Wyoming committee advances bill allowing Livestock Board to pursue interstate MOUs on brand identification

The Agriculture, State & Public Lands & Water Resources Committee moved House Bill 92 forward after board representatives said the measure would let the Wyoming Livestock Board formalize state-to-state agreements on moving branded livestock.

The bill would permit the Livestock Board to enter memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with other "brand inspection" states so that a brand inspection certificate can serve as official individual identification for certain interstate movements under an exemption in the U.S. Department of Agriculture electronic identification rule. "So this bill, chairman, we're fine with this. This really closely mirrors our board's resolution, and the house amended out the the naming of some states, which we felt was better, just give us the opportunity to deal with states that are interested rather than the series of states that was in the original bill. So we're we can perform this bill, right along with the resolutions for the board. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the process," a Livestock Board representative told the committee.

The board and committee members emphasized the scope is narrow. "This really only applies to very specific classes of cattle under very specific conditions. And keep in mind that we have limited brand states. There's only so many states that accept brands," said Director Hazel. Hazel added that the MOU framework would not eliminate other disease- or program-specific requirements: "If there is something that requires an official EID tag... it doesn't necessarily negate that responsibility for a specific disease program. For example, brucellosis testing, brucellosis vaccination. Those cattle still have to meet those requirements."

Kelly Carpenter of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation offered brief virtual testimony supporting the approach as an alternative to mandatory electronic identification. "Our members' long standing policy has been against mandatory EID," Carpenter said, and "we applaud and support the Livestock Board's efforts to pursue... state led MOUs as an alternative." The Farm Bureau official did not propose changes to the bill.

Committee members moved and seconded the bill and approved it on a roll-call vote. The clerk recorded five affirmative votes and no negatives; the chair announced the motion carried.

Discussion: Committee members and board staff described the MOUs as targeted to limited classes of cattle and dependent on agreement by the receiving state. Committee members and staff cautioned producers that, absent an MOU with a given state, producers must follow the receiving state's interstate import rules and the USDA EID regulation if applicable; noncompliance could result in enforcement actions by the receiving state or USDA.

The committee took no amendments and recorded the formal roll-call vote to advance House Bill 92.