11/30/06 Animal ID Survey

Animal ID Survey. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The Livestock Marketing Association is asking its members to take part in a survey regarding the costs of implementing an electronic national animal identification system. Despite LMA's efforts - Director of Information John McBride says little is known of the potential implementation costs to U.S. livestock marketing businesses. And given the important role livestock markets throughout the nation will play in any ID system - McBride says LMA needs answers. MCBRIDE: The problem is that we have not for the last three years or so, we at LMA have not been able to get any answers from USDA or anybody else on what the heck this might cost America's livestock markets and their producer customers. We've been asking, we haven't been getting anything so basically we decided to team up with Kansas State University and do a very comprehensive survey of our members, markets around the U.S. to find out what this might cost them. Through the participation of livestock marketers in the Kansas State University survey - McBride says LMA hopes to learn much more about the impact of the proposed National Animal ID System on the marketing sector. MCBRIDE: What we hope is that we will get a very comprehensive look at several elements of the identification process and that means what's it going to cost to tag the animals, what's it going to cost to read that ID information. How much is it going to cost markets to retrofit or renovate to accommodate an electronic ID system and what's it going to cost to transfer that information to private databases? And once that information is in hand - McBride says LMA can better weigh the costs and benefits of a national ID system - determine if there are existing cost barriers to implementation at livestock markets - and identify the resources needed to implement system requirements at livestock marketing businesses. And according to McBride - that means being better equipped to protect the interests and concerns of livestock marketers. MCBRIDE: Once we get the answers we will be able to talk more intelligently with Congress and state legislatures, federal and state health officials and other industry groups about the system and how it can be better implemented. We certainly in the markets in America are certainly in favor of livestock health because we move so many livestock across this country but until we can find out the costs we can't really represent markets and the producers they serve before the various bodies that are going to be in charge of the system. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.