Animal ID in the U.S.

[farmers_son]

I have pasted a clip from Animalnet. While in Canada our industry adopted a regulated, mandatory animal ID system, in the U.S. the NCBA is advocating a market driven, voluntary system. There can be no question that a voluntary system will have to provide producers with some economic benefit for participating. Although we had the head start here in Canada there still is no economic benefit reaching the primary producer for tagging his cattle. Government regulation and mandatory requirements does not put money in the pockets of the primary producer while we stand all the costs and the benefits, when there are benefits, all accrue to others further up the value chain.

NCBA on animal ID
06.nov.06
National Meat Association
Elliotte Bowerman, Lean Trimmings
http://m1e.net/c?8593932-GR6Zdac7BpFZ.%402030096-MCI8RFws5FOWc
NCBA President Mike John of Huntsville, Missouri released a statement clarifying his association's position on Animal ID. In a nutshell, NCBA wants to limit government interference and control in the cattle business. "We have seen the failures of government involvement in agriculture, and cattlemen have chosen a different course. We believe in the entrepreneurial tradition of the ranchers and farmers that came before us, and we believe success comes from our ability to make our own decisions about how we market our cattle and manage our resources. So it makes sense that NCBA would favor a market-driven animal identification program, rather than government control," John said in the statement.
"I don't think anyone would argue that ID is simply a fact of life to which we must adapt," he added. "The question is, will it happen on producers' terms or the government's?" NCBA supports the management of animal identification by the newly created United States Animal Identification Organization (USAIO).
It is NCBA's belief that Animal ID can be accomplished on a voluntary basis with an industry-led system. "I believe concrete results will drive producer participation better than any government program," John concluded.

[greybeard]

Mandatory ID is becoming a pet peeve of mine. I truly don’t see any identifiable benefits in commodity beef production. It just costs me money.
I keep some calves over to sell as yearlings. Replacing tags before the truck gets there requires a sort. That means bringing them in the day before, sorting of the ones needing tags, running them up the chute, and holding them for the truck in the morning. Without the tags I could do it in the morning almost by myself.
Remember, this is under 20 month yearlings. Tractability is unlikely an issue.
Tags cost me over $1000 a year. I can think of lots of places around here that I could spend that money on identifiable improvements to my operation.
Age verified is a separate issue. It is a niche market. If some packers want to pursue that market they can afford to offer incentives to tag. They have no reason to pay if it is mandatory.
I say more power to U S producers if they don’t accept mandatory tagging. I mean that literally.

[cowman]

I've always said mandatory ID should be the governments baby? I mean come on, I do the labor of putting the tags in and record all the data...why should I pay for the tag?
I had quite a discussion about this with the late Carl Block and I came away realizing that if I didn't do it, who would? Answer...no one!
Yep, every other dog benifits, but without it who suffers the most...ME!
That's just how it is.

[smcgrath76]

I am firmly on the opposite side of the fence on this one.
I think as an exporting nation we need national ID. The less Gov't involvement the better. I figure if gov't supplies the tags then they are going to say how the program is run (they are trying to do this now).
I think we recieved a premium for having age verified calves this spring (hard to prove what the premium was really for) but fully expect this to disappear as more producers age verify.
While somewhat of a PITA, it is still reasonably practical in our low labour cowboy operation to tag calves as a group and report a calving start date to the database.
I think where we have fallen short as an industry is in leveraging that database and really adding value to it (eg: BSE tested safe, grading data back, targeting potential new export markets, further defining the Canadian cattle population and our end product, automated data transfer back to the cow/calf guy, benchmarking, etc.).

There are basically 2 other options I see.
1. Tagging is optional, but failure to tag eliminates participation in any and all export markets
2. The gov't pays for the program, the cost rises and the benefits decrease, and I get told what to do.

I agree with the gripe about paying for tags (a calf tax), but no one says I have to be just a cow/calf guy and I can own my tag for the whole life of the animal if I want to. I also think some of us need to develop and work with groups to add value to our tags we pay for.