Betty Jo Gigot, Editor and Publisher

As the U.S. makes progress on a national animal identification system, it is helpful to revisit what other countries have learned in implementing similar programs and see how it applies to the USA.

For centuries, livestock producers have identified animals with brands, ear notches or even bells around the neck. Modern systems are increasing a producer’s ability to manage the performance and health of their operations and facilitate the function of national ID systems. Today, low frequency ISO RFID is the benchmark technology that has been proven in real-world agricultural situations to economically facilitate the rapid, accurate and secure collection of animal ID numbers.

“The industry, regulatory agencies and consumer groups realize the benefits of traceability, so the trend toward mandatory animal identification programs has quickly gained credibility worldwide,” said Brian Bolton, CEO of Allflex USA.

Common global practices
Today, some 40 states and countries have adopted a form of mandatory animal identification. Although requirements differ from country to country, there are common themes.

1) Thoughtful selection of a single foundation technology, not technology neutral

2) Established infrastructure for harvesting IDs in high volume locations

3) Secure, “closed loop” distribution of tags

4) Role of distribution/reseller network

5) Governmental leadership/financial support

6) Thorough communication to all stakeholders

“Although the industry is rightly devoting a great deal of energy to the data management side of implementation, undoubtedly the key issue and lesson number one we have to overcome before we can begin to implement is that of technology neutrality,” said Bolton.

“The NAIS will, at best, not deliver on its goals and, at worst, fail to operate if a standard identification technology is not selected and utilized uniformly across the system,” he added.

This is a critical operational issue for all sectors of the livestock industry that must report events to the NAIS database. The U.S. livestock industry is extremely large (geographically; numbers of livestock; number of premises) and complex (variety and number of ways animals move from one premise to another).

“The industry will not commercially function if the infrastructure requires the capability of dealing with all types of current and future identification devices and methods … let alone afford or attempt to manage the infrastructure required to deal with this massive variable,” said Bolton.

Adopting a single ID technology will remove a crucial obstacle and provide simplification and focus, greatly improving the opportunity for a successful implementation and function of the NAIS.

Evolving motivations
Animal health is typically the initial reason for adopting a national traceability program. Disease outbreaks, if not quickly isolated, can have a devastating effect on a country’s livestock industry. While the risk of disease outbreak remains the primary motivator, producers have begun to realize even more benefits in their operations.

“Improving the financial performance of a herd is by far the most valuable force driving animal identification. With an electronic ID program, producers can efficiently gather data that helps them make both better management and marketing decisions,” added Bolton. “We know many producers using basic information about growth rates and feed conversion as well as carcass data to make management and marketing decisions.”

Current market drivers include a growing demand for source verification, not just for potential export markets, but increasingly domestic markets, particularly in the wake of BSE. “This begins by identifying calves before they move off the farm. Source-verified cattle carrying an EID tag today collect a premium, but tomorrow those that don’t will be discounted.”

Traceability and security for the food chain is another important reason. Disease, contamination, agroterrorism or other risks to the food supply can be more quickly isolated and eliminated with a reliable traceability system. Having controls in place also gives trading partners greater confidence in product safety and quality.

As the U.S. moves from premises identification to mandatory animal identification, there will be a lot of discussion about the benefits, opportunities and challenges in implementing an effective program. The right program for U.S. producers will help protect against the threat of agroterrorism, contain a foreign-animal disease outbreak and create opportunities to increase the productivity and profitability of producers’ operations.

“Without question, communication and training will be a critical component to any successful program. Dialogue among producers, veterinar ians, auction markets, backgrounders, feeders, packers/processors and others will be essential to establishing a system that creates increased opportunities for each segment of the U.S. livestock value chain,” said Bolton..