The article doesn't represent the whole story. The USDA has turned most of the RFID tag program over to the NCBA besides enforcement and some funding. The NCBA is going to set the RFID prices on a sliding scale, receive government grants and pass some sort of cost share to the producers. I sat through a USDA - NCBA meeting Friday morning, and played golf with the SE Allflex representative Friday afternoon, and I kicked his tail good by the way. This was all said and done with no public input, but a lot of grease is my guess.
I imagine R-CALF will have another lawsuit in the works about the RFID tags. The small US operation is getting squeezed some more.