USDA is dropping its national animal ID system and will ask the states to develop and administer their own disease trace back system.Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told state agriculture commissioners Friday the new system would be much simpler and cheaper and would apply only to animal shipped across state lines.Chief Veterinarian Dr. John Clifford says USDA determined they needed to take a different approach after conducting 15 listening sessions at which producers complained about the national system.
The new system will be bottom up, but federally supported not federally led…an indication that USDA will make grants to the states and tribes to run the program.Clifford says they’re hoping this will alleviate many of the concerns.
South Dakota State Veterianarian Dr. Dustin Oedekoven says the new system would allow states to use animal identification systems already in place to fight brucellosis, tuberculosis and other diseases and to use simple ear tags that cost producers pennies rather than proposed technology involving tags and readers that could cost several dollars per animal.
The leaders of two major U.S. livestock groups, NCBA and R-CALF, welcomed USDA's new livestock identification framework.
