• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Japan looking to buy beef with traceback

Help Support Ranchers.net:

SASH

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
567
Reaction score
0
Location
Southern Manitoba
Future holds tracking system for cattle




Feb 23, 2005 (The Roanoke Times - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- If you were grocery shopping in Japan and bought a piece of beef, you could scan it and immediately get a printout detailing everything you'd want to know about the purchase.

The detail would include the birth date of the cow, information about the cattleman, and the date when and location where the meat was produced.

The printout follows all the steps of the animal, from birth to death.

But don't expect a system that sophisticated becoming standard practice anytime soon in the United States.

Cattlemen have resisted such costly technology. But some industry experts said a tracking system could financially benefit cattlemen because they can market attributes inherent to their product. Those attributes could add value, and ultimately, a higher price, for their beef.

Blue Ridge Premium Beef, a Dublin-based label and partnership of five cattlemen, voluntarily controls and traces its livestock from birth to slaughter. Its meat contains no preservatives, hormones, added water or coloring.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to create a national network that would track, within 48 hours, every contact a diseased animal has had in its life. The USDA says such tracking is necessary because a single Holstein infected with mad-cow disease led more than 30 countries, including Japan, to close their borders to U.S. beef in late 2003.

But that associated dollar loss and blemish to the cattle industry could have been avoided if the USDA had had a way to track the source of that particular cow, one cattleman said.

The value of the slaughtered cattle was reduced by $175 per head in the past 13 months because the United States lost the Japanese market, said Mike Goldwasser, a partner in Blue Ridge Premium Beef. The demand decreased, and the beef that would have been shipped to Japan ended up staying in the United States.

One of the most irritating things, Goldwasser said, was when the USDA said it would not allow willing U.S. packers to check for mad-cow disease. Some packers were willing to pay to trace the disease, Goldwasser said.

"That would have been good for those packers and the U.S. As a result, we lost the Japanese market. It will be very hard to get that market back."

The USDA rationale, he said, was that the service would have had to be available to all countries.

So how does the United States remain competitive in the global marketplace?

You have to look at what consumers want, said Kevin Smith, assistant director of export services with the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Denver.

Smith, a speaker at the Virginia Agriculture Summit in Roanoke on Tuesday, said consumers outside the U.S. border have shifted from a "tell me and I'll believe it" philosophy to a "show me what you're doing" philosophy.

Goldwasser said he and his partners continually field questions from consumers, asking about the origin of Blue Ridge Premium Beef.

"If you can verify the source of the beef and, as a result, get a premium price for it, more power to you," he said.

The cattle industry is reluctant to accept tracing programs, Goldwasser said.

"Cattle people are very paranoid."

If the government can trace a diseased animal to a producer, then that producer becomes liable. Cattlemen prefer to remain anonymous, he said, adding that they should accept liability as part of their production and be proud of what they produce.

As envisioned in Washington, D.C., the tracking network would cover not only cattle, but horses, poultry, bison, sheep, hogs and farmed fish as well.

Even children who raise and exhibit an animal as a 4-H project would be part of the network.

One of the chief ideas under consideration would involve electronic tags on animals' ears. The USDA has funded testing of the technology in Idaho and other states. Smith thinks some type of mandatory national tracking system will be in place in four to seven years.

But that system would track only from ranch to slaughter, whereas in Japan the system tracks cattle from birth to the retail purchase.
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to create a national network that would track, within 48 hours, every contact a diseased animal has had in its life. The USDA says such tracking is necessary because a single Holstein infected with mad-cow disease led more than 30 countries, including Japan, to close their borders to U.S. beef in late 2003

Canada can't track in 48 hours and doubt they can in the near future.
 
Only www.scoringsystem.info/agri/ can traceback all movements and ownerships in around 10 seconds. 48 hrs is 1992 technology !
 
You can trace movement, but you can't trace all animals it came into contact with. If I have your system and take the 4-H steer to the other members ranches for mini shows during the summer this will show up on the trace back.
 
First RFID Bolus Used in Panama's Cattle Industry
The latest RFID technology presented at the Chan Mendez Ranch in Panama uses RFID bolus and buttons from AVID to track cattle from "field – to – fork" and provide precise data to ScoringSystem's worldwide, Web-based cattle traceback system.

(PRWEB) February 14, 2005 -- On January 23, 2005, ScoringSystem was invited to the Chan Mendez Ranch in Panama for the first ever demonstration of their cattle traceback system using an RFID bolus for tracking cattle in that country's history. Representing ScoringSystem, Inc. were William Kanitz, company president, Luis Garcés, international sales manager, Lincoln Garcia, general director – Panama, and Eduardo Morzán, regional manager – Panama. Sponsored by Banco General, one of Panama's largest agricultural commercial banks, and Pfizer, the international pharmaceutical giant, and organized by Dr. Enrique Samudio of COPEG, Panama's veterinarian association, this second agricultural meeting featured Mr. Kanitz in a live demonstration of traceback using an RFID bolus, AVID electronic reading equipment, and ScoringSystem's traceback software.

Also during the meeting at the Chan Mendez Ranch, the ScoringSystem cattle traceback team had the opportunity to present the latest Web-based, wireless technology applied in a full traceback system for cattle throughout Panama. The presentation and discussion also involved a detailed review of numerous issues, including the eradication and prevention of cattle diseases, and how Panama's use of ScoringSystem.com cattle traceback system could contribute to the success of the country's cattle disease control and export meat programs.

In addition, use of RFID bolus and RFID buttons, and the tracking and traceability of the cattle in ScoringSystem.com's Web-based databank, could practically eliminate losses due to cattle theft throughout Panama's cattle industry, while providing traceability for their meat supply. During the demonstration, data recovery via the Web in real time was accomplished within 10 seconds, even in this remote backcountry area of Panama.

Veterinarians from COPEG, ranchers and cattle association officials, and high-profile members of the Panamanian agriculture ministry, and the wholesale / retail food industry were very enthusiastic about the possibilities and accuracy of using ScoringSystem.com for positive traceback throughout the country's cattle industry.

ScoringSystem.com and its cattle traceback system, featuring Site-Specific Recordkeeping™ and PIDC location code, are one of the many divisions of ScoringSystem, Inc., which is located in Sarasota, Florida USA and specializes in providing solutions with mobile data, via wireless PDAs, laptops, and Semacode-programmed Nokia mobile phones. Whether using an RFID code or barcodes for tracking and traceback of livestock or perishable commodities and other consumer goods, or storing performance data for sports players, www.ScoringSystem.com makes managing data easier, and does it in an extremely cost effective manner.





[/img]
 
G'day Sash, The system of traceback you speak of has become more common with feedlots in Australia recently with there being A premium of about 8 to 10cents/kg for vendor bred steers with full life history .I just sold 82 angus steers to Nippon meats feedlot & the paperwork is quite detailed & tested the owners record keeping with month of birth, weaning treatment ,type of pasture ,any vetinary treatment(drenches,vaccinations etc) as well as bloodlines and so on. The buyer said that this is to comply with the JAS system which as you said allows the shopper in Japan to trace the history of the product. Again the customer is right.
regards
Tully
 
Tully said:
G'day Sash, The system of traceback you speak of has become more common with feedlots in Australia recently with there being A premium of about 8 to 10cents/kg for vendor bred steers with full life history .I just sold 82 angus steers to Nippon meats feedlot & the paperwork is quite detailed & tested the owners record keeping with month of birth, weaning treatment ,type of pasture ,any vetinary treatment(drenches,vaccinations etc) as well as bloodlines and so on. The buyer said that this is to comply with the JAS system which as you said allows the shopper in Japan to trace the history of the product. Again the customer is right.
regards
Tully

Tully- some of the feedlots that were feeding for the Japanese trade here were requiring the same type of paperwork being filled out and signed- the feedlot then used their own ID system to track these cattle thru the feedlot and to slaughter for the Japanese....
 
Only www.scoringsystem.info/agri/ can traceback all movements and ownerships in around 10 seconds. 48 hrs is 1992 technology !


:roll: Give me a break!!!!!!!!!
 
The system I spoke of goes beyond the slaughter floor to the hands of the Japanese consumer standing at the meat counter. The person can scan the item there on a barcode scanner which tells them the history or can later enter an internet site that does the same thing with a product number these two methods refer to the individual animal. It is the JAS system that has been in use in Japan for a while & was instigated over here at their request. The first to do it of course were the Japanese owned companies that operate here Nippon, Marubeni etc the others are all folowing but with the compulsory rfid system being instigated the "whole of life tracability" issue becomes clearer although traceability beyond the kill floor is still vague with some proccessors.
regards
Tully
 
The first to do it of course were the Japanese owned companies that operate here Nippon, Marubeni etc the others are all folowing but with the compulsory rfid system being instigated the "whole of life tracability" issue becomes clearer although traceability beyond the kill floor is still vague with some proccessors.
regards
Tully
Yes Tully ,Most proccessors don't want to add to their infrasturture and improve their system unless its a law that is passed and then they are forced too.www.scoringsystem.com builds databases for traceback of everything under the sun.With our system of infromation restructure we build barcodes on the fly as data is typed into the database.Glad we have worldwide patents as everyone on earth would copy our system.One of our features is taking RFID activitys and embeding it in a barcode that picture cellphones can decode at the point of sale every thing you mentioned above and more.Our RFID phone is getting some testing done now and will have huge benifits for the rancher to the consumer.
 
In addition, use of RFID bolus and RFID buttons, and the tracking and traceability of the cattle in ScoringSystem.com's Web-based databank, could practically eliminate losses due to cattle theft throughout Panama's cattle industry, while providing traceability for their meat supply. During the demonstration, data recovery via the Web in real time was accomplished within 10 seconds, even in this remote backcountry area of Panama.
Read this press release and this is what LMA needs and should support.There is plenty of RUSTLERS in the country side and this would put a feather in their hat and this system would work for branded cattle to.And besides the speed of ten seconds may not be as fast as google ,but it sure a hell a lot faster then the USAIP groups speed of TWO DAYS!
 
Cattle rustlers are the same world over it would be naive to believe to think that they would'nt remove the rfid ear tag &replace it with there own. Trials with rumen bolus here show that if you put another bolus in an animal along with the existing device the scanner will only read the last one & ignores the first. Any way this is all academic as any system that loses track of the animal as soon as it is killed is as handy as an ashtray on a motorbike
Tully
 
TULLEY,
We have had feedlots cut out RFID tags and throw them away, needless to say we do not do business with them anymore. Any system is only going to be as good as the people involved.
 
This is what LMA needs and should support.Hell R-CALF should do it too,If NCBA wants their own databank weshould want one too.There is plenty of RUSTLERS in the country side and this would put a feather in their hat and this system would work for branded cattle to.And besides the speed of ten seconds may not be as fast as google ,but it sure a hell a lot faster then the USAIP groups speed of TWO DAYS!
 
The goverment says anybody can collect data but the data has to record movements from one premises to another and all animals have to be known that were comminglied in at that time and send the infromation to the national database.
 
This is what LMA needs and should support, a REAL MID system from a company THAT isn't funded by the TAXPAYERS.And besides the speed of ten seconds may not be as fast as google ,but it sure a hell a lot faster then the USAIP groups speed of TWO DAYS! NO one is going to use a MID system that WORKS two DAYS LATER.CANADA's SYSTEM is so stupid and slow ,its a joke.US 's Premises system is a laugher as I don't have a ZIP CODE for the BACK Forty pasture and after 9 pastures the system doesn't compute.Their Right when they say ,50 little KINGDOMS can't talk to each other with out an ARGUEMENT.
 
The implementation of a NAIS will be conducted in three main phases. Under Phase I, USDA would evaluate current federally funded animal identification systems and determine which system(s) should be used for a NAIS, further the dialogue with producers and other stakeholders on the operation of a NAIS, identify staffing needs, and develop any regulatory and legislative proposals needed for implementing the system.

Phase II would involve the implementation of the selected animal identification system at regional levels for one or more selected species, continuation of the communication and education effort, addressing regulatory needs and working with Congress on any needed legislation.

In Phase III, the selected animal identification system(s) would be scaled up to the national level.

The first step in the process is to select an interim data repository to handle incoming national premises data. USDA has commissioned an independent analysis of repositories that are currently part of various USDA-funded animal identification projects around the country. Once the system is identified that shows greatest potential for use on a national level, USDA will enter into cooperative agreements with states, Indian tribes and other government entities to assist them in adapting their existing systems to the new system.
 
Posted: 26 February 2005 1222 hrs

Japan confirms its 15th case of mad cow disease: report

TOKYO : Japan has confirmed its 15th case of mad cow disease, media reports said on Saturday.

However health authorities were not avaliable to comment on the reports.How many more will they HAVE????????



The infection was confirmed in the carcass of an eight-year-old Holstein dairy cow on the northern island of Hokkaido, Kyodo news agency said.

The cow tested positive for the brain-wasting disease officially known as bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE), which was first discovered in Japan in 2001.

The government subsequently introduced testing for all cows slaughtered for food.

Japan banned imports of US beef after a case of mad cow disease was found in an animal in Washington state in 2003.

Before the ban, Japan was the leading market for American beef exports, taking about US$1.4 billion worth in 2003.

Japan also recently first confirmed its first case of the human variant of mad cow disease.

The government said a man died in December from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) after eating infected beef.
 
Was talking to a fello rancher in the US tonight and he said he had heard rumors this could be an imported cow from the US. I don't know if Japan ever imported dairy hiefers or cows from north america! :???:
 
Japan imported a large amount of Dairy calves from Canada in 98 and 99 .They were bought during the World Dairy expo in 97 when Canada 's Holstiens were the top dairy animals at the show.One company picked up calves from all over Canada an then had them air transported to Japan to upgrade their dairy infrastructure.
 

Latest posts

Top