Panel: Electronic ID benefits cattle management | Dairy - Capital Press

SUN VALLEY, Idaho – While USDA suspended its 2023 deadline for mandatory electronic identification ear tags, the agency’s goal to bring animal identification into the electronic age hasn’t changed.

EID for adult cattle moving interstate and for all cattle required to have a brucellosis vaccination appears to be just a matter of time.

The Idaho Cattle Association hosted a panel of early adopters at its annual convention here to arm Idaho producers with information about the practical use of the technology.

Dawn Anderson said her family started using EID for heifers on their Hereford and Red Angus ranch in Gooding in 2015. It was a way to help manage their operation — and cut down on family fights, she said.

“It just keeps really good track of what’s going on with that calf. It’s a unique identification for that individual,” she said.

Cattle can be easily scanned in the pasture or going through the chute, and data associated with their EID number is in the ranch’s system and can be accessed by a smart phone, she said.

The Simplot Livestock Co. first started using EID in 2004 to track the location and ages of its replacement heifers, and it’s proved to be a good management tool, Randall Raymond, Simplot’s director of research and veterinary services, said.

Information on Simplot’s cattle is integrated into different software systems and has become more valuable as the company ties in more data, he said.

No data is stored on the electronic ear tag. Instead, the ID is associated with data stored on software or hardware, he said.

The EID tag is simply a social security number that ties animal data together in one place, Scott Holt, sales manager for Allflex, said.

“It’s a vehicle that manages data,” he said.

Producers use EID for many things, from basic inventory to sophisticated records and third-party verification, he said.

It’s the glue that keeps the cow and the data connected permanently, Seth George of Y-Tex, said.

When a herd tested positive for brucellosis in his county in Wyoming, identifying affected animals was much quicker than conventional ID and the quarantine was much smaller, he said.

From an animal health perspective, EID has proved highly beneficial, Bill Barton, Idaho state veterinarian, said.

Officials can trace animals more quickly, as opposed to tracing a number that might or might not be in a file, and it eliminates the possibility of transposing a number in a record, he said.

“It’s much more efficient and takes a lot less time on our end,” he said.

The efficiency is critical in animal health traceability, he said.

“The EID is comparable to the VIN on the rig you’re driving; it stays with the animal,” he said.

It’s a great way for producers to keep track of their animals, especially if they have off-site owners, Ginette Gottswiller, director of commercial programs for the American Angus Association, said.

And the tags mean something to buyers. They’re much more willing to pay for calves they know are getting vaccinated or are part of a value-added program, she said.

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