NCBA wants it clear that individual farms, ranches are exempt

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS

Capital Press

The USDA's Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration is proposing a change to the Packers and Stockyards Act to require livestock scales be tested twice a year.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is asking the agency to clarify that scales on farms and ranches would be exempt.

"The proposed rule makes it very clear that it will only be applicable to 'stockyard owners, market agencies, dealers, packers or live poultry dealers that weigh livestock, live poultry or feed.' Individual cattle farming and ranching operations are not categorized as any of these covered entities and, as such, should be exempt from this proposed rule," NCBA President Gary Voogt said in comments submitted to the agency.

"We believe this also includes seasonal instances when individual cattle producers utilize video marketing services to market their cattle. In these seasonal instances, it is imperative that state and county regulations prevail," he wrote.

Cattle operations utilize personal, on-farm scales that are certified by the county or state. In most instances, these scales are used only once a year during cattle marketing season. There is no need to add additional inspection requirements for on-farm scales that go unused for six months or more, NCBA said in its weekly newsletter.

In addition, shrinking budgets and lack of manpower are making it increasingly difficult for county and state inspectors to make yearly inspections. Unnecessarily adding to the inspection burden would overwhelm the local or state government inspectors and make it even harder for the entities intended to be covered under this rule to get the needed inspections, the organization said. In order to comply with this unfunded government mandate, producers would be forced to pay private firms to certify their scales.

Tom McDonnell, executive vice president of Idaho Cattle Association, said he sees no red flags in the proposal for individual livestock producers.

"In my reading of it, I really didn't have any concerns with it," he said.

Any implications would be for feeders, who run a lot of cattle across the scales, he said.

Colin Woodall, vice president of government affairs, said the NCBA doesn't think the proposal applies to individual producers, but in a face-to-face meeting with the agency's administrator, J. Dudley Butler, NCBA leaders couldn't get a final answer on whether producers would be exempt.

"That makes us nervous and is why we submitted comments asking for the clarification in writing," he said.

The proposal also changes the "approximate" time of inspection to require that the first inspection would be done between Jan. 1 and June 30, and the second would be done between July 1 and Dec. 31. In addition, a minimum of 120 days would be required between the two tests.

The proposal would also amend the regulations to include swine contractors in the list of regulated entities.

Staff writer Carol Ryan Dumas is based in Twin Falls, Idaho. E-mail: crdumas@capitalpress.com.