I would like to take the opportunity to provide Michigan residents with information about the Michigan Department of Agriculture's requirements for identifying cattle.
Since March 1 2007, all Michigan cattle moving to a show, sale or exhibit have been required to have an official electronic identification ear tag. This includes all out-of-state cattle exhibited in Michigan, and all cattle that are exhibited and sold by youth at various shows, and county and state fairs.
It is very important that all youth producers, and their families, are aware of this requirement as they make plans for the 2008 show season.
All cattle, including those participating in shows and exhibitions or sales, must be identified before movement from their premises.
Michigan is the only state in the nation that requires the use of EID for cattle tracking and bovine tuberculosis testing. Our program is driven by the bovine TB eradication program in an effort to elevate the state's TB status.
Official EID tags are intended to provide permanent identification of livestock and ensure the ability to find the source of animal disease outbreaks. Removal of these tags is prohibited except at the time of harvest.
Official EID tags each have a unique identification number, are intended for one-time use and should never be reused. Producers should contact the Department of Agriculture or visit www.michigan.gov/mda to order EID tags.
Electronic ID is good for Michigan, it's good for the economy, it provides source verification, and it adds value to the meat product.
Electronic ID enhances interstate, international, and specialty product marketability. But most of all, it increases food safety, and helps solve problems by tracing a product to the farm of origin.
This program is helping advance Michigan's TB eradication program. It gives us the ability to trace cattle through the marketing systems and increases efficiency as we track cattle exposed to bovine TB.
When the electronic ID program began in 2002, Michigan had approximately 12,000 cattle farms and 1.2 million cattle.
On March 1, 2007, after close to a year's worth of producer meetings and notifications, electronic ID became mandatory statewide. In October, a set of tags that included the one-millionth electronic ID tag was issued. In December, more than 14,374 Michigan producers had purchased over 1,176,718 tags for their cattle, swine or sheep.
Protecting Michigan livestock is actually a team effort and everyone, including the farmer, has stepped forward to preserve the continued viability of our agriculture industries.
About the author: Donald Koivisto, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, served three terms in the state House of Representatives, where he was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. He was elected to the state Senate in 1990 and served 12 years.
About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.
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