Bob Mercer, Capitol Bureau
Friday, July 8, 2005
Pierre, SD –Cattle producers and meat processors get their chance Tuesday to shape the new South Dakota Certified beef program.
The state Department of Agriculture has proposed its permanent rules for managing the program. They include charging a $100 annual fee for producers to participate and 50 cents for every calf enrolled.
The goal of Gov. Mike Rounds and Agriculture Secretary Larry Gabriel is to establish South Dakota Certified beef as a national and international brand. Only calves born and raised in South Dakota can be registered, and the processing also must be done within the state.
The new rules would take effect October 1. People who enroll before that date can avoid paying the $100 fee for the first year.
The public hearing will be held Tuesday, July 12, at the state Capitol in the Legislature's conference rooms on the third floor (LCR 1 and 2), starting at 1 p.m. CT.
Written comments will be taken before or after the hearing but must be received by the department no later than July 22.Emergency rules were put into effect earlier this spring to get the program out of the starting blocks. The first licensed producer to sign up was the Novotny Angus operation of Virgil Novotny at Colome.
Department of Agriculture spokesman George Williams said last week that a handful of producers have enrolled their 2004 calf crop.
"Few people still have 2004 cattle that would qualify for the program, so the low numbers at this point are not surprising," Williams said.
The 2005 calf crop will not have to be enrolled "for quite some time yet," according to Williams. He said it is not necessary to enroll the animals until "before the removal of the animal from the premises of its birth, upon weaning, or entering the stream of commerce."
The Governor's Office of Economic Development has a pilot project under way for some processors. General enrollment of processors won't start until October.
One of the proposed new rules would require licensed processors to record carcass data for each animal into the department's information system, such as ribeye area, backfat thickness, carcass defects and marbling.
"This information will be a great tool to assist producers in marketing their beef," Williams said.
