A prominent cattle group says the industry needs to lead, not lag, and it is in response to pushback on disease traceability measures.
NCBA President Mark Eisele says he understands the uneasy feelings around electronic ID tags, but says innovation has always been the backbone of American agriculture. He says the USDA still has work to do and wants to see more action regarding tags and information security. He says no one in the ag industry wants government intrusion, but says the U.S. cattle industry will be determined by their ability to respond to disease outbreaks.
An NCBA veterinarian points out each operation is different.
“Biosecurity is something that every producer has their own control over their operation. We can adapt biosecurity to each operation and figure that out. So for instance, somebody who has show cattle, they have a different risk profile than a home herd that doesn’t introduce any new animals, and so we adapt to that biosecurity program based on animal movement, but again, it comes down to people movement,” said Dr. Julia Herman.
Herman says the Secure Beef Supply program is a way for producers to prepare for disease outbreaks, particularly Foot and Mouth Disease. You can learn more HERE.
