Kate- You can call your state Dept. of Livestock or brand office and they can fill you in on the premise ID... Montana does not yet have premise ID and may not this year-they have a pilot program they are evaluating that will use brands and brand inspection along with individual animal ID....Wyo. may be one of the other states looking at the same.......
I talked with two of the cattle buyers (that buy the largest amount of cattle out of this area every year) last week- one owns several large feedlots.... Both of them said there will be no requirement for any type of tagging system yet this year--- Both said that they prefer the hot brands, which gives the cattle a "permanent" mark, and then allows each individual feeder that buys the calves to mark or ID with whatever system they use (tags, retinal scanning, implants, whatever)....But they both agreed that it will be important to keep good records on the calves-- birth time period (ex. Mar 20- May1) , area pastured, all shots, any feed additives, hormones, etc and to have this all available in affidavit form for the buyers in the fall- so the info can be delivered to the feeders...Stuff that most of the producers up here have already been doing for years....