When a disease outbreak hits a beef cattle supply chain, time is of the essence. So is the ability to pinpoint affected animals. However, with so many animals on the move, that’s traditionally been a daunting task.
But now the Kansas cattle industry is testing a new program called Cattle Trace. The program uses ultra-high-frequency technology to collect an animal’s individual ID number, their global position — or GPS location — and the date and time. Tag readers located in livestock markets, feed yards, and beef processing facilities can gather the data at any location.
With the ability to trace animals from one end of the system to another, cattle producers hope to beef up biosecurity across the industry — all while keeping the engines of commerce humming along.