Washington State Dept. of Ag favors tagging every cow with radio ID

The Washington State Department of Agriculture may adopt rules requiring producers to tag every cow with radio-frequency identification, a level of electronic monitoring opposed by some ranchers. The department says the tags will help follow a cow from birth to slaughter, aiding animal-health officials to speedily respond to diseases and bringing the state in line with coming USDA standards.“These (the rules) are all intended to track an animal within hours rather than within days,” State Veterinarian Brian Joseph told the Senate Agriculture Committee Nov. 14. “It’s very important we be able to do that rapidly because the more rapidly we can do that, the less economic impact there is.”WSDA continues to work on its ability to trace animal diseases more than a dozen years after the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy appeared in Washington, The state currently records changes in livestock ownership, though the department says the system, partly based on self-reporting of sales, has gaps.WSDA reports that only 5 percent of the state’s beef cows now have radio-frequency identification. Although 80 percent of dairy cows are electronically tagged, they come from a minority, 40 percent, of the dairies.The department envisions that by no later than 2023 every ranch, dairy and farm with cattle will have a “premises identification number” and that every cow that leaves the premises will have a radio tag.