Colorado State Fair and agriculture officials vow to keep fighting HB 1129, which would bar a repeat of last summer's brouhaha when fair administrators ousted two kids from the junior livestock sale for not obeying a controversial animal-tracking program.

In fact, the State Fair board will meet in Lakewood Wednesday to weigh requiring all fair livestock exhibitors this summer -- including adults -- to present a "premise identification" disclosing where their animals were raised. Horse show contestants may be given a two-year phase-in period.

Colorado State Fair General Manager Chris Wiseman said he and fellow state ag officials want the public to understand that premise ID is a vital tool to preventing livestock disease outbreaks.

“If there’s an outbreak or one of the animals that we ship to a packing plant has some sort of health issue or there’s some contamination, we want to be able to trace that animal back as quickly a possible to the premise where it was raised," he said.

He noted that the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, Colorado Livestock Association and pork producers back the requirement as "an important tool.”

But the proposed expansion may fuel the furor over the state fair board's decision last year to mandate that young competitors comply with the otherwise voluntary federal National Animal Identification System.

Two 4-H teens were devastated in August when officials disqualified them for violating the new identification rule and security escorted them off the fairgrounds. They had said their critters were raised at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, when they weren’t.

The bill was advanced by the House agriculture committee Wednesday after five hours debate that included tearful testimony by one of the ousted teens and state agriculture and homeland security experts warning of the potential animal epidemic if premise ID is banned.

Bill sponsor Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, has called the young competitors' disqualification "heavy-handed bullying government against the kids."

McKinley said state officials are simply using 4-H kids to promote an unpopular, useless program that won’t be able to track animals until the feds begin a system of implanting livestock with microchip tracking devices.

Many farmers and ranchers are leery of registering their property and animals with the federal government. Some fear being held liable if a disease is traced to one of their animals. Some are worried the system could be used to compromise their property rights.

Wiseman acknowledged initiating the requirement only for youth fair competitors was not the wisest public relations move.

"If I could do anything over last year, I would have recommended that the state fair board make it a mandatory premise ID for anyone showing animals on the fairgrounds," he said, adults included.

But, while Wiseman respects McKinley's concerns, he hopes lawmakers will consider the grave threat.

"I have a tool call premise ID that allows me to do a quick track-back on diseased animals," he said. "If I ignored the ability to use it and there was an outbreak, I’d have to think that I would be having a different conversation with state legislators about acting responsibility as the general manager of the Colorado State Fair.”

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