CALF_News_February_March_2021

18 CALF News • February | March 2021 • www.calfnews.net T he COVID-19 virus has shown us just how quickly a pathogen can spread through a population. State and federal animal health officials have done an outstanding job of preventing diseases in beef cattle. How- ever, government entities have unsuccess- fully grappled with a workable livestock disease-traceability program for all classes of cattle. In 2017, the Kansas Department of Agriculture hosted an Agricultural Growth Summit to discuss animal disease traceability. Collaboration between leaders in the Kansas Department of Agricul- ture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Kansas State University’s Beef Cattle Institute and private industry followed. These beef industry members devel- oped a voluntary traceability plan, through a public-private partnership for a non-profit pilot project, CattleTrace, Inc. The board of directors, composed of beef industry leaders, evaluated the project for two years. No longer a pilot program, the organization was renamed U.S. CattleTrace. A critical component in cattle trace- ability is radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. U.S. CattleTrace has utilized ultra-high frequency (UHF) ear tags that rapidly send information to readers. Working like toll-lane tags on vehicles, the technology allows a standardized, automatic transfer of four minimal data points into a third-party database, which is crucial for efficiency. Callahan Grund, U.S. CattleTrace executive director, says one USDA UHF tag has been approved for use as an offi- cial form of identification for cattle trans- ported between states. Equipment known as readers “reads” ear tags as cattle move from the ranch to auction market or feed- yard to the packer. Recorded information includes the individual animal’s ID, date, time and location by GPS coordinates. Should disease occur, Grund says a particular location could be isolated, potentially allowing unaffected areas to conduct business as usual. Industry experts designed this innovative system for animal health officials to conduct contact tracing, learn where a group of cattle has been and which cattle they have been near. Should a disease outbreak occur, animal health officials can isolate animals exposed to potential dis- eases. U.S. CattleTrace could help animal health officials work with producers to isolate and contain a large-scale animal disease outbreak in the U.S., potentially allowing unaffected ranchers to continue commerce with domestic and foreign trad- ing partners. Currently, operators from cow-calf, feedyard, auction markets, packers and state beef producer associations have joined U.S. CattleTrace. Grund reports eight states – Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Kansas, Texas and Florida – are members, and he expects others to join soon. Protecting member privacy is para- mount at U.S. CattleTrace. During the pilot program, the board of directors determined that only four data points were necessary, and they would not share producer information. “Being a non-profit, voluntary organi- zation, we’re not subject to the Freedom of Information Act,” Grund explains. “U.S. CattleTrace owns the database. Only the executive director can access the database during a disease outbreak.” A disease traceability plan may add value to the beef industry from a preven- tative standpoint. “We’re in the top 10 global beef exporting nations,” Grund reveals. “The U.S. and India are the only two developed countries that don’t have a traceability system. India mainly exports water buffalo, leaving the U.S. as the only U.S. CattleTrace A Volunary Disease Traceability Program By Gilda V. Bryant Contributing Editor Photos courtesy of Beef Northwest ABOVE: Cattle with plain white UHF tags feed at the bunk. UHF tags help the feedyard track these animals when they are transported to packing facilities. RIGHT: Wes Killion, Beef Northwest president and COO, says the best way to mitigate disease risk is by putting contact tracability into action, rather than just talking about it. The blank, white UHF tags help him do just that.