Hands-on training helps, say cattle producers learning the national on-line system for cattle ID and age verification.
Lorne Christopherson recently crowded into a computer classroom with 39 other producers to learn more about age verification and cattle identification.
“Most producers benefit from some hands-on instruction and the chance to ask questions in person whenever there is a big change in technology,” he said.
The Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders’ Association, or SCFA, offered the workshop with help from the University of Saskatchewan.
Producers heard from the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, or CCIA, and some suppliers of the latest in radio frequency identification equipment and tags.
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Christopherson, a Weldon, Sask., cattle producer, operates a 3,500 head feedlot and is a cow-calf producer.
“We registered our calves (births and tag numbers on-line) last year without the benefit of a workshop like the one the SCFA put on,” he said.
“My secretary was on the phone pretty steady to the help-support toll-free line until we got the hang of it,” he said. “That’s where these hands-on training programs make a big difference, getting you past the hurdles of adopting the new systems,” he said.
Tracy Gardner of the CCIA said opportunities for producers to have the hands-on familiarization gets them using the system sooner than a manual and a telephone help-line.
Producers can choose to use the on-line age registry or an Excel spreadsheet they create themselves from a CCIA template downloaded from the website. Once the information is entered, birth certificates can be created using either method of data entry.
Judy MacMillan of the SCFA said many producers, once they have experienced the system, begin to think about what other tools they might have at their disposal for herd management through their computers.
Christopherson said many cattle feeders are using the CCIA approved radio tags to help automate some of their pen management.
“It’s an opportunity to be more efficient and improve animal tracking on the farm.
“We got to see some great new (tag) readers and some new scales that can be integrated into a computer system that would allow producers to manage individuals the way we used to manage whole pens. This kind of workshop introduces us to what is possible and gets us thinking,” he said.
