Cow tracking-- Would Canada's model work here?

- As the United States grapples with developing a national system to track diseased cattle, some here have been watching the Canadian model. Like Australia, the program requires cattle ranchers to participate and relies on ear tags to register cattle. But unlike Australia, the Canadian system doesn't actually track a cow's every move from birth to death. "Whatever we move to, we have to be sure it doesn't impede commerce," said John Masswohl, director of Government & International Relations for the Calgary-based Canadian Cattlemen's Association, which represents about 90,000 beef producers. "We aren't convinced the technology exists to read every tag every time. ... It's not all 'Star Trek' just yet." Canada started its mandatory livestock identification program in 2002. The database is owned and controlled by the industry -- the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency -- rather than the government. Ear tags are registered to the people who buy them. Owners are required by law to tag their cattle the first time they're moved off the farm they're born on. When the animals are slaughtered or exported, that, too, is recorded in the database. What isn't recorded in the database is every instance of ownership changing hands, Masswohl said...read more