WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) and Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) led a bicameral letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) demanding the agency roll-back its ban on purchasing or deploying M-44 sodium cyanide ejector devices. 

M-44 devices are used by farmers and ranchers, mainly sheep and goat producers, for predator control. These devices are a valuable management tool and protect herds from coyotes, foxes, and feral dogs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has continuously approved the use of these safe and effective devices by state agencies in the past.

The agency included language prohibiting the use of M-44 devices by third parties in the USDA’s Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Package signed into law earlier this year.

“American ranchers are the foundation of our food and economic security, and we must promote policies that protect their viability. It is estimated that if Texas and Wyoming ranchers could better control predation, it could result in over $100 million in farm gate sales,” the members wrote. “In Wyoming alone, predator losses amounted to 47.3 percent of all sheep and lamb deaths. The continued production of M-44 devices is well within the law and is important to ensure ranchers have access to this safe and effective predation tool.”

Co-signers of this letter include U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and U.S. Representatives Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Chip Roy (R-Texas), and Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota).