Enhancing Livestock Traceability: The New USDA Regulations

The movement of animals across state lines necessitates official identification to effectively manage and contain disease outbreaks impacting livestock. Accurate and timely movement data is critical for minimizing the size and scope of these events. Traditional visual ID tags, such as metal tags, require manual recording, leading to significant delays, increased error opportunities, and a slowdown in compliance with traceability regulations.

The USDA has recognized these challenges and documented that electronically recorded ID and movement data can drastically reduce the time needed to locate an animal among millions of data points to under an hour. In contrast, relying on paper records can result in delays of days, weeks, or even months. Sometimes records are lost entirely, rendering the tracing process ineffective.

Since the initial Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) regulations were published in 2013, the advantages of electronic identification and documentation have become increasingly clear. As a result, the USDA has updated regulations to address the need for more efficient and reliable systems. The most significant change is the requirement for all animals needing official identification to be identified with tags that are both visually and electronically readable.

Important Note: Visual tags, such as official metal clip tags applied before November 5, 2024, will still be accepted as official IDs. However, tags applied after this date must be electronically readable in addition to being visually readable. This change aims to improve the speed and accuracy of livestock movement tracking.

The USDA also made some minor changes in the traceability rule, including clarifying the definition of dairy cattle and making small adjustments to the definition of the Interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (ICVI) to accommodate electronic documentation. Importantly, the types of cattle that must be identified when moving interstate have not changed.

This means that all dairy females and males born after March 11, 2013, exhibition and rodeo cattle, and sexually intact beef cattle 18 months of age and older must be officially identified before moving interstate.

To support the implementation of these regulations, the USDA will continue to prioritize funding to offer no-cost electronic IDs for cattle moving interstate. This initiative aims to reduce the financial burden on producers and encourage compliance with the updated traceability requirements.

The updated Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) regulations, effective November 5, 2024, aim to enhance the nation's ability to respond to and mitigate the impact of foreign or significant diseases affecting livestock.

Key points of these regulations include:

• Electronic Tags Requirement: Cattle tags applied after November 5, 2024, must be both visually and electronically readable (RFID). This change is expected to cover 11 million cattle annually at a total cost of approximately $26 million, equating to about 2.5 cents per $100 of cattle value (0.025%).
• Unchanged Identification Requirements: The types of cattle required to be identified when moving interstate remain unchanged. The list includes dairy cattle, sexually intact beef cattle 18 months or older, and rodeo and exhibition cattle.
• Acceptance of Metal Tags: Official metal tags that conform to the National Uniform Eartagging System and were applied before the November 5, 2024, deadline will continue to be accepted. While typically placing two official IDs on an animal is not allowed, an exception is made if the first tag is just visual and the second tag is electronically readable, such as an RFID tag.
• Updated Definitions: The definition of dairy cattle now includes any crosses of Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey, Milking Shorthorn, Red and White, and their offspring.
• Tag Specifications: Approved tags must be tamper-resistant, have a high retention rate of at least 99%, and start with the three numbers 840; the ISO code for the United States. Tags using a 900 series will not be recognized as official, even if electronically readable.
• Tag Placement: RFID tags are recommended to be placed in the left ear.

The USDA's ongoing commitment to improving livestock traceability through these regulations will enhance disease management and response capabilities. Electronic identification and documentation are central to this effort, paving the way for more efficient and accurate tracking of livestock movements. Visit the USDA website for more information.