Rural Issue

Is time finally right for a cattle traceability program?

The U.S. cattle industry has long struggled to come up with an acceptable and workable cattle traceability program. But a leader of the national Cattle Traceability Working Group (CTWG) thinks the time is right for development of such a program.

“We have different and new technology now than we had the last time we were discussing this in 2003 to 2007,” says Glenn Fischer, president of Allflex USA. “We also have more people finding value-added opportunities and we have more animals that are already identified.”

Fischer says statistics show more than 10 million animals received electronic identification in 2017.

A proposal for a voluntary, nationwide cattle I.D. and traceability system was unveiled by the CTWG in Denver last week.  Fischer says they’re trying to create a model that will work for all producers, “before one is imposed on them because of a disease outbreak situation that none of us want to see”.

Fischer says the group’s proposal creates a basic structure for a traceability program. He says they are also working to address producer concerns, including confidentiality, liability and cost.

Here is a link to a schematic developed by the CTWG called “A Structure Proposal for Livestock Traceability”: ADT Diagram – Adult – 0406 proposed revisionB

AUDIO: Glenn Fischer