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Last weeks cattle show on RFD TV. M-ID

alabama

Well-known member
As I was watching part of last weeks, “The Cattle Show” on RFD TV I came to some interesting conclusions and observations.
Cargill was the sponsor of the show as they are most every week. I guess that is putting it mildly. I looked more as if Cargill also filmed and produced the show. Sort of like an infomercial by Cargill.
Anyway, the speaker or expert last week was a professor from a university in Colorado. He was talking about animal ID and what we needed to be doing as producers as far as animal ID goes. As I understood his position on M ID and the level of traceability that needs to be in place, that each calf needed to be tagged at birth and the record needed to show the Dam of the calf the birth date in order for traceability to work. Now this is just his opinion and just will not work in Alabama. It is going to be hard enough just to get the calves tagged when sold with a trace back to the producer.
He was also asked how the producer would be able to afford maintaining a tagging and recording effort that would trace back a calf not only back to the farm but also back to the calf’s dam. His response was like we hear from all the others, that the premium received from the source verified calf would cover the cost. Well this got me thinking.
Consider this. If the level of traceability advocated by this one professor is made mandatory then all cattle will have it and thus no premium need be paid. No wonder Cargill is promoting it. When it is mandatory it wont cost Cargill one dime and the producer will foot the bill.
Did any of y’all see the show and what were your thoughts?
 

mrj

Well-known member
alabama said:
As I was watching part of last weeks, “The Cattle Show” on RFD TV I came to some interesting conclusions and observations.
Cargill was the sponsor of the show as they are most every week. I guess that is putting it mildly. I looked more as if Cargill also filmed and produced the show. Sort of like an infomercial by Cargill.
Anyway, the speaker or expert last week was a professor from a university in Colorado. He was talking about animal ID and what we needed to be doing as producers as far as animal ID goes. As I understood his position on M ID and the level of traceability that needs to be in place, that each calf needed to be tagged at birth and the record needed to show the Dam of the calf the birth date in order for traceability to work. Now this is just his opinion and just will not work in Alabama. It is going to be hard enough just to get the calves tagged when sold with a trace back to the producer.
He was also asked how the producer would be able to afford maintaining a tagging and recording effort that would trace back a calf not only back to the farm but also back to the calf’s dam. His response was like we hear from all the others, that the premium received from the source verified calf would cover the cost. Well this got me thinking.
Consider this. If the level of traceability advocated by this one professor is made mandatory then all cattle will have it and thus no premium need be paid. No wonder Cargill is promoting it. When it is mandatory it wont cost Cargill one dime and the producer will foot the bill.
Did any of y’all see the show and what were your thoughts?

Alabama, I did see most of that program. Who is the "top dog" in a multi-state area in your neck of the woods from agricultural colleges? Say in a five state area around AL. That is what Dr. Gary Smith is to a multi-state area around Colorado. I do not always agree with all that he says, but he is top-notch in his field and an expert worth listening to.

Re. Animal ID and that program, what I believe Dr. Smith and others were saying is that the USA is long overdue on adopting this among our cattle producing cohorts in the worldwide picture. It is going to be demanded by our customers, the beef sellers of this world. They believe their customers, the consumers, require the benefits if not the actual ID system. Benefits such as being able to quickly find source of disease or bacterial infection found in food, even to learning if the animals were handled in a humane way.

Personally, I would prefer that it not be mandatory, EXCEPT for the dangers to our US cattle herd from introduced or accidental animal diseases.

I would prefer that only those who CHOOSE to ID their animals get the rewards and benefits from doing so. Those who choose not to participate can sell their beef on the low end commodity market if that is the route they choose. That may suit some low cost producers fine, after all.

MRJ
 

alabama

Well-known member
Re. Animal ID and that program, what I believe Dr. Smith and others were saying is that the USA is long overdue on adopting this among our cattle producing cohorts in the worldwide picture. It is going to be demanded by our customers, the beef sellers of this world. They believe their customers, the consumers, require the benefits if not the actual ID system. Benefits such as being able to quickly find source of disease or bacterial infection found in food, even to learning if the animals were handled in a humane way.

You are exactly right MRJ. The point he was making was that we need to be able to track every animal that any other animal may have come in contact with in its lifetime. This means tagging every head and recording every movement made by that head to include pasture changes using premises ID. This is just not practical in the cow calf industry today. Nor is this what we have been hearing from the leaders in the local areas concerning what MID will mean to producers.
The other point I was making was that the packers would be the benefactors of MID while the producers will foot the bill.
Yes, we need animal ID but we need to find some middle ground.
 

mrj

Well-known member
alabama said:
Re. Animal ID and that program, what I believe Dr. Smith and others were saying is that the USA is long overdue on adopting this among our cattle producing cohorts in the worldwide picture. It is going to be demanded by our customers, the beef sellers of this world. They believe their customers, the consumers, require the benefits if not the actual ID system. Benefits such as being able to quickly find source of disease or bacterial infection found in food, even to learning if the animals were handled in a humane way.

You are exactly right MRJ. The point he was making was that we need to be able to track every animal that any other animal may have come in contact with in its lifetime. This means tagging every head and recording every movement made by that head to include pasture changes using premises ID. This is just not practical in the cow calf industry today. Nor is this what we have been hearing from the leaders in the local areas concerning what MID will mean to producers.
The other point I was making was that the packers would be the benefactors of MID while the producers will foot the bill.
Yes, we need animal ID but we need to find some middle ground.

I have to disagree with you on that! In SD, each ranch has one premise number, I believe, unless they have more than one home address. Here is how we are operating this year, and many years prevous. Calves are born in one of four pastures within a mile or three of our house. They are tagged, identified as to the cow, within hours (for the most part) to a day or two of birth. After branding, they will be moved to various other pastures on the ranch, with numbers and dates of moving recorded in the "red book". Or some will be moved to other pastures leased for the season, same recording system. In fall, they will be moved into weaning pastures for a period of time, then into the backgrounding lot. They will be sold between late fall and early spring, with records intact. We keep those records for our own use, and passing them along to whomever needs them will not be a problem.

The problem I see is determining what info beyond date of birth and premise location we want to sell to buyers.

MRJ

MRJ
 
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