American Angus Assn. partners with APHIS on animal id
Thursday, August 9, 2007, 9:22 AM
by Cyndi Young
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) signed a cooperative agreement with the Angus Association yesterday to recognize the cooperative efforts of both groups in the education of the premises registration process and enrollments. At a ceremonial signing held in St. Joseph, MO, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight said voluntary premises registration provides significant assistance for disease tracking and other biosecurity issues.
Knight told Brownfield the American Angus Association will help USDA on premises registration for the animal id system.
"Remember, we're trying to put in place a national animal ID system. The first order of business is to have all producers of livestock, regardless of the species, register their premises."
"That is basically, in the event of a disease outbreak, whether that's pseudorabies or brucellosis or FMD, we're able to notify folks this is occurring in their community and the most important step is premises registration," said Knight. "Today, the American Angus Association said they are going to turn some of their resources to work with us and they hope to be able to add some 15,000 premises over the next year for animal id."
Knight told Brownfield the benefit to the Angus breeders who participate in animal id is about protecting herd health and economic viability and being a good steward for your neighbor.
"In the event of a catastrophic disease outbreak, what we generally have to do is come in and test and all too often you have to depopulate the animals to control the disease," said Knight. "The faster we can work shaving traceback from days or weeks to hours, the faster we are able to test, the fewer animals have to be depopulated. That in turn means your herd genetics are not sacrificed."
Knight said he is looking for synergies between breed registries and a national animal id system, transitioning to an official numbering system that is rapidly traceable in the event of a disease outbreak.
In recent years, biosecurity issues around the world have prompted action in the United States to avoid similar outbreaks potentially threatening our food supply. It also sparked an overall effort to educate those in production agriculture on the risks and preventative measures associated with biosecurity issues. Traceability, through premise registration, has been identified as one key preventative component in this effort.
Under the agreement, educational efforts will include on-site educational discussions through the Association's Outreach Seminars and other educational programs, print advertising, direct mail as well as e-mail communications. In addition, with the assistance of ABG, Inc., online training programs will be available to cattle producers across the nation. The online program will describe the value and benefits of registering premises and the steps necessary to complete an enrollment.
Founded in 1883, the American Angus Association has registered more than 15 million Angus cattle, with 347,572 head of cattle registered in 2006.
USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight (mp3 3:32)
Thursday, August 9, 2007, 9:22 AM
by Cyndi Young
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) signed a cooperative agreement with the Angus Association yesterday to recognize the cooperative efforts of both groups in the education of the premises registration process and enrollments. At a ceremonial signing held in St. Joseph, MO, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight said voluntary premises registration provides significant assistance for disease tracking and other biosecurity issues.
Knight told Brownfield the American Angus Association will help USDA on premises registration for the animal id system.
"Remember, we're trying to put in place a national animal ID system. The first order of business is to have all producers of livestock, regardless of the species, register their premises."
"That is basically, in the event of a disease outbreak, whether that's pseudorabies or brucellosis or FMD, we're able to notify folks this is occurring in their community and the most important step is premises registration," said Knight. "Today, the American Angus Association said they are going to turn some of their resources to work with us and they hope to be able to add some 15,000 premises over the next year for animal id."
Knight told Brownfield the benefit to the Angus breeders who participate in animal id is about protecting herd health and economic viability and being a good steward for your neighbor.
"In the event of a catastrophic disease outbreak, what we generally have to do is come in and test and all too often you have to depopulate the animals to control the disease," said Knight. "The faster we can work shaving traceback from days or weeks to hours, the faster we are able to test, the fewer animals have to be depopulated. That in turn means your herd genetics are not sacrificed."
Knight said he is looking for synergies between breed registries and a national animal id system, transitioning to an official numbering system that is rapidly traceable in the event of a disease outbreak.
In recent years, biosecurity issues around the world have prompted action in the United States to avoid similar outbreaks potentially threatening our food supply. It also sparked an overall effort to educate those in production agriculture on the risks and preventative measures associated with biosecurity issues. Traceability, through premise registration, has been identified as one key preventative component in this effort.
Under the agreement, educational efforts will include on-site educational discussions through the Association's Outreach Seminars and other educational programs, print advertising, direct mail as well as e-mail communications. In addition, with the assistance of ABG, Inc., online training programs will be available to cattle producers across the nation. The online program will describe the value and benefits of registering premises and the steps necessary to complete an enrollment.
Founded in 1883, the American Angus Association has registered more than 15 million Angus cattle, with 347,572 head of cattle registered in 2006.
USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight (mp3 3:32)
