In 1996 only 15 percent of Canadian dairy cattle were registered, down from 90 percent three decades ago. The dairy industry intends to reverse the trend and do it quickly.
Dairy producers will soon be able to trace the origins of any cow they keep, buy, sell or breed.
The National Livestock Identification Strategy for dairy cattle will come into effect this September. It allows producers and government agencies to trace and track cattle infections and other diseases through an animal registry.
Registration will begin with a lifetime number and eartags applied at birth, upon importation into Canada or before the animal is shipped from the farm.
Read Also
VIDEO: Agritechnica Day 4: Robots and more robots, Nexat loves Canada and the trouble with tariffs
Agritechnica Day 4: Robots and more robots, Nexat loves Canada and the trouble with tariffs.
Twelve months from the start of the registry program the Canadian Dairy Breeds Association hopes to represent more than 300,000 fully registered cattle. More than 1.2 million cows are in milk production with an equal number of female progeny maturing to take their place.
Agriculture Canada is collaborating on development of the proposal.
Registration has returned mostly because of international trade, said Glenn Cherry of the Canadian Dairy Breeds.
“Not only do we need to have high standards and safety in the system, internationally we need to be seen as having those high standards,” said Cherry.
A national computer database will monitor movement of animals from birth to slaughter. Industry analysts say that will improve a system that now relies on farmer records.
“The identification system needs to travel attached to the animal rather than being a separate set of information. The lifetime numbers and the tags are a way of accomplishing this,” said Cherry.
The database will be based on the lifetime number assigned to the single metal tag.
