Committee backs bill opposing mandatory electronic identification for livestock; preserves veterinarians' authority for interstate movement

The committee voted to advance Senate File 64, a bill expressing Wyoming's opposition to mandatory electronic identification (EID) for livestock and directing the Livestock Board to inform producers of available, historically used identification methods.

Sponsor Senator Sherry Steinmetz said the bill codifies policy opposing mandatory EID and notes Wyoming's long use of brands, back tags, tattoos and metal ear tags. "Wyoming already has identification methods that are far superior to the mandatory EID rules," Steinmetz said, and the bill asks the U.S. Department of Agriculture for full accounting of EID program costs.

Steve True, director of the Wyoming Livestock Board, and Dr. Hallie Hazel, state veterinarian, briefed the committee on operational impacts. Dr. Hazel emphasized that veterinarians writing certificates of veterinary inspection (CVI) must meet destination-state requirements: if the receiving state requires an EID tag, the veterinarian cannot complete the CVI without appropriate official ID, and would therefore apply the tag as part of the interstate movement process. She said the bill's enacted language protects veterinarians' ability to write CVIs in compliance with destination requirements.

Supporters including the Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and livestock organizations testified in favor. Testimony from industry groups stressed potential costs to producers and the disproportionate burden on Wyoming as an export state with mostly on-the-hoof shipments rather than boxed-plant processing.

Representative Provenza explained his vote against the measure saying the text is largely declarative and overlaps with House Bill 92, which the House had already passed and which he considers a more direct vehicle to address the issue; he voted no. The clerk recorded the committee vote as: Representatives Banks, Davis, Eklund, Johnson, Otman, Schmidt, Strauch and Chairman Winter — aye; Representative Provenza — no. The committee announced the bill passed 8-1.

The bill directs the Livestock Board to inform Wyoming producers about voluntary identification options and calls on receiving states to install required tags when livestock move into jurisdictions with mandatory EID rules; it also explicitly states nothing in the bill shall prevent a licensed veterinarian from writing a certificate of veterinary inspection consistent with destination requirements.