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Let's see what works and what doesn't,"

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
R-CALF Founder Wants National Animal ID To Return To Basics

By David Bowser

KANSAS CITY — "Change is always difficult," says Leo McDonnell, founder of R-CALF USA. "We found that through our endeavors with R-CALF. We even found that through our endeavors in our personal business, which is performance testing."

McDonnell says that when his father started their performance bull testing operation in 1962 with a handful of aggressive seedstock producers, he met resistance from within the industry.

"They wanted to measure birth weights, weaning weights, yearling weights, fertility," McDonnell says of his father and his first customers.

"They were banned from the industry, almost."

Other seedstock producers accused them of giving too much information to their buyers.

"My father and his fellow performance breeders said, 'No, that's not the point,'" McDonnell says. "'The point is to give them enough information so when they buy your product, they'll get the results they expect.'"

McDonnell says issues like the National Animal Identification System always remind him of his father's venture.

"As different as views can be," McDonnell says, "I have great faith in this country and in this industry that at the end of the day, we will resolve a lot of this."

The problem, he says, is the flow of accurate information.

"There seems to be plenty of smoke and mirror tactics being used by both proponents and opponents," McDonnell says. "I'm a little offended by it."

McDonnell indicates he is not opposed to an animal identification program.

"Our only income — our family's — in this industry is cattle," McDonnell says. "We have no other income. We understand the importance of an animal traceback system."

While understanding the importance of the system, he says he doesn’t like the way it's being done.

"I don't agree with the direction it's going today, and R-CALF has a strong policy opposing any mandatory ID," McDonnell says, "but how can you support something when you don't know what it is from a business standpoint?"

He says he's concerned that over the past year, the industry has been moving away from NAIS working group recommendations.

"Why are we not following them?" he asks. "We're the folks who are going to pay for this thing. We're the ones who are going to be burdened with all the work, the regulations and the recordkeeping."

He questions why USDA isn't listening to its self-described partners.

"We need to get back to the basics," McDonnell insists.

A major concern is who keeps the database.

"Privatization was never part of the NAIS cattle working group recommendations," McDonnell insists. "This is a public health issue. At least that's the way it's being sold to us."

Historically, he says, such programs have been run by the state and federal animal health departments.

McDonnell says he has great respect for the Montana Animal Health Department.

"Commoditizing value-based programs," McDonnell says, "was never part of the cattle working group recommendations."

He says records and the ability to track animals is part of his business. He sends semen to herds that evaluate bulls. Those calves are put in a feedyard, and when they're slaughtered, McDonnell collects the data.

"We require them to have some type of ID, whether it's a metal clip or, what we prefer, the low-frequency tag," McDonnell says. "We've been involved in that."

But that's a voluntary program. He doesn't force anyone to track their animals, but to participate in his trials, ranchers have to do certain things.

Those records are particularly important to some ranchers because of the programs in which they're involved.

"We have herds that we work with, because of the genetics we provide, that like to get into these organic programs," McDonnell says.

Performance, he adds offers a way to compete at a level with those who use stimulants or growth hormones. Ranchers participate for economic reasons. There is a profit incentive.

"We've done a lot of work the last couple of years getting these people up to speed on source verification programs," McDonnell says, "but once you mandate it, those premiums are all gone. They have no business bringing source verification into an animal traceback system and commoditizing it."

Those practices, he says, are useful in other countries.

"Not in the United States of America," McDonnell says.

The market will dictate what needs to be done, he contends.

"Our international markets will tell us what to do," McDonnell says. "This means that if they're good enough to do it, as business people we will do it."

McDonnell says there is a need to focus on an animal health traceback system instead of a national ID program.

He says the program needs to minimize the cost and government involvement.

"I appreciate the value of an animal traceback system," he says. "Where I come from — we ranch in both Montana and North Dakota — we've had a traceback system for years. At our home in Columbus, Mont., I cannot go 20 miles west or 15 miles east without getting some kind of government document, which tells you where that animal came from and where they're going. It's served us well in those states. They're called brand laws and livestock movement laws. We need to figure out a way to incorporate those, at least in the initial stages."

One pilot program that studied the brand system in North Dakota, he says, reported that it took five months to trace back an animal.

McDonnell says he checked on that and found that the researchers never went to the brand office to look for the documents and data that had been collected.

"Had they done that," McDonnell says, "they probably could have traced that animal back in 24 hours."

Trust, he says, is going to be a big part of implementing the National Animal Identification System.

"When you say that you're going to look at using our brand systems out in the West," McDonnell says, "you need to look at them in a real-world situation."

He says there needs to be an honest attempt to incorporate that system, both with brands and brucellosis tags.

"It's been disappointing to me that the discussions have gone on the last couple of years, and we haven't taken that initial step," he says.

McDonnell suggests that brucellosis tags that have a premise identification associated with them should be part of the system.

"You have to start somewhere," McDonnell says. "You have to get the people involved."

While cost, government regulations, confidentiality and liability are all concerns, McDonnell says he's also concerned that the country is moving away from a system of prevention, eradication and mitigation to one of management.

A national animal identification system, he believes, is part of that change in focus.

"Although it helps with the other three," McDonnell adds.

He is also concerned that the direction the system is now taking liberalizes import standards, and believes that will lead to a failure to address other sources of contamination outside the U.S. cattle industry.

"Where I live," McDonnell says, "I'm about 50 miles from Yellowstone Park."

He says there's a real brucellosis problem there with the park's buffalo herd.

"Why saddle me with an animal ID system when you're not going to address the contamination source next to me?" McDonnell asks. "That's not even a sound animal health practice."

He says if the federal government wants to bring this program forward, it has a responsibility to address those other sources of disease.

"Tuberculosis from Mexico still gives us some chronic problems," McDonnell notes. "We need to step up our TB surveillance coming in from Mexico. If you're going to saddle us with this program, obviously, let's heighten our contamination source surveillance."

A national traceback system, or national ID, he says, will be no better than systems or programs to address other disease exposures, both domestically and internationally.

"It should not be used to substitute for sound animal health practices just because you can now manage it," McDonnell says.

His is a call to get back to the basics of animal health.

"We need to identify the animals in order to allow for traceback," McDonnell says. "We need systems that are available out there. We're reporting data every day out there, whether it's on brands or the movement of our cows, that require the reading of each Bangs tag when I go from North Dakota to Montana. Why don't we have an up-to-date system? It's so disheartening to me, because a year ago we were almost there with USDA, and it seems like it was dropped."

He questions why no system is available to start incorporating some of the data that's already being collected.

McDonnell says he thinks a system like that can be perfected.

"Let's see what works and what doesn't," McDonnell says. "Let's see what we need to change, but let's get something going here that incorporates systems that we already use."

McDonnell is also calling for a cost evaluation of the National Animal Identification System.

"When you look at what some said the cost of country of origin labeling was going to be," McDonnell says, "and now you're talking about a program that traces back cattle with thousands of times more data being collected, it concerns me what the cost of this might be in the direction we're going today."

He says he's also concerned about international competition and an aging rancher population.

"I'm also very worried about the competition issue," McDonnell says. "We have a lot of little cattle buyers out there, and they're older. We need them in our business. I think it's going to scare the heck out of them when you come in with this thing. We need to address that. These are problems, and problems give us opportunities, but we need to address them first and then we can go forward."

"The U.S. once was a world leader in animal health and food safety," McDonnell reminds. "Let's not compromise those high standards by following in the footsteps of other countries, where our priority becomes only to manage animal diseases."
 

William Kanitz

Well-known member
Leo comments;His is a call to get back to the basics of animal health.

"We need to identify the animals in order to allow for traceback," McDonnell says. "We need systems that are available out there. We're reporting data every day out there, whether it's on brands or the movement of our cows, that require the reading of each Bangs tag when I go from North Dakota to Montana. Why don't we have an up-to-date system? It's so disheartening to me, because a year ago we were almost there with USDA, and it seems like it was dropped."

He questions why no system is available to start incorporating some of the data that's already being collected.

McDonnell says he thinks a system like that can be perfected.

Our system is perfected and its called ScoringAg and It includes Brands and movements ,Call me at 941-330-1140
 

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