Sponsors (3)
The bill requires a detailed review and university engagement that could improve tick-control effectiveness and transparency for taxpayers, but it may divert funds and delay immediate actions while imposing transition costs on producers if changes are implemented.
Cattle producers and agricultural workers may see fewer tick-borne illnesses in their herds and lower livestock losses and veterinary costs if the review leads to more effective Program treatments and controls.
Land-grant and non-land-grant colleges and cattle producers gain from university engagement that could produce evidence-based recommendations for better treatments and control protocols.
Cattle producers may face lower compliance burdens if the review recommends streamlining rules or alternative protocols.
Cattle producers could incur transition costs and new compliance burdens if the review recommends program changes that require implementation of new rules or treatment protocols.
Farmers and other stakeholders may experience delays to near-term Program changes while resources shift to conducting the review instead of immediate interventions.
Taxpayers and producers could bear additional administrative and contracting costs for the review, diverting funds that might otherwise support direct control activities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs USDA to contract with a qualifying agricultural college to review the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program and report findings and recommendations within set deadlines.
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to offer, within one year of enactment, to contract with a qualifying land-grant or non-land-grant college of agriculture to review the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program administered by APHIS and coordinated with the Texas Animal Health Commission. The contracted review must evaluate program effectiveness at preventing tick-borne cattle illnesses, benefits and compliance burdens for cattle producers, treatment protocols, and federal and state funding for the Program, and USDA must report findings and recommendations to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees within one year after the contract is entered.
Introduced January 14, 2025 by Monica De La Cruz · Last progress January 14, 2025