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Committee hears bill to repeal outdated feedlot dead-animal inspection rule
Summary
The House Agriculture Committee opened a hearing on Senate Bill 79, which would repeal statutory requirements that a brand inspector examine animals that die on feedlots and require delay of disposal until an inspection occurs.
The House Agriculture Committee opened a hearing on Senate Bill 79, which would repeal statutory requirements that a brand inspector examine animals that die on feedlots and require delay of disposal until an inspection occurs. Senator Josh Kasmier, sponsor of the measure, told members the provisions are outdated given modern communications.
The bill would remove requirements in statute that, when “an animal dies in the feedlot,” the feedlot must notify the Department of Livestock, retain the carcass until a department representative inspects the brand, and that penalties for noncompliance can include up to six months in jail and a possible fine of $500. Jay Bodner, Brands Division administrator for the Department of Livestock, told the committee the rule is little used and that many feedlot owners are unaware it remains on the books.
"By the time somebody ever showed up from Helena to even look at this, the owner would have long known about it," Eric Somerfeld of the Montana Farmers Union told the committee, summarizing conversations he had with feedlot owners. Bodner said modern practice is often immediate digital communication between a feedlot and the livestock owner — texts and photos — and that the department has seen low compliance with the existing inspection-and-hold requirement because producers generally did not know the statute existed.
Representative Oplander asked how the reporting occurs under current practice. Bodner said the department would expect a direct contact to a district investigator, who would inspect the brand and notify the livestock producer, but that in practice the department sees little of that formal reporting.
Proponents in support included the Department of Livestock, the Montana Stockers Association, and the Montana Farmers Union; each urged the committee to give the bill a due pass. The committee closed the hearing with no formal vote recorded. Committee staff said executive action on bills will be scheduled for next Tuesday.
The hearing record does not include a committee vote on Senate Bill 79; the bill remains at the hearing stage pending committee action at a later meeting.
