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The USDA has announced new regulations: requiring the use of rfid ear tags

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The USDA has announced new regulations: requiring the use of rfid ear tags

May 07, 2024

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced new regulations for cattle identification, requiring the use of rfid ear tags. The regulation is expected to be published in the Federal Register in May and will take effect 180 days after publication. Currently, the only approved electronic official identification tag is the RFID tag.

This regulation is part of a long-standing USDA initiative aimed at enhancing traceability in dairy and beef cattle to prevent livestock disease outbreaks. USDA officials state that the agency is committed to implementing a traceability system that will track animal identification from birth to slaughter.

The upcoming regulation targets non-spayed cattle and bison aged 18 months and older, all dairy cattle, as well as any cattle or bison used for rodeo or recreational activities.

Reducing Disruptive Processes

Traditional animal identification methods require users to visually read printed numbers on metal ear tags. Manual data entry for metal tags increases the risk of transcription errors.

According to the USDA, manual data entry processes can disrupt normal livestock operations, add pressure on animal caretakers, and increase the risk of injury to animals and handlers.

RFID Ear Tags for Faster and More Accurate Data Collection

USDA officials claim that RFID ear tags enable faster and more accurate animal identification data collection. One advantage is that veterinarians can efficiently gather information with less disruption to individual animals or herds, thereby minimizing impacts on producers and communities.

Millions of Cattle to Be Tagged

Currently, the total number of cattle and bison in the United States fluctuates between 85 to 100 million annually, including some bison and cattle that move across state lines but are exempt from official identification requirements.

Under the new regulations, all cattle within the specified types and age categories will require an ear tag with both visual identification and an electronic RFID chip. If a cattle already has an official tag with only visual identification before the effective date of the regulation, producers do not need to apply an electronically readable tag to that animal at that time.

Official tags with only visual identification applied to cattle and bison before the effective date of the regulation will be considered the official lifetime identification for those animals.

LF and UHF RFID for Livestock Management

Approved devices for EID include 134.2 kHz LF RFID tags compliant with ISO standards 11784 and 11785, as well as UHF RFID tags.