Ingalls ? In western Kansas, where feedlots are so vast that one even rates its own scenic overlook along U.S. 50, cattlemen see mandated livestock identification as inevitable.

But some say a bill in the Kansas Legislature that would start a statewide program — which could be folded into a national program if one is created — is an overreaction to a minor threat.

“I don’t know if mad cow is the only thing driving this,” said Ken Winter, owner of Winter Feed Yard west of Dodge City. “Maybe there’s a biosecurity threat to the livestock industry in some form.”

The livestock identification bill, which passed in the House, gives state Livestock Commissioner George Teagarden the authority to start taking inventory of cattle and feedlots across the state.

Teagarden proposed the program to help track farm animals with diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow, after the first U.S. case was confirmed in December in Washington state, in a Canadian-born cow.

Federal officials are working on an identification plan and have encouraged states to prepare for participation.

Winter believes the goal of proposed livestock ID programs, whether state or federal, is to create a 48-hour “traceback” of livestock if a contagious disease is detected.

He’s not sure that kind of capability is necessary.

“If that’s your goal, you have to put in a pretty elaborate system,” he said. “I don’t understand the threat well enough to know whether that is indeed a necessity. It’s hard for me to imagine having all data recorded on individual animals completely available within a 48-hour time period.”

Many feed lot operators aren’t opposed to an identification program, but say it could be botched if done hurriedly.

Dave Duff, manager of Beef Belt Feed Lot in Scott City, said the ID program might be premature if it is being implemented solely to reopen markets that closed to U.S. beef after the mad cow discovery.

“Let’s don’t rush into something without thinking it through with the pretense of opening up all of our export gates,” Duff said. “I think we’re rushing into a lot of things right now.

“We need to get the people who import from us to take our products, but we may be jumping through some hoops thinking we’re going to make it happen when we don’t need to be,” he added.

Joe Scott of Sublette Feeders went further in questioning the motivation behind the identification efforts.

“We’ve never found a case of BSE in this country and we’re going to spend untold amounts of money to find one if there ever is one,” Scott said. “Some of this stuff doesn’t make a lot of sense. It seems like we’re running a panic to do something here, whether it’s a worthy cause or not.”

But Monte Goree, a cowboy with Bar W Feeders in Kismet, is excited about a program that would provide livestock producers and buyers with comprehensive records of an animal’s life. He just hopes the program doesn’t hit cattle prices too hard.

“All we can ask out here is that it’s cost-effective,” Goree said. “You can’t add a bunch of money to a calf that’s way high right now. If they can keep cost around $3 a head, that would be a good deal. I can cover up $3 a head, but it would be hard to go much higher than that.”

Livestock identification bill is HB 2593.