10/25/06 Origin Labeling

Despite the brew a surrounding country of origin labels most farmers and ranchers I know don't have a problem with them, you see they are proud to slap a sticker or a tag on something they have grown or raised. Couple this with the fact that Japan has reopened its US beef market with very specific guidelines demanding that US beef be from cows not more than 20 months old and traceable to its origins and this simply has created a climate ripe for an animal id system. The USDA and the Florida Department of Agriculture are test marketing a voluntary tracking system that will tag cattle, following the critter from the farm to the slaughter house. Slated to be fully up and running by 2009 the program would be voluntary with ranchers involved receiving about aprox. a $20 premium per animal. Naturally the Japanese are demanding the labeling be customized to their persnickety standards so each cow will sport an ear tag containing a little Japanese style computer chip, kind of makes you wonder makes you wonder just who is manufacturing the chips?