The U.S. District Court for the Fourth District of South Dakota denied much of the USDA’s motion to dismiss the New Civil Liberties Alliance’s R-CALF, et al. v. USDA Lawsuit. The NCLA, representing farmers, ranchers, and livestock producers, challenged the USDA and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s unlawful 2024 rule requiring electronically readable (EID) eartags for certain cattle and bison transported across state lines, rather than the long-used visual tags. USDA claimed that NCLA’s clients - cattle producers - did not have standing to bring the lawsuit, but the District Court rejected USDA’s arguments. NCLA is determined to defeat the rule on the merits and finally end this costly and unnecessary mandate, which is disproportionately borne by smaller and independent cattle producers. Kara Rollins, Litigation Counsel for NCLA, said, “Since this rule came into effect almost a year ago, America’s farmers and ranchers have been forced to comply with an unnecessary mandate.”
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