R-CALF and its allies have asked the USDA to delay requiring cattle crossing state lines to be fitted with electronic ear tags while it tries to rally legal, political and public support for repealing the rule.

USDA should wait for a lawsuit against the rule to be resolved, a lawyer for R-CALF, the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association and Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance said in a Nov. 4 to letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The groups hosted an online forum the same day asking supporters to call Vilsack’s office and their members of Congress. “What we need is a groundswell of activism,” Freedom Alliance executive director Judith McGeary said.

The Livestock Marketing Association also asked USDA to delay enforcing the law. “The current state of tag availability is setting this transition and our shared stakeholders up for failure,” the association’s president, Mike VanMaanen said in a letter to Vilsack.

USDA did not respond to a request for comment.

The rule went into effect Nov. 5 and will apply to an estimated 11 million head of cattle, or 12% of the nation’s herd.

Electronic ear tags will help animal-health officials trace movements of diseased cattle, according to USDA.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and North American Meat Institute supported mandatory electronic ear tags as an improvement over metal tags prone to transcribing errors as cattle movements are recorded.

Failing to quickly contain a disease would lead to crippling financial losses for the meat industry, according to rule supporters.

R-CALF, which has about 4,000 members, argues brands and metal tags are effective for tracking cattle and that mandatory electronic ear tags impose unnecessary costs and intrusive controls on ranchers.

The group suspects USDA will expand the rule to take in more cattle. “In order for this rule to be effective, there must be another rule in the pipe,” R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard said.

On behalf of R-CALF and the other plaintiffs, New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota. The alliance specializes in challenging federal regulations.

U.S. Rep. Harriett Hageman, R-Wyo., introduced a resolution to nullify the rule. The resolution has 29 co-sponsors, but has not received a hearing.

Trump endorsed and campaigned for Hageman, who unseated Liz Cheney in 2022. Bullard said he believes Donald Trump will be sympathetic to repealing the rule.

“He respects Congresswoman Harriett Hageman, who has been very outspoken about this issue,” Bullard said.

South Dakota Stockgrowers President Chuck Willard said the group strongly opposes the rule. It has 1,200 members.

“It’s kind of like a David and Goliath scenario. It’s huge what we’re taking on here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be successful,” Willard said.