LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers backed a revamped proposal to overhaul the state’s Brand Committee and raise cattle inspection fees using new language that several senators viewed as a “compromise.”

Sen. Barry DeKay’s LB187 was originally focused on increasing certain brand inspection fees to fund the existing Brand Committee, but lawmakers overwhelmingly supported an amendment from the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee. The Brand Committee investigates cattle theft and verifies ownership through brand inspection when cattle are bought, sold, or moved within or beyond the branding zone or area set in state law. Nebraska’s brand law applies mandatory inspections to cattle owners in the western two-thirds of the state.

Ranchers and the Legislature’s Ag Committee have heard for years about disagreements between feeders and some feedlot owners inside and beyond the brand zone.

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