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Historic, Archive Document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. United States Department of {== ah imal Identification Practices Agriculture ! I Animal and in Beef Cow/Calf Herds Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary National Animal Health Monitoring System Services fue — i i= i Animal identification plays 4 important role in Figure 1 animal breeding and production systems as well as Individual Identification Methods Used disease eradication, disease prevention, and food safety. for Calves Proper identification is important for identifying herd ownership and pinpointing outstanding or poor ID Method performance among individual animals. Plastic Eartags Brucellosis Tage According to the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), 60.3 percent of beef Hot Iron cow/calf producers individually identify their cows, and Ear Tattoo 53.1 percent individually identify their calves. Other Metal Tag Producers that use individual identification represent 78.5 and 70.2 percent of the cows and calves surveyed in Freeze Brand the NAHMS Beef Cow/Calf Health and Productivity Micro Chip Audit (CHAPA). 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 O 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 *Applies only to females. Percent of Operations Percent of Calves Animal identification methods were part of the NAHMS study conducted in November and December _ Figure 2 of 1992 on 799 beef cow/calf operations in 18 of the top ————Tndividual Identification Methods Used beef states.' The producers surveyed had at least five ran Cowes cows or heifers and at least 50 percent of their calf crop 1D Method born in the first 6 months of the year. The 18 states participating represented 70 percent of U.S. beef Aca eck cow/calf operations. Brucellosis Tag Hot Iron Individual identification was defined as any number Ear Tattoo or mark that was unique to that animal. Figure 1 shows Other Metal Tag that the most common forms of individual identification recorded by producers for calves were plastic eartags preere serene (40.8 percent) and brucellosis eartags (21.7 percent). Micro Chip Nearly 56 percent of the calves in the 18 participating Other)! Te Aiea CUS Sa es states are on operations that use plastic ear tags. Just 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 over 28 percent of the producers reported individually Percent of Operations Percent of Cows identifying calves within 24 hours of birth. Freeze branding and microchips, more recently developed forms producers using plastic eartags and 28.3 percent using of identification, are not yet widely used by the industry. brucellosis eartags (Figure 2). Just over 61 percent of the cows are on operations where plastic eartags are used for Producers use individual identification methods for identification. cows to a similar extent with 45.3 percent of the y Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, lowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming. January 1994 NU l|NAvT IONAiL AGtRI! 102240 Herd identification (all animals in the herd Figure 3 have the same mark or number) may be used pee ener eh Sr ieee eee ee an Types of Herd Identification Methods either in addition to individual identification or Used in Beef Cow/Calf Industry by itself. NAHMS found that 45.7 percent of ; the producers in the CHAPA states used some ID Method Ss form of herd identification. Figure 3 shows that Plastic Ear Tag) = 27.1 plastic ear tags (27.1 percent) and hot iron He iy ace | 3 brands (21.4 percent) were used most often. However, since large operations use hot iron Ear Tattoo branding more frequently, the number of animals present on these operations is greater (40.2 percent) than the animals on operations Freeze Brand that use plastic ear tags (32.8 percent). Other Metal Tag A producer may use multiple identification methods to meet production management needs Percent of Operations Percent of Beef Cattle and identification regulations or to minimize the chance of losing an animal’s identification. Figure 4 Figure 4 shows that 23.9, 31.1, and 15.7 percent Number of Identification of the producers use two or more forms of Methods Used per Operation identification for calves, cows, and the herd, respectively. SSS individual Calf 28 individual Cow E= Herd- The number of producers using individual and herd identification tends to vary by herd size. Figure 5 indicates that, as herds get larger, producers are more likely to use forms of individual and herd identification. o One Two Three+ Number of Methods Used *Herd ID: all animals have same mark or number, such as a brand. NAHMS collaborators included the National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA), State Figure 5 and Federal Veterinary Medical Officers, and Percent of Operations Using Individual and the National Veterinary Services Laboratories Herd Identification by Herd Size (USDA:APHIS:VS). ZA individual Calf ID Bi individual Cow ID EiHerd ID Other CHAPA information is available on the following topics: Branding, Injection sites, Percent of Operations Facilities, Calf health, and Reproductive iit 59.4 efficiency. For more information, contact: 80 Boer ee Centers for Epidemiology & Animal Health 60 Ss BS USDA:APHIS:VS, Attn. NAHMS BR Bs 555 South Howes, Suite 200 ao KSS05 o, %,6 Fort Coll(i3n0s3,) C49o0l-o7r8a0d0o 80521 ie]o OiS5, 5OY OKgw e re% 00S0754OO065 Yx6 6" oooeS",eY6 0£;$, ,2 02L06, 5 0O5O D N137.01293 o, D°>,e retLxe te’ Number of Cows