Tag Archives: Cattle

Warnick animal inspection bill signed by governor

Gov. Inslee signed legislation sponsored by Sen. Judy Warnick in a ceremony Tuesday.

Senate Bill 6369 removes an exemption on veterinary inspections of animals brought into Washington state. Under current law, importers are exempt from an inspection if an animal is delivered to a feedlot, slaughter plant or livestock market within 12 hours, causing concern about food safety processes.

“My bill closes an exemption and will improve our state’s food safety,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake. “We are bringing state law into alignment to strengthen our ability to prevent infectious diseases and ensure healthy animals are coming to our state.”

It is already unlawful to import animals into Washington without obtaining a veterinary inspection to ensure animals meet the state’s health requirements. Warnick’s bill removes an exemption that weakens the state’s ability to meet animal disease traceability goals.

“I want to be sure our state is doing everything it can to protect our food supply,” added Warnick. “Making sure we know where animals are coming from and their health is critical. We’ve had instances where those using this exemption haven’t followed the rules and that puts us all at risk.”

The bill comes at the request of the state Department of Agriculture to align state and federal animal inspection rules. The United States Department of Agriculture made a similar change in 2013.

Warnick legislation signed; will increase protections for state’s cattle industry

The governor signed Sen. Judy Warnick’s legislation Friday that requires air-quality rules to treat cattle feedlots the same as other agricultural operations. Senate Bill 5196 extends the exemption to feedlots while establishing a process and guidelines for addressing activities that may be detrimental to the environment.

“Other agricultural activities are exempt from these kinds of regulations, so this adjustment to state law makes sense,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Water, Trade and Economic Development Committee.

“The state is still ensuring best practices to keep our environment clean and providing a transparent process when a violation occurs, but this compromise legislation balances the rights of our cattle producers with environmental concerns.”

Cattle operations still must adhere to state Department of Ecology rules regarding dust control. However, under the new law, violations must be clearly documented with evidence, setting a higher bar than current practice.

“We have cattle operations all around our state, and sometimes in arid areas cattle movements can be dusty,” said Warnick. “We know that impacts are temporary, but this law clarifies what should be done when a serious violation occurs and how to deal with them. The new law creates a good balance and protections for our well-meaning cattle-industry partners.”

The legislation received strong bipartisan support in the Legislature. The new law goes into effect July 22.

Warnick bill would grant new protections for state’s cattle industry

Sen. Judy Warnick’s legislation to have air-quality rules treat cattle feedlots the same as other agricultural operations was approved today by the state Senate.

Agricultural operations are exempt from state clean-air rules; Warnick’s Senate Bill 5196 would extend the exemption to feedlots while establishing a process and guidelines for addressing activities that may be detrimental to the environment.

“I think this is a good compromise bill which balances the rights of our cattle producers with environmental concerns, although I am disappointed with the final vote,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Water, Trade and Economic Development Committee. “Other agricultural activities are exempt from these kinds of regulations, so this adjustment to state law makes sense. We are still ensuring best practices to keep our environment clean and providing a transparent process when a violation occurs. I wish we would have seen more bipartisan support for this common sense legislation.”

Cattle operations are still required to adhere to state Department of Ecology rules regarding dust control. The legislation would require that violations be clearly documented with evidence, setting a higher bar than current practice.

“In some areas of our state, raising cattle is a dusty business, but we know that impacts are temporary,” said Warnick. “If there are serious violations, then we want to deal with them, but this bill would provide for increased protections for our well-meaning cattle-industry partners.”

The bill was approved by a vote of 30-19 and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Senate adopts Warnick bill to modernize animal disease traceability

Beginning in 2011, the Washington State Department of Agriculture implemented the Animal Disease Traceability to better track animals and locate instances of disease. Senate Bill 5733, sponsored by Sen. Judy Warnick, was approved in a nearly unanimous vote Monday. The measure would implement an electronic livestock transaction system.

“We are using technology to increase safety in our food supply and possibly make the process easier for our farmers,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake. “The Washington State Department Agriculture is working on final implementation to have timely information regarding the transfer of ownership and traceability in the event of a disease outbreak.”

The legislation allows licenses to electronically report cattle transactions as an alternative to mandatory cattle inspection requirements currently in place. This information is already collected through the mandatory program but the electronic system is viewed as a more efficient approach to collecting data related to transactions.

“This bill makes information about transactions more accessible, more complete, and producers will have that information available. This does not require producers to submit movements to the Department of Agriculture but helps keep records in the event there are issues with livestock health.”

“The Washington Cattlemen’s Association appreciates the efforts and focus that Senator Warnick has made to see that Animal Disease Traceability is able to be implemented in Washington State,” said Jack Field, Executive Vice President of the Washington Cattleman’s Association.

ADT is an important tool that will assist the cattle industry and animal health officials in the event of an animal health event. The cattle industry has worked closely with the WSDA to ensure that all necessary information is captured for ADT. Senate Bill 5733 is a component of ADT and will need to capture the same quality of information that a field inspection captures for the WSDA Lid Program.