By now, you’ve probably heard a good deal of talk about the newest proposal for a mandatory National Animal Identification System. Apparently, NAIS talks have resumed with a vengeance in Washington.
So far, nothing has been added to the original NAIS plan, which circulated years ago. According to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the branch which would be in charge of implementing and overseeing NAIS, the system would still consist of three components:
- Premises Registration, where you register your ranch location with an issued ID number
- Animal Identification, where all cattle are identified on an individual or lot basis
- Animal Tracing, where producers submit cattle movement information to a national database.
If you’re already using CattleMax for your record keeping, or considering it, you’re probably wondering how it fits into this picture. Would CattleMax be ready if a mandatory NAIS was passed?
There is good news: CattleMax has already built-in the proposed requirements to date. You can record premise ID numbers, automatically track each cattle movement, and a date of birth and identification is recorded for each animal. And, as part of the commitment to meeting industry changes, CattleMax will be updated with any additional features that might be required, as they are announced.
What do you think of a mandatory system? Do you already have a Premise ID for your ranch? Do you think NAIS laws will actually be passed this time around?
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