"This is one fight the Bush administration will not fight," said Bryan Rickard, animal identification coordinator for the Kansas Animal Health Department, when he talked at a recent meeting in Columbus.

In the meantime, individual animal identification benefits those selling animals in specific markets that pay premiums for such cattle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has not decided how to take a stand on how animals should be identified.

"There is no need to buy identification tags unless you are in an age and source verification program," Rickard said.

Since March, Kansas has been in a pilot program supported with federal funds to evaluate ways to identify livestock. Fort Scott is among 15 livestock markets in Kansas that volunteered to participate.

Source: joplinglobe.com