Who is crazy here?
By Kevin Hursh
March 15, 2010
When it comes to livestock identification, Canada and the U.S are headed in opposite directions and it makes you wonder whether one of us is crazy.
Here in Canada, we’ve got age verification, RFID ear tags, movement tracking and a premises identification program. We’ve done just about everything but attach a GPS locator to each individual cow.
Meanwhile Washington has pretty much caved in to ranchers and feedlot operators who complained about all the expenses and paperwork that comes with that kind of traceability. Despite years of work and countless millions invested, the Americans are going to back to Square 1. Only cattle moving between states will need to be tracked, the system will be run piecemeal by individual states and tribal nations, and it will be a “collaborative” process – which means there will be lots of talking before anything happens.
So while we’re piling on more animal ID expenses, our main trading partner is going the opposite direction. Understandably, many cattle producers – even those who initially supported traceability – question the wisdom of the road we're taking.
Traceability has yet to pay significant dividends. Overwhelmingly, we have commodity beef and yet we're implementing a Cadillac ID system.
Potential payoff
However, our system could have a huge payoff – one completely unrelated to disease traceability or age verification.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association is building a value chain database that will track individual animal performance, health, carcass data and more – and allow all owners of that animal to look at the data.
For the first time, producers will be able to follow the performance of their calves through the feedlot and into packing plants. Finally, cow-calf producers – who don't usually retain their calves until slaughter weight – will be able to see how their calves grow or how the carcasses grade.
With information will come power – power to adjust genetics and production practices, and hopefully the power to command premium prices for premium livestock.
There may be problems and the program is voluntary, but it holds huge potential. If it achieves that potential, it may even make the pain and expense of animal ID worthwhile.
For CBC commentary, I’m Kevin Hursh, a consulting agrologist and farmer based in Saskatoon.
For more on the Beef InfoXchange System, go to http://bixs.cattle.ca
