Agriculture Leaders Finalize Animal Tracking Plan

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The period where animal producers could comment on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Identification System preliminary plan ended Wednesday. The system is meant to be a way to track any animal sold for production -- which mainly includes cattle and swine in Oklahoma -- from birth to slaughter through a tag placed on the animal.

The period where animal producers could comment on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Identification System preliminary plan ended Wednesday.


Agriculture leaders now will work to integrate public comment into a final version of a plan before the system, which aims to isolate animal disease outbreaks nationwide, is made mandatory in 2009.


The system is meant to be a way to track any animal sold for production -- which mainly includes cattle and swine in Oklahoma -- from birth to slaughter through a tag placed on the animal. It will allow producers to trace movement of an animal within 48 hours to target the disease's origin and isolate the cause.


Agriculture officials say they hope the system will help them track animals that test positive for mad cow disease and other illnesses. According to the USDA, 49 states are signing up producers for premise identification numbers, with more than 84,600 localities being identified as of June 6.


More than 1,360 Oklahoma livestock producers have signed up for their premise identification numbers -- up from 900 producers in April -- and the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry said they are averaging about five to six new premises being registered each day.


Amy Spillman, a USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service spokeswoman, said public comments will continue to be accepted throughout the process -- even after the formal comment period ends -- in an effort to make the system amenable for producers and regulators alike.


"The cattle industry in the United States is so wide and varied, we think it is best to include people now and come up with a workable system," she said.


Last month, the USDA revealed a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in the country, but the federal agency took a week to admit that the diseased animal was found in Texas. In the nation's first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in December 2003, federal officials quickly identified Washington as the state where the animal had been found.


Spillman said the most recent mad cow case likely will bring attention to the importance of having a 48-hour traceback on all animals.


"For many producers, the big concern with the system is the cost, but we want to point out what it will cost a producer if the system isn't there in an outbreak situation," she said. "(The mad cow discovery) has drawn attention once again, but in some ways that is a good thing, so people don't forget the importance of the system."


Jack Carson, spokesman for the state Agriculture Department, said he doesn't anticipate that the USDA's implementation timeline for the system will be escalated following the most recent mad cow discovery.


Terry Detrick, vice president of the Oklahoma Farmers Union, said though many producers opposed the system in the beginning because they dread change, most are warming up to the plan because of increased safety concerns.


"People are recognizing that we do have a plan in place, and it is being activated and it is working," he said. "USDA had a public comment period, and they will take those comments and try to continue to put a plan together that can be implemented."


Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News