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Cattle traceability proposal unveiled

The industry-led Cattle Industry Working Group (CTWG) has released its draft plan for a voluntary, nationwide cattle I.D. and traceability system.

Leaders of the working group unveiled and discussed the proposal in Denver last week. The meeting was a follow-up to the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s (NIAA) annual conference.

Here are a few of the comments contained in the CTWG’s draft proposal:

“Discussions by the CTWG to date have supported a Bookend structure for an I.D. and traceability system. We must walk before we run. A full traceability system may be achievable in the future, but there is strong opposition among producers today for full traceability.”

“Improve the tagging technology from metal clip tags to approved low frequency or ultra-high frequency tags will significantly improve ‘speed of commerce’ capabilities, supporting infrastructure is already evolving in the market, and it is the market that will determine if the dual technology approach continues to be preferred, or if one technology or the other proves to be more practical over time.”

“840 tags are currently required for interstate movement, however we must facilitate greater participation by including intrastate movement and the inclusion of 900 series tags.”

“Adding 900 series tags in the beginning would increase producer participation thus increasing traceability capabilities until the 900 series tags can be phased out. More than 10 million Low Frequency RFID tags were sold into the U.S. market in 2017 and more than 50% of them were non-840 tags.”

“Some stakeholders are concerned with cost, thus the emphasis on the state-agency databases. Other stakeholders are concerned about privacy and confidentiality, thus the emphasis on private sector databases. This demands flexibility in database structure and management.”

“Producers must be in control of their own choices and own data.”

“Allowing livestock to move through agriculture operations at the quickest speed possible, especially in livestock auction settings, where the pace of sale can affect value of animals.”

“We currently envision that a Network of Private Databases may act as the ‘hub of the wheel’ for the system; should we consider if there is a need for a producer-driven ID Agency (like in Canada, Australia, etc.)?”

CTWG leaders say they will continue to gather industry input, but they are going to move forward with their proposal. The next step, they say, is to present the proposal to industry stakeholders over the next several months.

Brownfield discussed the draft proposal with Glenn Fischer, president of Allflex USA, one of the leaders of the CTWG.

AUDIO: Glenn Fischer