Registration had been voluntary but only 20 percent of beef producers were enrolled, compared to almost 100 percent in other sectors
Premises identification is now mandatory for Saskatchewan livestock producers.
After several years of voluntary registration, the hog, poultry and sheep sectors are at or near 100 percent compliance, said agriculture minister Lyle Stewart.
However, only 20 percent of the province’s 14,500 beef producers have registered.
Less than 3,000 producers, veterinarians, feedlots and other commingling sites are enrolled, leading the provincial government to pass regulations making premises identification a requirement to participate in livestock programs such as the provincial pasture program.
“The federal government has stated that they’re going to make this mandatory across the country in 2017, so it’s time for our cattle producers to enroll,” Stewart said.
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A premises ID number will be required to market cattle, Stewart said, and he encouraged producers to register as soon as possible.
The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association has long called for mandatory premises ID.
President Ryan Beierbach said the regulations were necessary to bring producers into compliance.
“We have seen with the recent situation of bovine tuberculosis that knowing where animals are and how they have moved is very important to the traceability process,” he said in a statement.
Premises ID is one of the three pillars of traceability; animal ID and animal movement are the other two.
Stewart said Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia all have mandatory premises ID.
“It’s not a hard process,” he said about registering online or phoning the Ag Knowledge Centre.
He said the independent nature of cattle producers could be why they have been slow to sign up.
“We don’t like to be told what to do,” he said. “That’s one of our qualities as well as one of our shortcomings.”
Producers can register at premises id.saskatchewan.ca.
