| Purpose | Requirements | Producer List | Program Fees |
Our Program
The South Dakota Certified Enrolled Cattle™ (SDCEC) program is administered by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA). SDCEC is a tool available to South Dakota cattle producers that provides third-party verification of specific marketing claims.
These claims include:
- Source Verification: Born and Raised in South Dakota
- Age Verification
- Cattle Raised by South Dakota Beef Quality Assurance Certified Producers
- Less Than 24 Months of Age at Time of Harvest
- No Bos indicus (Brahman) influence
- Never Fed Animal or Food Wastes or Restricted Ruminant Derived Tissues
- Corn Finished for a Minimum of 100 Days
The SDCEC program was initially developed to ensure a quality live cattle source for SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef. However, it was soon apparent that SDCEC held value for producers on a much broader basis.
Because of our unique ability as a state government agency to base our program requirements in statute and administrative rule, we are able to offer very credible assurance of our claims. Unlike simple affidavit systems, SDCEC is backed by a rigorous onsite audit program. Buyers of cattle enrolled in SDCEC can be confident that the producer and their operations have been individually assessed onsite by an SDDA representative, and that all records needed to validate claims are maintained.