Canadian Industry Perspective - Toward a Workable Cattle Tracking System - Introduction: Ms. Chelsea Good, J.D., Livestock Marketing Association; Mr. Ken Perlich, Perlich Brothers Auction Market, Ltd., from the 2018 NIAA Annual Conference, Livestock Traceability: Opportunities for Animal Agriculture, plus the Traceability and the Real World Interactive Workshop, April 10 - 12, Denver, CO, USA. More presentations at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeUDeS810OcOfuEYwj1oHKQ

1. Toward a Workable
Traceability System
A Canadian Perspective
National Institute of Animal Agriculture
Denver, Colorado
April 12, 2018

2. Outline
• A Little Context
• How to Build a Workable Animal Traceability System
• What’s Working
• What Needs Work

3. A Little Context

4. BSE
May 20, 2013
A Little Context

5. A Little More Context
• Once, consumers of beef knew where their meat came from or depended on their local
butcher to ensure they received a healthful product with qualities that conformed to price.
• Cattle producers would literally brand their cattle to signal quality to potential buyers and
ensure cattle ownership could be verified. Even modern trace-backs still use these
permanently affixed identifiers.
• As urbanization plodded forward, large packinghouses took on a greater proportion of
slaughter activity, and refrigerated transportation became commonplace, consumers lost
direct contact with their beef supply.
• Consumers are now expecting modern technology and the age of big data to re-establish
their relationship with food. Hopefully, this relationship will be based on valid evidence
regarding nutritional soundness, environmental sustainability, & animal welfare; rather than
hype, conjecture and product placement.
• Seems regulators are looking for a similar outcome. Traceability seems to be led by the
purveyors of big data, new hardware, and novel approaches. However, if sound handling
practices, good husbandry, & competitive price discovery are disregarded to establish a
computerized tracking system; then, what have we gained?

6. Not Even Joking…
• I will love you in the morning … Promise!
• Taggin’ and retagging’
• This penalty won’t hurt a bit
• Computer expert pulls up in a BMW…
• Installer, operator and adjudicator
• Crooked as the letter ‘Z’
• So there’s a rancher, a cow, and a border…
• One enters in Fall 2010, Two leave 13 months later
• No tag, no feed, no returns (for a while)

8. Building a System
1. DEFINE TRACEABILITY
Disease Tracking vs. Operational Efficiency & Market Access
Disease Outbreak Management vs. Product Specification Verification
2. DEVELOP A WORKABLE PLAN
Work with Existing Industry Resources & Standards
Producer, Consumer, the Animal
3. START ‘THE MONEY’ TALK
Public Good vs. Public Purse
4. ESTABLISH RULES & PENALTIES
Education vs. Coercion

9. The Goal(s) of Traceability
To allow officials to pinpoint and isolate specific sites of concern and target resources in
the event of a threat to animal or human health.
The integrity of this system also translates into opportunities for Canada’s livestock and
meat industries to differentiate their products.
Good, but design of an animal health based system is completely different
than a system devoted to market access…
If we have a problem with human or
animal disease…
ANIMAL HEALTH
100% Read – No Slippage?
Mostly Mandatory
Resources:
- design, implementation, audit
It Must Work!
If we are no longer seen as consumers
1st choice…
MARKET ACCESS
Variable Read Rate?
Voluntary/Market Driven
Resources:
-communication & promotion
It Must be SEEN to Work!
?

10. The Three Pillars of Cattle Traceability
1) Animal Identification: The actions required to ensure that an animal is tagged, and remains
tagged, with a RFID button that is registered to the herd of origin.
2) Premise Identification: Registration of all locations where cattle may be raised, fed,
processed, shown, sold or slaughtered.
3) Animal Movement Tracking: The act of reading an animal’s tag upon arrival at selected
locations. At this point three read locations are considered mandatory in Canada:
• The herd of origin must register the tag after it is placed in the ear.
• All confined cattle feeding locations must read-in all cattle.
• Cattle processing / rendering facilities are required to retire all tags that are presented
at these locations.
Not Pillars…Rather Traceability is a building! |
1= foundation (tag retention and readability) | First , we need a solid foundation.
2= floor (cover the jurisdiction … no holes) | Without a solid foundation this
3= walls and roof (make it simple, solid & cheap) | construction will not endure!
Age
Verification?

11. Incentives/Disincentives
• Ranchers/Cow-Calf Producer
• tags & tagging expense, widely disseminated benefits
• Backgrounders/Feedlots
• read-in requirements & retag if necessary, enhanced inventory control
• Packers/Abattoirs
• tag retirement, tracking of meat specifications (OTM beef)
• Intermediaries (Auctions, Truckers, DVMs, Renderers, Fairs/Rodeos/Etc.)
If, in course of commerce, cattle are stopped & held individually, there
is virtually no cost to read an electronic tag.
Otherwise, altruism & the fear of penalties are being relied on.

12. LMAC’s Five Principles
1. Market Neutrality
2. Worker Safety
3. Cattle Handling
4. Cost Sharing
5. Compliance

13. As We Go Forward …
CATTLE TRACEABILITY SUMMIT (Aug 31-Sept 1, 2011)
 Cattle scanned only when it makes sense.
 Work with the system that is currently in place.
 Toward a truly national effort.
 Adopt technologies & techniques that augment, rather than
interfere, with the flow of commerce.

14. What’s Working
• Tags are being placed in calves. Retention is improving,
Retagging is done in instances where tags fall out.
• Premise ID registration is underway in all jurisdictions.
Advancing well in most.
• Tag retirement is a fact (Packers & Rendering Facilities)
• Individual animal movement tracking on a read-in basis is
taking place at locations where animals are inducted one at a
time (i.e., feedlots, veterinary clinics).
• Disease trace-backs are improved by the CCIA system. Though
the current animal tracing system still requires brand inspection
assistance and livestock dealer invoicing data to be complete.

15. What Needs Work?
• Focus the system on animal disease management.
• Pick up the pace of improving tag retention, particularly in older cattle. In
the past, we routinely replaced 8-10% of cattle tags at our weekly slaughter
sales.
• Premise ID registration must approach full coverage in order to be fully
confident in our trace-out system.
• When age is verified incorrectly, age discounts can be very injurious to
feeders.
• Ranchers, range managers, and auction operators herd cattle. As such,
grouped animal movement is more conducive to this portion of the
business.
• Reduce ‘empire building’ in government and industry organizations.
• CFIA needs to put the fine book away.

16. QUESTIONS?

17. Toward a Workable
Traceability System
A Canadian Perspective
National Institute of Animal Agriculture
Denver, Colorado
April 12, 2018