traceability system.”

The USDA final traceability rule amends a previous 2013 rule that requires sexually intact cattle 18 months of age or older, rodeo and exhibition cattle, and dairy cattle moving interstate to have an official form of animal identification. The 2013 rule, which cattle producers already comply with, instituted visual ID tags for interstate movement. The new final rule switches producers to electronic ID tags.

The rule will not take effect for six months to provide time for producers to prepare. This puts the implementation date after Nov. 1, 2024.

Producers are asked to work with their local veterinarian and state veterinarian to secure proper tags and protocol.