WSDA Seeking Nominations for Livestock ID Committee

The Washington state Department of Agriculture is seeking nominations for its Livestock Identification Advisory Committee. In April, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 5959, a new law intended to modernize the program and restore it to financial solvency. It also expanded the advisory board from six to 12 members.

The law requires WSDA’s director to appoint two Livestock Identification Advisory Committee members from each of six industry groups including beef producers, public livestock market owners, horse producers, dairy producers, cattle feeders, and slaughter facility owners. No more than two committee members may reside in the same county.

Most of the bill’s new provisions go into effect on July 28^th, but there is still some confusion in the livestock community about the details.

"I’m just glad that you are doing this,” said Senator Judy Warnick, prime sponsor of SB 5959. “I’ve been hearing so many misstatements and misinformation out there, and we put so much work into [the bill], so we have to do whatever it takes to make it happen and dispel some of the misinformation that has been bandied about.”

Warnick said the top two rumors she’s been hearing are:

It’s going to cost $20 per head to register your cows.
Dairy farmers are going to have to brand all their cows.

Both are false.

However, it is true that cattle identification fees are changing:

Inspection fees for identified cattle will be $1.21 per head.
Inspection fees for unidentified cattle will be $4 per head.
Inspection fees for horses are $3.85 per head.
Audit fees for certified feedlots is 28 cents per head.
A $20 call-out fee replaces the time and mileage fee and will be collected for all inspections.

And, dairy farmers do not have to brand their cows. They can identify them with electronic official individual identification for $1.21 a head or leave them unbranded/unidentified at the $4 per-cow rate.

For more information about the Livestock Inspection Program, contact Jodi Jones at (360) 902-1889 or Robbie Parke at (360) 902-1836.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com