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The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has spun off a new animal identification program and expects to have it in operation by the first of September of 2000. "The NCBA has a task force to create and implement a national cattle identification system that can be shared by all segments of the beef industry, producers, feeders and processors," says Dick Nock, chairman of NCBA's live cattle marketing council. NCBA will assist in obtaining start up funds for the USA Cattle Information Service, a voluntary, carcass-based data collection program. Jimmy Wilson of Montana, a past NCBA president, is the new president of the Animal Identification Board. NCBA President George Swan selected the 12 members of the board. The board, which has already had several meetings, consists of two seedstock operators, two stocker operators, two cow-calf operators, two feedlot operators, two packers and two livestock market operators. The ID board is establishing itself as a separate entity from the NCBA. They are developing the by-laws and business plan. The corporation documents will be submitted this fall to the state of Colorado for approval. "We're dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's, and now we're in the implementation stage of forming a new corporation called USA Cattle Identification Service," says Wilson. "This service will have oversight from NCBA, but we felt that it has to be a separate entity. That we just could not continue to rely upon NCBA for all the staff support. We're in the process of incorporating it. We're going to look for an executive director and at the same time we're going to have a business plan. This new service, Wilson says, is not going to compete with any of the alliances or anybody that is presently in operation. In order to get the packers to implement this system it's going to take some volume. "It's going to take some money," Wilson says. "If we expect them to put in the readers and everything that's going to go into the system, we're going to have to share that cost." Wilson also says guidelines and standards will have to be developed. "We're going to try to set some guidelines, some standards for the industry so private industry can come in under this identification service and do the work for us," Wilson says. "We're not going to reinvent the wheel and go into a lot of things that have been done." Wilson indicated a belief that if the NCBA hadn't stepped in to form the new service, it wouldn't have gotten done and the packers, a key part of it, would not cooperate. "Forty million cattle a year are being graded by the USDA grading service," Wilson says. "Unless we get large numbers, 20 or 30 million, involved in this program, and I have great expectations for this program, this is the only way we're going to upgrade our product. We cannot change the product if we don't identify the product by the animals. We cannot measure the carcasses if you don't identify the animals." One of the secondary benefits is trace back, he says. "I get more and more information from some of the alliances and people that are involved in export trade," Wilson says. "Anywhere from 12 to 20 percent of their total volume is exported." What he says he's being told is that 21 countries presently have an identification system in place. "I really can't believe that we have third world countries dictating to us what we're going to have to do before they're going to accept our product, but that's the way it is," Wilson says. There are a lot of the health issues such as BSE are scaring people in Europe. "The Koreans, the Japanese, they all want assurances that this product is going to be safe," Wilson says. "We're going to have to get our act together. We're going to have to provide some trace back for the export market. Hopefully, it will grow." Wilson, however, says he likes to focus more on the domestic market. "I feel that we have to regain market share," he says. "We're going to have to improve our product because there's more product consumed in this country than any other place in the world." Once the system is up and running, Wilson estimates that it will cost $4.50 to $5.00 per head. "It's already come down to about half price from when we were looking at it a couple of years ago," he says. "Hopefully, it's going to get down to where everybody can participate. I think this is an exciting opportunity." |
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