Committee advances bill declaring Wyoming opposed to mandatory electronic livestock ID

Senate File 64, a bill stating that Wyoming opposes federal requirements for mandatory electronic identification devices for livestock, advanced out of the Agriculture, State & Public Lands & Water Resources Committee on a 5-0 roll call vote.

Senator Steinmetz, the bill sponsor, told the committee: "Wyoming opposes mandatory electronic ID devices in livestock." She said the bill would reinforce existing state law allowing voluntary identification methods such as brands, back tags, tattoos and ear tags and would require veterinarians to inform producers of those options. Steinmetz also cited legislative findings in the bill text that assert federal EID requirements would track a minority of animals and could impose costs for tags, software and facility retrofits.

The measurewhich committee members described as a statement of state policywas framed by supporters as protection for producers and veterinarians. Representative Chip Nyman, who said he helped pass WyomingAnimal Identification Choice Act legislation in 2021, told the committee that EID mandates would mainly affect animals moved interstate and could be used to "leverage" veterinarians because failure to apply required IDs risks USDA enforcement. "If you don't put these EID tags in these folks, then you're the ones that we're going to use to apply the pressure," Nyman said.

Agency witnesses and the state veterinarian described legal and operational limits. Steve True, director of the Wyoming Livestock Board, said the board had passed resolutions mirroring the bill and that the board is pursuing memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with other "brand" states to permit brand inspection certificates to serve as official ID between agreed states. True said "the official individual ID for those species in the rule is RFID or EID plastic tag" and that metal clip tags "will no longer be distributed" for USDA official individual ID after the rule's effective date.

Wyoming State Veterinarian Dr. Hallie Hazel told the committee that veterinarians must be accredited by USDA to write certificates of veterinary inspection (CVIs) and to perform regulatory testing; accreditation can be revoked if a veterinarian violates interstate movement or regulatory testing rules. "If they violate rules, USDA rules, or any movement rules, interstate movement rules, or are violating regulatory testing rules, they lose that accreditation," Hazel said.

Public commenters including Nancy McCann of the Powder River Basin Resource Council and Kelly Carpenter of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation spoke in support of the bill, citing producer choice and cost concerns. Several committee members said they supported moving the bill to the floor but asked the sponsor to work with the Livestock Board and state veterinarian to refine language so the bill would not create false expectations about the state's ability to shield producers from federal enforcement.

Action: Senator Pearson moved the bill out of committee; Senator McEwen seconded. Roll call recorded ayes from Senators Crago, Eyde, McEwen, Pearson and Chairman French. The committee recorded the vote as 5 ayes; the bill was reported favorably to the Senate floor.

Why it matters: Committee testimony identified three practical effects that would follow from the federal rule as interpreted by agencies: (1) EID tags are now the USDAdefined official individual ID for most breeding and intact cattle moving interstate; (2) veterinarians who write interstate CVIs must list required official ID and risk loss of USDA accreditation for noncompliance; and (3) some metal tag supply has been restricted and plastic EID tags are in high demand, creating short-term implementation challenges.

What's next: Sponsors and staff signaled an intent to coordinate with the Livestock Board and the state veterinarian to clarify language before floor debate and to continue pursuing MOUs with other brand states to preserve brand-based exemptions where possible.