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Sheep join cattle, bison in ear tag ID program

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Published: May 16, 2002

RED DEER – Canada’s national cattle identification program is expanding

to include other species.

Bison and dairy producers have already joined the Canadian Cattle

Identification Agency and sheep farmers are in the process of doing so,

said CCIA manager Julie Stitt.

The sheep industry requires legislative changes to its regulations

before launching a full identification program.

“We’re halfway there and we’ve got a verbal agreement to store numbers

with CCIA,” said Richard Stern of the Canadian Sheep Federation.

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The federation is also investigating various types of tags, which

producers say must be easy to read and low cost.

Each animal receives a unique identification number and must be tagged

before it leaves the farm. This is a departure from an earlier proposal

to assign animals flock numbers.

While Alberta producers widely denounced a mandatory tagging program,

figures from the agency show the province has adopted the tags with

greater frequency than others.

“Based on percentage of beef cow tags, their uptake is higher than

every other province, even though they were the most verbal about it,”

Stitt said.

Suppliers have issued 21 million tags and 9.5 million numbers have been

entered in the CCIA database.

The program’s next phase is the July 1 deadline when tagging becomes

mandatory.

On that date, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency may fine producers

who sell cattle or bison without approved tags. Fines start at $500 for

the first offence.

The program focuses on animal health. If a reportable disease is

detected in live animals or at the processing level, the herd of origin

can be traced almost immediately.

“It won’t keep diseases out, but we can quickly identify and eradicate

them to keep our borders open,” Stitt told the annual Alberta

Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Red Deer.

“We don’t want a major wreck in the industry.”

So far, the CFIA has launched 10 trace backs when animals reached the

packing plant with suspicious symptoms. This prevented widespread

testing and quarantine of animals.

  • ine different tag manufacturers have been approved and tests are

ongoing for various tag styles.

Stitt predicts that more people will shift to electronic tags because

they are smaller and more easily read using radio frequencies. Button

shaped, they are about the size of a loonie so there is less chance of

losing them.

“There are two already approved but they are not widely used,” she

said.

Ongoing audits in packing plants are further evaluating tags for

retention and readability. The tag needs to be read within 10 seconds

as the carcass moves down the packing plant rail.

The CCIA already knows some tags aren’t working well and believes

producers will determine which they like best.

As well, the tags’ purpose is expanding.

Alberta and Ontario cattle producers have approved the release of

information to track stray animals. An authorized person such as a

brand inspector or RCMP officer must make the request for an owner’s

name.

“When they call us with a number from a stray, we call the herd of

origin first to get permission to release it,” Stitt said.

People have readily agreed because they want their animals back.

“It’s just another level of protection.”

Another voluntary trial in the planning stages involves tagging cows

living near Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, where

tuberculosis and brucellosis in deer and elk are an ongoing concern.

Cattle will be tagged and tracked within a specific zone within the

park’s buffer area to monitor their movement and contact with wildlife.

About the author

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth

Barbara Duckworth has covered many livestock shows and conferences across the continent since 1988. Duckworth had graduated from Lethbridge College’s journalism program in 1974, later earning a degree in communications from the University of Calgary. Duckworth won many awards from the Canadian Farm Writers Association, American Agricultural Editors Association, the North American Agricultural Journalists and the International Agriculture Journalists Association.

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