Wisconsin begins voluntary animal ID effort

By Colleen Kottke
The Reporter

WAUPUN — Your library book has one as well as hundreds of products that you buy from the local Wal-Mart chain.

And soon dairy cattle throughout Wisconsin may be sporting them, too, as the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium leads the charge to implement the voluntary animal ID program to track the movement of animals using Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags.

With a premises registration system already in place, state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is partnering with producers in a cost-sharing program to begin recording individual animal ID and animal movement information as the next steps of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

The purpose of voluntary animal ID is to provide a starting point of where an animal has been in its life, said Leanne Ketterhagen, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium.

"This technology would help animal health officials in preventing the spread of disease in the event of an outbreak. In addition, an effective animal ID system can be a beneficial tool for on-farm herd management," Ketterhagen said.

Voluntary

Unlike the Premise ID registration of livestock operations, which was mandatory in the state of Wisconsin, Ketterhagen said the animal ID system is voluntary.

"At this point, it isn't the intent of the USDA or the State of Wisconsin to make the program mandatory," Ketterhagen said.

To help promote participation, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture is offering a Voluntary Animal ID Cost Sharing Program on a first-come, first-served basis to producers interested in doing their part in managing a potential animal disease outbreak in Wisconsin.

The program consists of signup, approval and confirmation of participation followed by tag purchase and application.

Reimbursement is made once these steps have been completed. A producer must have a premises registration number to qualify for the program.

Ketterhagen said that the reimbursement will cover up to 50 percent of the herd up to 50 cents per tag. RFID tags cost from $2.50 to $3 per tag.

"The USDA has only approved reimbursement for RFID tags, not the floppy tags or small metal tags commonly used to identify cattle," Ketterhagen said.

Tagging animals

The only time animals would need to be tagged is when they are physically leaving the herd of origin, whether they are being transported to livestock shows, another herd or the slaughterhouse.

Ketterhagen said a reader for tags will soon by be used at the World Dairy Expo in Madison to track animal movement.

"While we have nearly 54,000 premises in Wisconsin registered with the National Premise ID program, we only have a handful of producers participating in the Animal ID program so far," Ketterhagen said.

The Cull family, owners of Budjon Farms near Lomira, has no plans to participate in the Animal ID program unless it becomes mandatory.

Throughout the year, the Culls regularly transport animals from their elite herd of Holsteins across state lines to attend cattle shows and sales. The health status of each cow that steps into the show ring is thoroughly documented in the health papers that follow the animals everywhere.

"It's a little bit different for us than a large dairy that has no idea who a cow is other than a plastic tag in the ear," said Kelli Cull, adding that all of the cows in the Budjon herd are identified with registration papers. Those traveling across state lines are tagged with small metal tags to identify the animal's state of origin.

"We have our bases covered at this point on our farm," Cull said.

The Canadian Cattle Agency has already begun using RFID tags that identify a bovine's herd of origin. The tags are used for trace-back purposes when a packing plant condemns a carcass.

Meanwhile, the USDA has released official Animal Identification Numbers as part of the NAIS. DATCP and the WLIC are initiating the voluntary animal ID program using DATCP-selected animal identification number tags.

All USDA-approved devices will be accepted as official identification in Wisconsin. Cost sharing, however, will be for DATCP-selected AIN Radio Frequency ID tags only and does not cover application of tags.