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Committee hears bill to repeal outdated feedlot dead-animal inspection requirements
Summary
Senate Bill 79 would remove long-standing statutory requirements that a brand inspector verify and notify owners when an animal dies at a feedlot and would repeal an associated penalty; proponents said modern communications and low compliance make the rules obsolete. The committee held a hearing but took no vote.
At a House Agriculture Committee hearing, lawmakers heard testimony on Senate Bill 79, which would repeal statutory requirements that the Department of Livestock inspect dead animals at feedlots and notify owners — a provision the sponsor and department called obsolete.
Senator Josh Kasmier (Senate District 13), the bill sponsor, told the committee SB79 is "simply repealing a couple old codes, inspection of dead animals, and feed lots, and the penalties." He said modern communications between livestock owners and feedlot operators make the brand-inspector steps unnecessary.
Jay Bodner, Brands Division Administrator for the Department of Livestock, described the current statute (cited in testimony as "81 3 2 15") and the steps it requires: notification to the department, an in-person inspection by a department investigator to verify an animal's brand, and a written notification to the livestock owner. Bodner said the bill would repeal those requirements and remove the penalty currently on the books, which he said is "up to 6 months in jail and potentially $500 fine." He told the committee that many feedlot owners "didn't really even know this law existed," and that in practice owners typically learn of a death and communicate directly with the feedlot operator before a state investigator could respond.
Representatives of industry groups voiced support. Ellie Brid(al) Brighton of the Montana Stock Growers Association called SB79 "a modernization and cleanup bill," and Eric Sommerfeld of the Montana Farmers Union said feedlot owners he consulted "had no idea that this law even existed" and agreed the requirement produces little practical value.
Representative Almoder asked how deaths are reported today; Bodner said the department would expect producers to contact district investigators and described low compliance primarily driven by lack of awareness. Committee members asked few follow-ups; no opponents testified and no informational witnesses appeared.
The hearing ended with the sponsor asking the committee to pass the bill; no vote was taken. The committee closed the hearing and indicated it plans executive action on these bills at a future meeting.
