About this Event
Cattle Producers: AllRFID Ear Tags by 2023
INDIANAPOLIS(22 July 2019)—Wireless technology continues to be more and more common ineveryday life. The radio frequency identification (RFID) data chips commonlyused in credit cards, toll booth passes, and electronic entry key cards areused on many livestock farms to help keep track of animals. Soon, RFIDchip-embedded ear tags will be the national standard for cattle identification.
BeginningJanuary 1, 2023, RFID-equipped ear tags will become the official form ofidentification for cattle recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA). Starting in 2023, old-style, visual-only metal clip tags and plasticIDs will no longer be recognized as official. That means now is the time forproducers to start making the shift to RFIDs to keep pace with new federaltraceability requirements.
The IndianaState Board of Animal Health (BOAH) views this change as a positive step toenhance national capabilities for animal disease traceability (ADT).
“RFID eartags improve our ability to quickly and accurately identify animals involved inan animal disease investigation,” said BOAH veterinarian Cheryl Miller, DVM.“This technology helps producers, veterinarians and livestock markets keep moreaccurate records of animal movements, which improves our ability to identifyspecific animals.”
Dr. Miller,who serves as BOAH’s bovine tuberculosis (TB) eradication program leader,points to a recent disease trace investigation—just one of about 30 fromWisconsin—in which RFID tags and accurate records could have saved at least sixcattle owners a lot of inconvenience.
“Two calvesthat originated from a TB-affected farm in Wisconsin were shipped to Indiana,”Dr. Miller explains. “Those calves were just two of more than 100 that wereacquired from several different Wisconsin farms, pooled together and shipped toIndiana. After they arrived at an Indiana livestock market, the calves weredispersed to seven different Indiana farms.”
While the calveswere tagged—using old-style metal clip tags—before leaving Wisconsin, the IDnumbers on the tags were not recorded alongside the farms-of-origin. Instead ofreading each animal’s tag, the livestock dealer applied temporary backtags,which feature numbers that are larger and easier to read. The backtag numberswere recorded on the certificate of veterinary inspection that accompanied theload of calves. When the Wisconsin state veterinarian notified BOAH, thequestion was: Where did they go?
“This scenariois not uncommon,” said Dr. Miller. She explained that backtags can be read moreefficiently than metal clip tags, which feature a ¼-inch tall nine-digit numberpressed into the metal. The digits are not only small, but they can be coveredby hair or become encrusted with mud and manure—making them difficult, if notimpossible, to read accurately.
Investigatingseven farms, instead of one—where the exposed calves were found and testednegative for bovine TB—required more time, manpower and expense to the state toclose the case. Dr. Miller believes scannable RFID tags could havechanged the course of this disease trace.
BOAH staffhas actively been working with livestock veterinarians in Indiana to move awayfrom the use of metal clip tags. Since 2014, nearly 2 million 840 tags havebeen distributed in Indiana. BOAH continues that effort by providing a limitedquantity of free RFID tags and tag applicators to help participatingveterinarians provide their clients with the latest technology. The TurnIN,TradeUp program is made possible through a grant from the Indiana StateDepartment of Agriculture. Participating veterinarians must also commit tousing digital certificates of veterinary inspection for client paperwork,further increasing the speed of traceability.
About ADT
ADT is anationwide effort, led by USDA, to reduce the amount of time and resourcesneeded to trace the movements of food animals between farms and markets as partof disease investigations. As part of the ADT effort, Indiana has requiredpremises identification for all cattle, swine, cervid, sheep and goat sitessince 2006, as well as individual animal identification since 2010.
Moreinformation about ADT in Indiana is online at: www.in.gov/boah/2328.htm
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Contact:Denise Derrer; [email protected];317-544-2414