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Bill to exempt feedlots from brand inspection garners criticism, support from Nebraska ag groups

A bill to exempt Nebraska feedlots from brand inspections, audits and related fees is drawing both criticism and support from state ag groups.

Criag Uden, president-elect of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association, told the Nebraska Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday the bill gives few options for the Nebraska Brand Committee to offset its costs.

“We think that it gives us a starting point. If we have an audit system, if we left the audit system in place, we could do that, but we don’t want to pay the fee per head because really there’s nothing that gets recovered,” he says.

Nebraska Brand Committee member Chris Gentry says removing the audit process for feedlots could result in unintended consequences.

“This break in custody would allow cattle and proceeds to be funneled off as whomever sees fit. This creates an environment conducive to theft and related crimes, while greatly complicating and hindering the investigative process,” he says.

Steve Wolfe, with the Nebraska State Dairy Association, supports the bill and says the current program has no value to dairy producers.

“The dairy industry is extremely advanced and finds brand inspection to not only be a burden on their time, but a significant economic burden in an extremely complex market development,” he says.

If passed, the bill would allow existing feedlots to be exempt from brand inspections unless they opt to continue under current regulations. The current brand inspection area includes the western two-thirds of Nebraska.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Teresa Ibach, of Sumner, who says the bill aims to bring uniformity to statewide brand inspection requirements.