RFID Requirement Causes Concern
Published: Friday, February 21, 2020
Dairy and beef producers face uncertainty regarding a federal order to begin using RFID ear tags in cattle.
The issue was discussed last Friday in Fort Wayne during the 129th annual meeting of the Indiana State Dairy Assn.
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service withdrew an executive order stating that veterinarians and/or producers could no longer apply metal ear tags for official identification as of Jan. 1, 2021. The order said the metal ear tags would need to be replaced with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags as of that date.
The executive order, designed to boost animal disease traceability efforts, was withdrawn after an industry group filed a lawsuit challenging the proposal.
According to an online statement, USDA-APHIS is now revisiting those guidelines but says it remains committed to the original goal of encouraging the use of electronical identification for the interstate movement of beef and dairy cattle as well as bison.
Meanwhile, the dairy industry is anticipating the next step in the process. Elizabeth Straw, secretary-treasurer of the Indiana State Dairy Assn., said the issue will be on the agenda at the March meeting of the National Dairy Herd Information Assn. in Savannah, Ga.
Despite the confusion, Straw said metal ear tags will be discontinued as of Dec. 31.
"At that point, we will have to have some other form if the RFIDs aren't mandatory," Straw said.
She added that USDA-APHIS is evaluating the best way to implement the RFID system. That may include a cost-share program to help producers pay for the cost of the $3 tags.
"It's all on the table right now," she said.
Some states have implemented their own deadlines, and one state, Maryland, is providing the RFID tags for free to all of its beef and dairy producers.
Looking at ISDA's business, Straw said a total of 50 ISDA-member herds sold out in 2019, but the number of cows on test has remained fairly steady. Farm numbers have dropped in the past three years, reflecting the overall decline in the dairy economy. ISDA has members in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
There were 228 herds on test in January 2017, 200 a year later and 190 in January 2019.
The number of cows on test in January 2017 was 44,436. That number increased to 47,127 a year later and rose to 48,523 by January 2019.
At the end of 2019, ISDA had 157 herds and 44,302 cows on test.
The average milk production for all cows on test in 2019 was 22,195 pounds (20,551 pounds for Indiana herds). Breed averages were 23,413 pounds of milk for Holsteins, 14,524 pounds of milk for Jerseys and 18,421 pounds of milk for crossbreds.
In discussing the group's financial report, secretary-treasurer Elizabeth Straw reported that ISDA experienced a drop in income while costs remained roughly the same. In 2018, ISDA experienced a net loss of $34,017 compared to a loss of $17,833 in 2017.
In 2018, ISDA purchased $25,149 in new equipment, including five new milk meters. However, Robert McKaig, National DHIA representative, said the national organization is hoping the market introduces newer products to replace the current line of meters. He said the manufacturer is not doing a good job of producing replacement parts.
The Indiana State Dairy Assn. is led by Kelly MacKinnon, District 1 representative from Jamestown, Ind., and Nathan Kuehnert of Fort Wayne. They served as president and vice-president, respectively, in 2019, and they were both reelected to those positions this year. Elizabeth Straw of West Lafayette is the secretary/treasurer. Krent Frauhiger of Bluffton was reelected to an at-large seat on the board.
Other board members and their respective districts include: Leroy Schafer of Westphalia, Mich., District 2; Dan Hague, Albion, District 3; Jay Beekman, Huntington, District 4; Klint Obert, Fort Branch, Ind., District 5; Loren Durst, Richland Center, Wis., District 6; and Robert McKaig, Logansport, at-large.
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