Fix To Brand Program Top Legislative Issue for WCA

For the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, the top legislative issue of the 2019 session is fixing the Livestock ID program.  The Brand Program has been running in the red, to the tune of $500,000 annually, for several years and many in the farming community says it needs a major overhaul.  Sarah Ryan, Executive Vice President of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association said they’ve seen a first draft of a fix to the ID program.  She noted that proposal allows the state to maintain the brand program, but make needed improvements.

“One of the things that it adds is an actual livestock board, so this is an oversight board that would make a lot of the decisions, having to deal with the brand program.  Including one of the things that board could approve up to a 2% increase in fees annually, but they are not required to do so.”

Ryan added that board could also hire brand inspectors outside of the state brand inspectors.  The proposal also would allow the use of an 840 RFID tag, or EID tags, for ownership.

“If the animal isn’t branded, that’s another option for ownership, and any animal that has no brand nor official ID tags would pay significantly more, for a brand inspection, and change of ownership.”

Ryan noted it’s still very early in the process, and the draft legislation does not have a bill number.  With the Brand Program running in the red, the Office of Financial Management has threatened to shut it down if major changes are not made.

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