In efforts to prevent disease outbreaks in the cattle industry, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a final ruling mandating the use of electronic identification (EID) tags. Tri-County Cattlemen’s Thad Tharp explains that this new ruling requires cattle that are 18 months or older that are sexually intact or older, dairy cattle, and rodeo and exhibition cattle have this form of animal identification.
“The idea behind it would be traceability. So if there is a disease outbreak; we look at the swine industry with PED and bird flu, in the poultry industry. Mexico just had the H5N2 deal pop up that’s made the news here recently,” says Tharp. “But the heart of the legislation is in disease traceability and foreign animal disease outbreak prevention and control if it does happen.”
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, EIDs would enhance the 2013 rule which instituted visual ID tags for interstate movement. Tharp adds that producers contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture to receive 840 EID tags at no cost.
