Rural Issue

Questions remain on traceability rule

With the December 9th deadline for public comments quickly approaching, cattlemen still seem to have more questions than answers about the new animal disease traceability system being proposed by USDA.

The executive vice president of Nebraska Cattlemen, Michael Kelsey, says the first phase of the plan—involving breeding cattle—would not be much different from what is already being done.  But it’s the second phase of the plan—involving feeder cattle—where questions remain.

“Because not all feeder cattle, at this point in time, have to be identified,” Kelsey says, “depending on how they’re traveling—they do have to have health papers and so forth–but there’s some differences regarding what we currently do, as to what the rule would propose.”

Kelsey says his organization’s policy supports animal identification for disease surveillance—but he says it’s important that disease traceability does not become too burdensome or restrictive.

AUDIO: Michael Kelsey (7:33 MP3)

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