U.S. Pushes National Livestock Tracking

Arizona rancher Jay Platt says when 200 of his calves were stolen by rustlers, the brand on their flanks helped Texas Rangers track them down two states away. The third-generation rancher says the hot-iron brand -- an inverted V flanked by a diagonal line -- meets his needs better than a proposed national animal-identification system. The U.S. says a program using ear tags is essential to protect herds from disease, maintain confidence food is safe and avert bans by other nations on U.S. meat exports. A rustler can snip off an ear tag, Platt says. A brand is forever. “Ranchers out here protect the health of our herds, but theft is a big problem,” Platt, 61, who raises about 1,000 head of cattle on more than 100,000 acres straddling Arizona and New Mexico, said in an interview. “A lot of diseases spread very fast, and an animal ID system won’t stop that.” Lawmakers such as Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, and the USDA say a better tracing system is needed to limit outbreaks that could devastate herds, destroy exports and in some cases threaten human health. Ranchers say illnesses such as mad cow disease and bovine tuberculosis are rare in U.S. herds. The plan the USDA proposed in August would require registration and tagging of livestock moved between states, with guidelines tailored to different species. It would be put in place gradually, applying first to older animals in the U.S. cattle herd, which numbered 92.6 million at the start of the year...more