SENATE BILL NO. 544
INTRODUCED BY HANSEN, SMALL-EASTMAN, GLASER, L. JONES
AN ACT CREATING A MONTANA-CERTIFIED NATURAL BEEF CATTLE MARKETING PROGRAM TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF LIVESTOCK; PROVIDING QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE CERTIFICATION OF MONTANA NATURAL BEEF CATTLE AND MONTANA-CERTIFIED NATURAL GRASS-FED BEEF CATTLE; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Montana-certified natural beef cattle marketing program. (1) The department and the department of livestock shall administer a program to qualify and market beef cattle from Montana that have been certified as natural.
(2) To qualify as Montana-certified natural beef cattle, the beef cattle must have been born and raised in Montana and finished following naturally raised protocols. The beef cattle must be:
(a) raised in an environmentally prudent manner that is consistent with Montana's best grazing standards;
(b) raised pursuant to beef quality assurance standards or similar guidelines;
(c) raised without subtherapeutic antibiotics, synthetic hormones, synthetic growth promotants, and ionophores; and
(d) fed only natural feeds that contain no drugs, chemicals, or animal byproducts.
(3) To qualify as Montana-certified natural grass-fed beef cattle, the beef cattle must meet the requirements of subsection (2) and must also have been finished on grass.
(4) A producer who desires natural beef cattle certification shall maintain records of the birth of the beef cattle by month and keep health records for the beef cattle, including vaccine lot numbers, the vaccine manufacturer, and dates of vaccination.
(5) To ensure compliance, the department and the department of livestock shall jointly adopt rules requiring at least one inspection of the ranch of origin of the beef cattle as well as development of the necessary protocols for recordkeeping and verification for the certification of natural and natural grass-fed beef cattle.
(6) The department shall include the promotion of Montana-certified natural beef cattle in its agricultural product marketing programs.
Section 2. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 80, chapter 11, and the provisions of Title 80, chapter 11, apply to [section 1].
Section 3. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
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