THEE Hot Barn Report!!
Heard ONLY on American radio stations across the nation and online at hotbarnreport.com!
Welcome to America’s Hot Barn Report now heard coast to coast and border to border
It is official, we have just confirmed our 12th reporting barn for the big fall run. We now blanket the great Northern beef belt from Motely, Minnesota to Torrington, Wyoming.
You think Tik Tok has your number, if you are a cattle producer, look out, you have bigger filets to fry! Thanks for tuning in to this Friday edition of the Hot Barn Report.
As I have warned the past few weeks, the US Department of Agriculture currently has a rulemaking open on the Federal Register seeking comments regarding their proposal of mandatory EID tags in cattle. There is a litany of opposition mostly surrounding poor tag retention and unnecessary costs to cattle producers for a mandated program that will provide the most reward to the packers and beef side of the supply chain, not to the people forced to comply, but I digress.
LINK TO PROPOSED RULE AND COMMENTS
Many lawmakers at the state and federal level have raised concerns over the phone app Tik Tok which is owned by a Chinese company. They have warned that it could be a security risk as data could be being shared with the Chinese government. Couple in the white Wuhan weather balloon that was allowed to take a cross country adventure gathering surveillance and let’s just say the American people are on high alert.
Here is where these two issues meet at the proverbial fork in the road. When the USDA launched the mandatory EID rulemaking there was one thought in some producer’s minds, “who manufactures this EID chips in these tags?”
If you investigate yourself, you will find that some tag companies disclose on their websites that the chips are indeed of foreign origin and some don’t disclose anything at all. I could not find a single EID tag company that say the chips are manufactured in the USA. If you find a company that is producing the EID tag chips domestically, by all means, pass it along to me, I would love to see.
One group of cattle producers took their investigation one step further. R-CALF USA wrote a letter to Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack asking the simple question, “Are this EID chips manufactured in communist China?” I mean, it’s a “yes” or “no” question. You can read Vilsack’s response on the R-CALF USA website. There was really no response at all. It was completely void of “yes” or “no” answer.
So now you can decide for yourself how comfortable you feel with affixing an electronic surveillance device to your cows to monitor them for interstate travel. I mean, “what could possibly go wrong?” You thought you were worried about China checking in on the America’s latest dance moves, well if we don’t fight back, they soon may know where your cows are!
You can call your lawmakers at 202-224-3121 and tell them to make the USDA stop this unnecessary advance on your personal property rights. Or most lawmakers are back in their districts for Easter break, go have a conversation with them right back at home. You still have a short window of time to share your concerns with the USDA on the federal register regarding this matter. So giddy up!
Let’s give a shout out to these Diamond Dozen Hot Barns that power this program: Stockmens Livestock, Lemmon Livestock, North Platte Stockyards, St. Onge/Newell, Platte Livestock Market, Tri County Stockyards, Torrington Livestock, Creighton Livestock Market, Bassett Livestock Auction, Mobridge Livestock, Ogallala Livestock Auction Market, and Presho Livestock. Catch them all on CattleUSA.com.
Get the latest beef industry facts, statistics and stories showcasing the real ways your Checkoff dollars drive demand for beef here at home and around the globe. Visit drivingdemandforbeef.com
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