nais/rfid info please

[ncfarmer]

i have some general questions about the rfid system. if they are going to make it mandatory the all animals leaving the farm be electronicly id'd by jan 1st 2008and possibly all livestock by jan 1st 2009. when you purchase electronic tags from say allflex do you order them and have your premisis id number installed on them from the factory? if you were only going to rfid calves and cows leaving the farm do you really need a reader, and that is my big question is the exact way these tags work, i dont think you can put any info on the tag yourself? so how do you order them? I am just begining to do my homework on this as i really hoped we would never have to do it. dont get me wrong i suppose it is a good thing just something else to worry with. but the usda nais page isnt any help and the allflex page doesnt have an rfid for dummies section so could someone please give me a crash course.

 

[cutterone]

It appears as of now that it will not be mandatory for now. The tag contains a 15 digit set of numbers ( 5 sets of 3) and as I understand it these numbers say that (as an example) the animal comes from the USA, the tag mfg was Alflex who is holding the records of who they supplied the tags to, and the balance of the numbers refer to the specific animal. Your premis ID number code will not be part of these numbers. You will be supplied a floppy disc and/or can go online to retrieve your code numbers and then asign an animal to each tag and numbers.
As far as needing a reader that would be your choice. We use the tags but do not have or need a reader as we do not have a great number of animals being worked and find it not necessary to spend the money to use a computerized system to record the animals as they are worked. We also use the "nested" set that has a visual tag (just like any other visual tag) that contains the same numbers as the rfid tag. It's just like putting a bar code on every animal but you never pay any attention to it until being scaned for sale or slaughter. For the most part it dosen't mean much until your animals are sold. It is at that point that you could retrieve the data back on your animals on slaughter data or if a diease outbreak should occur and the USDA needed to track the source of the animal they would use the "tag supplier" number that would give them a way to start the tracking back to the premis. Hope this helps.

 

[Shortgrass]

On a national basis, this will be voluntary for the time being. That may change with a change of faces in DC. I understand some states have installed a mandatory program.

 

[ncfarmer]

thanks for the info guys. i was under the influence that it was stricktly voluntary too that was why i hadnt looked too deeply into it, until i got the dec. issue of beef magazine. if you read the article about the king ranch rfid trials they say the nais timeline hopes for all farms to be in compliance for animals leaving the farm by jan 1 2008 and all animals by jan 1 2009. that was the first i had heard of a mandatory move and cant find anything else about it. it just kind of opened my eyes and made me realize i was behind on something. but the nais site has no info of a mandatory program and i havent received anything in the mail from usda or the state. so i guess i hope that was taken out of context or a missprint. the article would lead you to beleive a mandatory program is on the way soon and if that is so they really need to do some education or a lot of cattlemen in our area will be dumbfounded on jan 1 2008. either way thanks a lot.

 

[Jassy]

We have used these tags for about 3 yrs now...and basically we put the tags in our replacement heifers...and if the buyer wants em..we will put them in the calves that we sell for an extra fee. We have found that the tags are extremly helpful in our personal use. I run the software "Cowsense" and it is set up to scan the tag with the reader, bring up the cow and all her records. It sure saves alot of yelling out numbers from chuteside to me with the laptop and sometimes miss hear the correct eartag number and type in the wrong cow. As long as the cow stays on the place she will have the electronic tag. It is a volunteer program as of now..but we keep hearing that someday it'll be manditory. For us, where we run a whole lot of cows...it has helped our record keeping alot. I'm a much happier camper when my records and totals come out right! We've used Allflex and Tempo tags...didn't see much difference in them. The Allflex reader wand that we have will read either tag with no problem. Now if I can just get hubby to work the cows on "nice" days I'd have it made..lol