New Kind of Cattle Branding:
An ID Number 

ILAN BRAT / Wall Street Journal 1mar2006

In a new twist on cattle branding, U.S. livestock may now get individual identification numbers.

Today in Washington, a nonprofit industry group plans to launch a program that aims to assign each cow, bison and other livestock its own 15-digit number and track their movements in a national database. Animals would be tagged, perhaps in the ear with a bar code or a radio-frequency chip. Another alternative: a chip could be implanted beneath the animal's skin.

The goal is to make it easier for animal health officials to track the source of any outbreak of mad-cow or other animal disease — and limit its scope. The U.S. is far behind Canada and European Union countries in sophisticated methods to track livestock.

Under the plan, which is voluntary, every time an animal is sold, its number and buyer is registered in the database to help pinpoint its movements. In the event of a disease outbreak, this information could help locate previous owners of the infected animal and other animals it possibly had contact with. Officials could then impose quarantines or other restrictions.

Lack of such a system hampered U.S. investigators following the first U.S. case of mad-cow disease in 2003. They found only 27 of the 80 cows reared with an infected Holstein on an Alberta, Canada, dairy farm.

U.S. ranchers have long resisted an ID tracking program partly because they fear they may be liable for a food-safety problem. But McDonald's Corp. and other large beef customers have been pushing for it. Federal regulators also have been prodding the industry for such a system. The lack of one has made foreign trading partners nervous. Japan, once the country's largest export beef market, has a ban on U.S. beef imports.

The new system, with an estimated start-up cost of $2.5 million to $3 million, is part of a pilot effort that has been tracking about 300,000 animals in the Southeast and Northwest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue the codes and the U.S. Animal Identification Organization, a nonprofit industry group, will administer the database.

Pigs, chickens and other poultry could be part of the program, and are likely to be identified by group lot or coop. They, like cattle, aren't completely anonymous now: livestock owners have methods of identifying their animals, whether it's branding cattle, an ear tattoo for swine or a coop number for poultry.

So far, industry response to an ID system has been tepid. In 2004, the USDA, along with state veterinary offices, started a voluntary program for livestock producers and suppliers to register the location of their animals. Of about two million such locations in the country, including feedlots and auction houses, only about 200,000 have registered, the USDA says.

Neil Hammerschmidt, the USDA's national identification system coordinator, says customers — from processors to consumers — are likely to demand to know where the meat comes from. "Producers are recognizing that it's to their benefit in the long run to help protect the health of the national herd," says Rick Stott, chairman of the Northwest Pilot Project, which is part of the pilot program.

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Animal ID

National Cattlemen's Beef Association website 1mar2006

Talking Points 

Summary 

As part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), NCBA has made the issue of animal identification a top priority. NCBA’s Animal ID Commission has worked to address cattle producer’s concerns associated with animal ID, such as the issue of confidentiality and ownership of database information.

In recent months, efforts have focused on the implementation of an industry-led, multi-species, Animal Movement Database for livestock in the United States. The Database is a relatively narrow part of the entire NAIS.

On August 30, 2005, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said USDA would support development of an animal movement database controlled within the private sector.

On January 10, 2006, the official formation of the United States Animal Identification Organization (USAIO) was announced. The nonprofit and independent USAIO is tasked with managing the industry-led animal movement database in accordance with the NAIS and is working with every segment of the animal industry and animal health authorities to provide an effective, efficient, and inexpensive database for the NAIS.

The USAIO board of directors are:

• Charles Miller (Chairman), Nicholasville, Ky., cow-calf producer 
• Rick Stott, Boise, Idaho, cattle producer 
• Lance Kuck, Bassett, Neb., bison producer 
• Bob Smith, Stillwater, Okla., veterinarian and cattle stocker-operator 

The board of directors will be expanded as various industry groups adopt the USAIO as their database repository for animal movement data needed for the NAIS.

USAIO has submitted a Memorandum of Understanding to USDA to fulfill Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns’ directive for the industry to develop the animal movement database repository.

Background NCBA has worked for years with government and industry groups toward development of a nationwide animal identification system that will monitor the health of U.S. livestock and allow for trace in the event of an animal health concern. NCBA feels producer rights and confidentiality are a top priority.

NCBA’s Animal ID Commission announced July 6, 2005 that they would work with Viatrace and Microsoft as technology partners to develop the data storage infrastructure for livestock.

Three phases of implementing a National Animal Identification System (NAIS):

Development of premises systems: The premises ID phase of the NAIS is now being implemented by USDA and each state’s animal health department and acts as the foundation for the entire NAIS. Development of an identification database: This is the backbone to the entire NAIS and the focus of NCBA’s and other species groups' efforts. Implementation of the NAIS throughout the industry: The most difficult and expensive phase of the process, this will require a coordinated effort between all segments of the industry, USDA, state governments, and service providers. Key Points The development of any national database should protect producer privacy (confidential business information) and be operated in such a way that meets official needs (48-hour trace) for information in the most efficient means possible. An industry-driven and producer-administered database can meet the needs of animal health officials with less costs being put on the taxpayer. As manager and administrator of the database, a multi-species consortium can better maintain the confidentiality of information on animal movements and ownership, free from freedom of information act requirements. Under this system, producers can more readily participate in marketing and source/process verification programs. Tasked with managing the industry-led animal movement database in accordance with the NAIS, the USAIO is a nonprofit and independent entity made of livestock producers. The USAIO has submitted a Memorandum of Understanding to USDA to fulfill Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns’ directive for the industry to develop the animal movement database repository.

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NCBA... working to increase profit opportunities for cattle and beef producers by enhancing the business climate and building consumer demand.

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© Copyright 2006 National Cattlemen's Beef Association

source: http://www.beefusa.org/NEWSAnimalIDTalkingPoints25023.aspx 1mar2006