Animal identification finds additional purpose
by by Lisa Duffey, Coordinator of Montana Beef Network
In the past few years, animal identification, especially with an electronic identification (EID) tag, has been focused on tagging and tracking for two reasons:
- Animal disease containment and
- Value added programs and alliances.
Recently, requests from customers and export markets for source and age verified beef product have provided a third reason to utilize EID tags in the beef production cycle. While these three animal identification programs are complementary and aspects of each program overlap with the other programs, there are clear differences. This article is designed to define the programs and help clear up any confusion that may exist.
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National Animal Identification: Background and basics
Source and age verification
The domestic and international market system has influenced the creation of a number of alliances and programs to address the demand for source and age verified beef cattle. While complementary, these programs are unrelated to the National Animal Identification System.
Source and/or age verified programs utilize the EID tag technology to record and verify the sources and ages of beef cattle to fit end use programs, such as the Japanese Beef Export Verification program and customer demand from Wal-Mart and McDonald’s for verified product. It is likely that these programs will build on the premises registration and animal identification elements of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) as more producers, feeders and others adopt the components of that system.
The key elements of a source and/or age verified program include:
- Animal identification tag
- Source information (could be USDA premises identification
number) - Age information through some form of a birth date, birth month, birth quarter, etc.
- Data stored in a national database
There are a number of source and/or age verified programs available to beef cattle producers and more are introduced every week. For example, in Montana, Superior Livestock Auction has announced their VASE (Verified Age Source Electronic ID) program and Northern Livestock Video Auction has introduced the VESA (Verified Electronically ID Source and Age) program for cattle commissioned on their sales. Many of the breed associations offer verified programs as well.
Value added data collection (Montana Beef Network)
The Montana Beef Network (MBN) was established in 1999 to add value to Montana’s beef industry through beef quality assurance education, certification and identification of feeder calves that have met defined health management protocols, and the tracking of feeder calves from the ranch to the packing plant to collect and share production and carcass data.
To enroll in the Montana Beef Network, a producer must:
- Be BQA certified
- Individually identify calves with a RFID tag
- Follow one of two health protocols (preconditioning vaccinations or vaccinations and backgrounding)
- Provide vaccination and other general data for individual animal records
- Communicate with MBN staff to track cattle to feeder and packing plant
MBN staff work diligently with producers, feeders and data collectors to track the identified calves through the production cycle in order to collect and report production and/or carcass data to the involved parties. MBN staff assists producers with management, breeding and marketing decisions based on the collected data in order to provide added value to the producer’s operation.
Many aspects of the MBN project complement or coincide with both NAIS and source and/or age verified programs. Members of the Network are able to access all the advantages of NAIS and the source and/or age verified programs while gaining a deeper understanding of their herd and operation.
Animal health and disease surveillance
The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) has been designed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the input and involvement of the animal agriculture industry to identify and track livestock in the U.S. for the purposes of detecting, containing and eradicating animal diseases. The NAIS has three components.
1. Premises Registration
National registration of all locations that house livestock. The Premises Identification Number (PIN) is a seven digit alphanumeric number and will be one data element collected on each animal at each premises and stored in a federal database.
2. Animal Identification
Each animal will be tagged with an official 15-digit Animal Identification Number (AIN) before leaving the location of origin. The cattle and sheep industries are seriously considering the utilization of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for this purpose.
3. Animal Movement Tracking
The AIN of each livestock animal will be recorded at each premises it resides at during its lifetime. The PIN, AIN, date and reason for collecting the data will be stored in a national database for potential access by animal health officials in order to detect, track, contain and eradicate animal diseases.
NAIS is currently a voluntary program. In May 2005, USDA proposed a timeline to implement NAIS and transition the system from a voluntary to a mandatory program (see animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/). Premises registration and animal identification would be mandatory by January 2008. Recording and reporting animal movements would be mandatory by January 2009.
Comparison of Programs
| NAIS | SAV | MBN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premises ID Number Required | X | X* | X* |
| Source Verification | X | X | X |
| Age Verification | X* | X | X |
| Process Verification | X | ||
| Production Data | X | ||
| Carcass Data | X | ||
| Value Added Opportunities | X | ||
| * Possible requirement or advantage | |||