National Farm Animal Identification & Records

Transcription

1 National Farm Animal Identification & Records Volume Two May 2002 American Veal Association launches pilot project in conjunction with National F.A.I.R. By Dan Catherman, American Veal Association The Veal Quality Assurance Program of the American Veal Association has started an animal identification pilot project in conjunction with National F.A.I.R.The goal of this pilot project, funded by the Beef Checkoff Program, is to evaluate the feasibility of implementing an identification system into the veal production cycle and to investigate how improved identification methods could impact veal quality and profitability. Current identification within a veal facility is by the stall the calf occupies. This allows the veal producer to maintain individual feeding and medication records on each calf under his or her care. However, once the animal leaves the veal barn, that identification is lost. Our goal is to work closely with packers to create a system in which carcass data can be correlated with the live animal records. By matching the carcass information to the live animal information, management decisions can be evaluated based on their effect on carcass confirmation and condition. The traceability aspect of animal identification is also attractive to the veal industry because it provides a complete record from birth to carcass for a majority of veal calves. It is hoped that this will increase consumer confidence in veal and result in increased consumption. Finally, as an industry, we believe that animal identification will become mandatory in the near future and pilot projects such as this will put the veal industry ahead of the curve. Sir Winston Churchill once said, Better to take change by the hand before it takes you by the throat. From left to right Dan Catherman (AVA), Rick Cronce (National F.A.I.R.), Dick Dennis (President AVA) Identification and Quality Assurance Programs By Robert Fourdraine National F.A.I.R.Team Coordinator One of today's common buzz words is "value-added". In agriculture's popular press, many articles describe plans for new Quality Assurance Programs that will add value to the products provided to the consumer.the underlying commonality of these QA programs is the attempt to provide the consumer a premium product. Issues such as niche marketing, organic farming, as well as quality standards for animal health welfare and the end product, drive these quality assurance programs that are being developed to add value to agricultural products. To implement a quality assurance program in most species of the animal industry, unique Robert Fourdraine, National F.A.I.R.Team Coordinator individual animal identification is needed. Animal ID needs to be linked to a production unit to gather the information needed to differentiate products and the environment they were produced in. Therefore, we need an ID system to identify the different production units (a.k.a. premise ID). The F.A.I.R. system can be used as the critical ID link that is needed to connect data that is obtained from different production units. This data in turn can be used in the various Quality Assurance programs. As described in the article by Dan Catherman of the American Veal Association, AVA will be using the F.A.I.R. system to identify individual animals at birth, and track movement from farm to harvest. Information will be collected at various points, but all will be tied together through the individual animal ID and premise ID that the animal has been at. By combining the animal ID and premise ID information with the management information collected at the various production units and standards defined by an organization, a Quality Assurance Program can be built. page 1

2 Validation One of the goals of the F.A.I.R. pilot program is to validate the retention of the RFID tags and the reliability and accuracy of RFID stationary readers at the packing plants. During 2001 and the first 4 months of 2002, all F.A.I.R. pilot herds were visited and animals were randomly checked. Newborn animals at the various pilot herds received RFID tags at birth, while mature cows were generally tagged within six months after the herd was signed up on F.A.I.R. Mature cows were usually tagged by Holstein Association, State and Federal staff, while the newborns are tagged by the farms staff. For practical purposes, the conditions these animals have been under were typical for day-to-day herd management. Holstein Regional Representative, Angie Brey (right) and Manager, Identification and Dairy Programs, Jodi Luttrop verifying tag retention. Results: Check 1) Animal has an RFID in the ear. Verified the RFID can be read. Check 2) Animal does not have an RFID in the ear. However, a hole in the ear is visible from tagging with an RFID. Check 3) Animal does not have an RFID. However, it could not be established that the animal was tagged with an RFID. Check 3) Animal does not have an RFID in the ear. However, a hole in the ear is visible from tagging with an RFID that appears to have been lost. Since the last report in January, approximately 1100 more animals were verified or validated, bringing our total to 4147 animals. From these, 451 have data on the location of the tag in the ear. As shown in table 1, of the 4147 animals tested, 36 (<1%) of the RFID s could not be read, 63 (1.5%) animals lost the RFID, and 118 (3%) animals did not have an RFID and may not have been tagged with an RFID. The tag location data illustrates of the 450 animals tested, 383 (85%) are properly tagged (close to the head), while 62 (14%) animals had a location that was more central in the ear, and 6 (1%) animals had the RFID tag placed on the outside of the ear, which could be the major cause for loss of the tag at a later date. # Animals % RFID reads correctly RFID does not read 36 1 RFID lost Animals with no RFID Total 4147 Tagged properly Tagged in the middle Tagged on the outside 6 1 Total 450 Table 1 Tag loss largely depends on the environment and location the tag is placed in the ear. The picture below displays the proper position of the RFID and visible tags in a newborn animal. Tag loss largely depends on the environment and location the tag is placed in the ear. The picture above displays the proper position of the RFID and visible tags in a newborn animal. The picture above shows a placement of an RFID that is too far to the outside of the ear. This can cause problems if a secondary visible ID needs to be added at a later date. page 2

3 Processing Plant Stationary Reader F.A.I.R. is receiving tags back from two slaughter plants in order to validate the accuracy of the stationary RFID reader. The Taylor packing plant had about the same percentage of animals read for both fourth quarter of 2001 and first quarter of Beginning the first quarter of 2002, numbers for the Embers plant are also available. As shown in the table below, fewer animals moved through the Embers plant. However, the accuracy of the reader has been very close to 100%. At this time, there is no known reason why the reader at the Embers slaughter plant has a higher % of reads than the Taylor slaughter plant. The numbers will continue to be monitored throughout the year. Quarter Plant Read Returned w/o Read Stationary Reader Installation at Processing Plants % Read Q4 '01 Taylor % Q1 '02 Taylor % Q1 '02 Embers % Working together with Allflex USA, readers were placed in two slaughter plants. It might sound easy to install an RFID reader, and it actually is, if one is properly prepared. That is to say, before a reader can be installed, it is important that a site inspection be performed. The site inspection checks for the following requirements: 1) Proper placement of the reader on the floor prior to removal of the RFID from the carcass, without interfering with cattle flow 2) A location that has enough space to accommodate the reader antenna and circuitry box and can have electrical hookup to power the stationary reader 3) A location that will not experience electronic interference from the different electrical motors running in the plant 4) An office location to place the PC with phone or internet connection used to gather the RFID reads from the stationary reader Allflex and F.A.I.R. perform site inspections together to make sure all different aspects of a stationary reader installation are covered. As shown in the picture, a portable RFID reader is brought along to measure inside the plant to determine whether appropriate read range can be obtained. Portable RFID reader used for site inspection and Calvin Gunter,Allflex USA PROJECT STATUS UPDATE Inside the numbers In 2002, we are seeing a continuation of the increased number of animals being identified in F.A.I.R. For the first quarter of 2002, 11,459 animals have been identified in F.A.I.R.The total number of animals identified in F.A.I.R. as of the beginning of May 2002 stands at 148,859 of which 91,111 have an RFID tag. More animals are expected to be identified in 2002 compared to 2001 due to the additional herds being signed up in the Michigan TB eradication program, Alta Genetics progeny test program and American Veal Association Quality Assurance program. Herd enrollment Table 4 shows the number of active premises enrolled in F.A.I.R. by state. Due to the Michigan TB Eradication Program almost 800 premises have been added from the state of Michigan. # Prem with Vis&RFID # Prem with Vis ID Region 1 New York Vermont 3 2 Ohio 5 Region 2 Pennsylvania Virginia 3 Maryland 1 Region 3 Wisconsin Iowa 4 So. Dakota 1 Minnesota 13 Michigan Illinois 1 Region 4 California Texas 4 Idaho 1 Washington 6 Oregon 2 # Prem Market # Prem Slaughter Total Table 4 page 3

4 Animal Enrollment The graph provided to the right shows the number of animals identified in F.A.I.R. and the number of animals identified with an RFID tag by quarter. As of the beginning of May 2002, 148,859 animals are identified in F.A.I.R. Of these, 91,111 animals have been tagged with an RFID. Since October 2001, approximately 9,000 animals using RFID tags have been identified through the Michigan TB Eradication Program. The animals identified in F.A.I.R. represent animals from 58 different bovine breeds, which includes the 7 major dairy breeds and 51 beef purebred and cross-breeds. An additional 50,000 RFIDs and/or visible tags have been distributed to the pilot herds and herds participating in the TB Eradication Program in Michigan in order to tag newborn calves or purchased animals brought into the herd. Table 3 shows the number of animals identified for the four pilot states.the majority of animals identified have been in the State of Wisconsin. Market and Slaughter Plant Update New readers: Currently, seven stationary readers (three at markets and four at slaughter plants) are up and running. In April, as part of the Michigan TB Eradication Program, a stationary reader was installed at the Murco Foods packing plant in Michigan. This plant processes approximately 1600 animals per day that arrive from various states. The first reads have been coming into F.A.I.R. and will be reflected in the next quarterly report. In May, a stationary reader was installed at the Cattelli Veal plant in New Jersey. The Cattelli Veal plant receives animals from growers in Pennsylvania and New York. Table 2 Existing readers: Quarter Dryden (NY) Pavilion (NY) Reedsville (WI) Taylor (PA) Embers (WI) Total # Animals Identified # Animals Identified w/ RFID Wisconsin 38,222 31,229 New York 25,104 21,031 California 24,988 17,303 Pennsylvania 15,294 12,246 Total 103,608 81,809 Table 3 The readers at the Taylor (PA) and Embers (WI) packing plants have been operational throughout Likewise the readers at the Pavilion (NY), Dryden (NY)and Reedsville (WI) markets have also been operational throughout this year. Table 2 reflects the number of RFIDs read since the start of the F.A.I.R. project. As noted in prior reports, the Dryden market shows a smaller number of animals moving through the market in This could be because some of the F.A.I.R. pilot herds in the region are sending animals through a buying station instead of the market itself. RFID Reader at Reedsville Market. Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Total Aside from the RFID information collected directly from the Taylor and Embers processing plants, RFID tags have been returned to the F.A.I.R. office from animals that moved through other processing plants such as the Nichols, PA and Packerland,WI processing plants. In July 2002, F.A.I.R. plans to install a reader at the Packerland plant. page 4

5 Database Updates The F.A.I.R. database was updated to accept parentage information for various species and breeds and display this parentage information on the Web. Parentage data was loaded for all animals currently enrolled in F.A.I.R. Also meeting the ID needs of this country, F.A.I.R. has recently shown animals of Canadian origin with Canadian RFID numbers showing up in U.S. slaughter plants. The F.A.I.R database was quickly updated within one hour to record these animals into the F.A.I.R. system. Website Updates Parentage information has been added to the F.A.I.R animal summary section of the Website.The user can move through the family tree by simply clicking on one of the parents (see below). A new animal summary will appear with the parent information. This information can be very useful in the event of a disease or genetic disorder that can be passed along to offspring. Parentage information, in combination with animal tracking, would be particularly of value in the case of tracing a BSE suspect. Currently, efforts are underway to show the ID information of the offspring of a specific animal. page 5

6 F.A.I.R. APPLIED The F.A.I.R. project was started in 1999, and as the system was developed, other industry groups and entities were contacted and invited to participate in the F.A.I.R. project. As of May 2002, the following groups are using the F.A.I.R. system: Michigan Department of Agriculture TB Eradication Project New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program (NYSCHAP) Ohio State Department Johne s Program Alta Genetics Progeny Test herds American Veal Association F.A.I.R.Team For more information contact: National F.A.I.R. P.O. Box 808 Brattleboro,VT Phone: EXT 4062 Fax: page 6