08/30/06 USAIO moves ahead on ID

The Board of Directors of the US Animal Identification Organization has reached agreements with two American manufacturers of devices used to track livestock. Rick Stott of Agri-Beef is one of the board members of USAIO and he sees the agreements as important to advancing the national database while holding down the costs to the industry participants. STOTT "The objective is to broaden it just beyond the two and there are others that are interested in doing it as well but again to make it so that its multi-segment financed entity, a non-profit entity driven by the industry." Stott says USAIO has made real progress in just the last three to four weeks. STOTT "All the major manufacturers are stepping up to support the USAIO and to endorse it. We got even a couple of retailers. This endeavor is really starting to get some legs. It all started with producers from NCBA. The Farm Bureau stepped in and endorsed it. We've got the National Bison Association involved in it and we're continuing to see more and more support." The tags create a lifetime record of an animal and it allows for the additional information to be added at no extra cost. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott