New ID tags enable farmers to track and trace cattle
The future of farm animal management and controlling any biosecurity risks is just a tag away.
The future of farm animal management and controlling any biosecurity risks is just a tag away.
National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) have developed a new identification system that will enable farmers to track and trace their cattle nationwide.
The new tags are radio frequency technology devices placed in the centre of the right ear of the calf or deer.
They provide fast, up-to-date and reliable information about stock location and movements, enabling farmers to scan the tags as the cattle move from farms or sale yards.
NAIT has been working on a New Zealand system of tagging for the past three years and around 2.5 million cattle have already received the new tags, which are on display at Fieldays.
Tony Corcoran, the operations manager for NAIT, believes that the new system will be more effective for New Zealand farmers.
“We used to have bar codes but it was hard to read the tags when they were covered in mud or weathered. This new system will allow all the tags to be read as the animal walks past a checkpoint.”
In addition to the track and trace system, the new tags will have biosecurity benefits.
For example, if there were a biosecurity threat or a disease outbreak, the tags would enable farmers to contain, manage and fix the problem.
“By using the tags, we would know what animals were where, when the disease was discovered,” said Mr Corcoran.
“It’s like an insurance policy for farmers.”
All cattle must be tagged on the farm of their birth, between 30 and 180 days after birth, or before they are moved onto another farm.
The new tags will be a mandatory policy by mid-late 2012 for cattle, and for deer in 2013.
NAIT is designing tags for other species of animals in the future.
This system of animal identification tagging is already being used in many countries, including Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia.
NAIT is providing demonstrations and information at the Waikato Fieldays. They are located in the Mystery Creek Pavilion, site PD39.
