05/03/05 Group lot animal ID

American Rancher May 3, 2005 Is individual animal identification necessary on all cow-calf operations, or would group lot ID work in some situations as part of a national animal identification system? That's something the Northwest Pilot Project, a USDA supported, seven-state industry coalition has been looking at. Project coordinator Julie Morrison says group identification at the cow-calf level is converted to individual ID at the first point of commingling such as a sale yard or feedlot. Morrison: "And we have been able to link the individual animal number with the group number and it still provides the complete trace from birth to death. So that has been something that is exciting to see in the pilot. One of the things that we wanted to test out right from the beginning was the capability of using group identification on cattle and how long that might work through the production chain. And so far we are showing through out system that it does work in particular cases." The Northwest Pilot Project has been looking at a variety of livestock ID technologies and systems and results from that work will be the basis for discussion at a symposium scheduled for the Grove Hotel in Boise, Idaho, May 17th. Find out more by calling Julie at 208-343-1615 or go to www dot northwestpilot dot org I'm Bob Hoff.