EID Tags Needed Nov. 5 to Move Cattle

New Ruling Requires EID Ear Tags for Cattle Interstate Movement

Jennifer Carrico
By  Jennifer Carrico , Senior Livestock Editor
The nationwide ruling which takes effect Nov. 5, requires official EID tags to be in certain classes of cattle and bison for interstate movement. (DTN/Progressive Farmer photo by Jennifer Carrico)

REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- The ruling for electronic identification (EID) ear tags for interstate movement of cattle and bison set by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will take effect on Nov. 5.

The ruling was announced in April and enhances a previous 2013 rule that requires all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, dairy cattle, and rodeo and exhibition cattle to have an official form of animal identification. This ruling institutes visual ID tags for interstate movement and the new rule switches producers to EID tags.

During a webinar hosted by the Iowa Cattlemen's Association, Kevin Petersburg, Area USDA-APHIS Veterinarian in Charge for Iowa, outlined the requirements for producers. He said those animals that have previous official ID tags in place with the USDA shield present don't have to replace those tags as they are good for the life of the animal. "This doesn't add any new classes of livestock to what previously required official ID, they just have to have an EID tag now, and it's for interstate movement only. It's still all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or over; all dairy cattle of any age (including dairy-beef cross calves); cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreational events; and cattle and bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions," he explained.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULING

Petersburg said there are some exceptions to the ruling including cattle moved as a commuter herd with a commuter herd agreement between states or tribes.

For example, this would mean cattle that go from one state to another for summer grazing and then return to the original state.

Another exception is when cattle are moved interstate directly to a tagging site and are officially identified before comingling with cattle from other premises or identified using backtags or other methods. Those methods ensure the identity of the animal is accurately maintained until tagging, so that the official ear tag can be correlated to the person responsible for shipping the animal to the approved tagging site.

Also, cattle and bison can be moved between shipping and receiving states or tribes with another form of identification if agreed upon by both parties and animal health officials. This would include breed registry tattoo or brand with an accompanying registration paper.

Cattle and bison may also be moved interstate without official identification if they are going directly to a recognized slaughter establishment where they are killed within three days of arrival.

TAG DETAILS

The EID ear tags are currently available at no cost from state agricultural departments as requested by the herd veterinarian while supplies last. In Iowa, the state veterinarian has been ordering their allotment for the last several years and has a good inventory available.

Iowa's Assistant State Veterinarian, Katie Rumsey, said Iowa veterinarians can request the tags by using the veterinary supply form. As of Oct. 1, the current metal identification tags, calfhood orange vaccination tags and large silver bright tags are no longer available from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in preparation to the change.

Tags are also available through tag manufacturers but will cost money. All EID tags have specific unique numbers, along with the USDA shield. Each number should begin with 840, which is the U.S. country code, then followed by 003 and nine more unique numbers per tag. Tags with a 982 code will no longer be acceptable.

"While these tags are free now, we don't know how long that will last. That will depend on the funding provided through Congress," said Petersburg. Congress allotted $15 million to pay for these tags.

"If a tag is lost, it can be replaced with permission with a new EID tag. The new tag number should be recorded, along with the date and location of the replacement. If the old number is known, that should be noted as well," he added.

Rumsey noted cattle staying in Iowa for their lifetime don't need to have an EID ear tag. But those required to have one based on the ruling and leaving a premise for interstate movement should have one in place when leaving the premise or can attain one at an official tagging site. All approved livestock markets are also approved tagging sites. These animals should also have an accompanying certificate of veterinary inspection or owner shipper statement.

"If animals are crossing state lines and an official ID is required, then all parties involved are responsible for the animals and need to know the requirements of the state of destination," said Petersburg. "This includes the breeder, livestock market, shipper, hauler, broker, veterinarian and buyer."

Overall, the USDA says EIDs and records of livestock movement are important for safeguarding animal health. "The final rule enables rapid tracing of sick or exposed animals and a rapid response to animal disease," USDA-APHIS administrator Michael Watson said in a statement.

"Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick, and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly -- but will help keep our markets open," Johnson said.

Rumsey said with the current outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cattle, this system has been shown to be helpful, especially with the transport of these animals between farms. She also recommended producers register their premise identification with IDALS to help with traceability.

"Under Iowa law, we can keep premise IDs privileged and confidential. We don't have to release that information. When we have had a disease outbreak, we will not identify individual premises that are affected, only on a county level," Rumsey said.

Petersburg said he hopes once the system is fully implemented it will be easier to trace where an animal has been. "Hopefully there will be the ability for animals to be scanned as they're going through livestock markets, for example, and each of those points where that animal has been identified would be entered into a database where we and track and then see if it exposed certain other animals at that facility," he said. "It should expedite knowing what animals got exposed to sick animals and it should trace it back to the farm of origin."

For more information on the ruling contact your state veterinary office found here: www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/traceability.

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

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Jennifer Carrico