Peace Garden News

Senator John Hoeven has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will supply an additional 3 million electronic identification (EID) tags to U.S. ranchers. This decision follows Hoeven's advocacy for North Dakota ranchers to have the necessary resources to meet a new EID tag mandate, which became effective on November 5.

The APHIS rule mandates "official identification" for certain cattle and bison moved across state lines to enhance animal disease traceability. It also expands requirements for ear tags used as official identification, stating that tags must be "readable both visually and electronically" for animals tagged after the rule's effective date.

"We pressed APHIS to ensure that our ranchers have the resources necessary to comply with their new EID mandate," said Hoeven. "Our ranchers are already facing challenges from weather and high input costs, the last thing they need are additional costs from USDA mandates."

In his role as the lead Republican on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, Hoeven secured $10 million in the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2025 Agriculture Appropriations Bill specifically to fund this new APHIS tag requirement. The legislation has received approval from the full Senate Appropriations Committee.