OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Agriculture plans to lower the per-head fee for electronically reporting cattle sales, a move the agency hopes will encourage more producers to use the online system.

The fee will be 80 cents a head rather than $1.30 if the department follows through on its proposal.

“It’s quite a price drop. It’s the only one that’s going down. We can use all the help we can get,” Washington Cattlemen’s Association lobbyist Mark Streuli said Friday.

The department set up electronic reporting several years ago as an alternative to a state brand inspector going out to check the transaction.

The department hoped to save money and improve its ability to trace the movements of livestock in the event of a disease outbreak. To report sales electronically, livestock owners must individually identify each animal with an electronic 840 RFID tag.

Producers were slow to embrace online reporting. In 2020, only 775 head were reported sold through the electronic system. In 2021, the number increased to 12,200, though one producer accounted for 87% of the cattle.

Still, thanks to that one producer, the revenue from the $1.30 per-head fee now covers the cost of running the online system.

Brennan Kimbel, acting manager of the department’s livestock identification program, said she expects revenues who stay ahead of expenses even if the department cuts the fee to 80 cents a head. More producers should be attracted to report sales online, she said. “We’re trying to get people to use it,” she said.

An advisory committee with representatives from segments of the cattle industry petitioned the department to lower the fee.

“Hopefully, producers will get a little financial relief, as well as an incentive to use the system,” Washington Cattle Feeders Association executive director Jack Field said.

The department does not plan to change other inspection-related fees. In-person inspections of branded or electronically tagged cattle will remain $1.21 a head, plus a $20 call-out fee.

Registering to report sales online will continue to cost $33 a year.

Whether the sales are reported online or checked by a brand inspector, the department also collects a $1.50 per-head feed for the Washington Beef Commission and charges 23 cents a head to support its animal disease traceability program.

The inspection fee for cattle that are not branded or have electronic tags will remain $4 a head, a price difference the department hopes will reduce the number of so-called “unidentified” cattle.

The department will take public comments on the fee change until May 24 and tentatively plans to adopt it June 1.

At the same time, the department plans to adopt a rule allowing veterinarians and private field inspectors to check sales at public livestock markets, feedlots and slaughterhouses if state inspectors are not available.

The rule change will make permanent an emergency rule the department adopted because the COVID pandemic caused a shortage of state inspectors.

Written comments can be sent to Gloriann Robinson, rules coordinator, P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504-2560. Comments can be sent by email to WSDARulesComments@agr.wa.gov or by fax to (360) 902-2092.