Posted on 02/22/2005 12:10:07 PM PST by Freebird Forever
Cattle identification can't be ignored, veterinarians are being told this week at the Western Veterinary Conference in Nevada. Soon, packers won't buy cattle that don't have an electronic ear tag, feedlots won't buy cattle without the tags, and stockers won't buy calves without the tags, says Gary Wilson, New Concord, Ohio, co-chairman of the Cattle Industry Identification Working Group.
"Eventually, no animals will be purchased unless they are identified. You have to know the source," Wilson said, speaking to a standing-room-only crowd of veterinarians from around the US this week. It goes all the way up and down the chain, he added. "Right now, McDonald's and Wal-Mart want source verification."
An identification system will fundamentally change the way producers handle and process their cattle, said Wilson. He encourages producers to participate in the early stages of implementation of a voluntary program recommended by the Cattle Industry Working Group Report, part of the national animal ID initiative started in 2002 as a partnership between producers, allied industry, and state and federal health officials.
The Cattle Group hopes that the identification system will follow a set of voluntary guidelines.
First, all premises that manage and/or hold cattle are to be identified through the state animal health authority to achieve a standard national premises system.
Electronic ear tags will be the technology used to individually identify cattle, said Wilson. The 15-digit code (3 digit country code or manufacture code and 12 digit animal number) imbedded in the transponder is printed on the tag. The tags will be placed in the left ear of the cattle.
Three events would trigger the need for official individual animal identification:
1. Change of ownership.
2. Interstate movement.
3. Multiple owners commingling their cattle, including on trucks and trailers.
Under the voluntary guidelines, when individual identification is required, the owner/seller is the person ultimately responsible for applying the official tag. Producers are encouraged to identify calves at birth or at the earliest date possible and to report birth dates to the National Animal Identification database.
When the precise date of birth is not known, use of an approximate birth date within 2 to 3 months is recommended. Because the electronic tags are small and have 15 digits, producers are encouraged to use a second visible tag as a matter of management practices.
All cattle that change ownership, move interstate, or are commingled with other producer's cattle are to have their identification and movement reported to the National Animal Identification Database. Reportable commingling includes on trucks or trailers, livestock markets, exhibitions, rodeos, joint grazing agreements, etc. The reporting of cattle movements is the sole responsibility of the receiving premises.
Required movement events are to be reported within 24 hours or the close of the next business day in order to track all animal movements within 48 hours in the case of a national disease event. Confirmation will be available to both the seller and buyer that the reported movement has been entered into the National Animal Identification Database.
All cattle exported from the US must be identified with an official tag prior to being loaded for export. The official tag number, the premises number from where the animal was last received, and the premises number of the export facility must be reported to the national database.
All cattle imported into the US will be identified with an official individual number of the country of origin and/or official tag of the country of origin and be accompanied by a USDA/APHIS approved International Certificate of Identification which shall include a listing of the age and sex of all such cattle being imported.
Veterinarians will play a key role in the cattle identification system, helping with recordkeeping, management protocol, identification requirements and reporting of animal movements. They also can be certified as a source of official tags for producers.
The cost of the tags will be minimal, said Wilson. The electronic readers will cost from $200 for a reader that you hold against the tag to $2,000 for a wireless reader with handheld computer.
"The future is up to producers. If we get 85-90% signed up, (the program) will stay voluntary. If not, it will go to a mandatory system," said Wilson. The year 2007 is the key - at that time cattle ID will be required by the government, he says.
Time to Moooooooooooooooooooooove on, Big Brother.
When are they gonna require we get tagged?
Cattle ID ping
Horse - the other red meat.
`Garcon, are these--whip-marks on my sirloin?'
(eAt more chikken)
When are they gonna require we get tagged?
First they get the bugs worked out by using livestock. Then they can implement this with "guest workers" and other undocumented types.
For honest law abiding citizens, we'll have to take note of how soon electronic medical records become commonplace.
When chip scanners start showing up in hospital ER's the push will occur shortly thereafter.
The last thing I want to do is imitate the french.
I'll take venison.
Such politicolawspeak,,, So if EVERYONE does this voluntarily, its not going to be mandatory?
but if we only get 80% to 'volunteer' then we MUST make it mandatory ??? ROTFLMAO Do these dipsh!ts even think before they speak???
Recipes here:
http://www.missouri.edu/~sasb1e/cecs283/Project/recipes.shtml
(includes one dog recipe as well)
and
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/chance88.html
Not really. This will handicap the small cattle producer. Over half of the cattle we ( U.S.) consume come from people with less than 150 head ( a lot of those have less than 50 ).
There will be a crisis in the next 20 years or so when the current generation of independent small ranchers retire/die and nobody steps forward to take their place because of death taxes or the cost of doing business. Then you will see a big change in the U.S. meat supply and the cost.
Attracting new producers is tough unless they are already wealthy enough to start up. The government loan program to assist new people is also not structured to attract new blood.
Welcome to the new world order.
I've been wondering why the TSA dude insisted on punching a hole in my earlobe.
The costs will probably not be passed on to the consumer. When feed or other input costs increase, packers hold the line on prices paid to farmers. When demand for beef increases as it has recently, the packers put the screws to the grocers by raising the price at which they sell. A fat steer is a perishable item in the sense that when it's ready for slaughter, there is continued expense if you don't sell, with no increase in market value. This allows packers to lowball the bids, eventually forcing the cattlemen to sell. Hogs have similar economics, but due to the shorter time from birth to reproduction the impacts aren't as severe. The packers set both the selling price for the live cattle, and the selling price for the meat, with virtually no competition. What little competition there is falls victim to outright collusion among the packers to simply quit bidding at virtually the same price every sale. In any other industry there would be criminal indictments.
Slab of lab? Poodles with noodles? Rack of Rottweiler?
German Shepherd pot pie?
(Hard to believe some cultures actually eat our best friends)
Listen, someone who knows what he is talking about.
Hey, my neighbor has a Rottweiler I will volunteer for that rack.
Muleteam1
It's already in the works.
Radio Transmitters May Speed Border Crossings
From the article:
Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday that the government will begin testing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at this crossing and four others by midsummer. ....
"We do not keep track of who enters this country," Hutchinson said while standing in an inspection booth at a crossing used each year by 5.4 million pedestrians and 3.9 million vehicles. "We need to have a comprehensive system, and that's what our pilot [test] will do." .....
The chip with the identifying information would be placed in a document, such as the State Department issued border crossing cards for those who regularly make short trips across the Mexican border.
Mexico hasn't yet come out and proposed a broad based chipping program, but a one has been instituted :
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