Ontario and British Columbia are offering cattle producers rebates on radio frequency identification tags, if they meet certain criteria.
The B.C. Cattlemen’s Association has received provincial money to refund $2 per tag for each breeding female as of June 1, 2006. The program is open to all producers and ends Feb. 28, 2007.
“There had been some concerns from our members that they had tagged their cows with bar code tags and we wanted to assist them with that transition,” said Danielle Cuthbertson, who administers the program through the cattlemen’s association office.
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“We want to encourage producers in the province of B.C. to move to RFID tags because it is a superior technology and it is the way the industry is moving,” she said.
The province approved funding Sept. 1. No specified amount was designated.
“We’re not sure how much it is going to cost yet,” said Cuthbertson.
The program is taxable for rebates of more than $100.
The BCCA sent applications to 5,000 producers in September, and 150
applications identifying 25,720 females have been returned.
Cows must have had at least one offspring as of this past June.
“It does not include your replacement heifers or first time calvers,” she said.
The program will be audited to cross reference the information.
Beef Improvement Ontario administers the Market Access Program, in which eligible producers may receive a credit of $3 per head.
A total of $1.6 million was awarded to the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association through a joint federal-provincial funding program. The cattlemen’s association contracted administration to Beef Improvement Ontario.
The cattle industry has also contributed $350,000, said Dale Cowan, who manages the program.
It was approved June 21, 2006, and ends Dec. 31, 2007.
Participants must age verify 2006 calves, complete an on-farm food safety program such as the Verified Beef program and have a veterinary approved vaccination program.
Participants are subject to random audits to ensure qualifications are being met.
There are 17,000 to 18,000 producers in the province and 2,000 applications have been received. The average registration is 72 calves.
“Our goals in the next two years were to have about 400,000 of the 600,000 Ontario calves age verified,” Cowan said.
The producer submits the information and receives a certificate stating he has met all the qualifications. The certificate is then presented when buying next year’s tags.
For example, a producer who age verifies 25 calves and qualified for the program would receive a certificate issuing 25 credits with a total value of $75. The following year if the person bought 30 tags at $3.99 each, the final bill would be $44.70 plus applicable taxes.
There is no rebate for this year’s calves.
Those qualifying receive a four part tagging system for 2007 that includes the RFID tag and an orange management tag with an Ontario emblem to designate cattle that went through the program.
Ten field staff will help producers with age verification registration and provide program information.
