Student Cause/Effect Essay #4

Science and technology have significantly changed the landscape and production of agriculture within the past 5 years. The demand for insurable high quality products by consumers from producers has led to changes in the way the United States handles beef starting at the farm to the fork. The outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), has led to Japan banning U.S. beef imports and the U.S. threatening to retaliate by banning Japanese beef imports. Continued negotiations between the two countries to seek tolerance for minute bone fragments, has left the U.S. livestock industry at a crossroads.

The proposed solution is a national database for all beef-producing animals. Every animal associated with beef production will be tagged with an electronic ear tag that will be read by an electronic identification (EID) reader. The information will then be saved on to a computer, and eventually programmed into the national database. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has not made the implementation of EID mandatory yet, but there are incentives and bonuses for those that choose to use this technology.

Point Source Verification- If a disease pandemic breaks out, such as BSE, the USDA will be able to trace the infected animal on its national database. The records on the database will show when and where the animal was born, what immunization procedures have been administered, where the animal has gone through each phase of production including other cattle that the infected animal may have come in contact with, which sale barn the animal was sold at, and where the animal was processed (Smith). This information will help officials quarantine any animals that the infected animal has come in to contact with to try to eradicate the disease. Point source verification will guarantee product quality to consumers.

Market Premiums- Many producers receive premiums when they send their animals to the sale barn because they are able to trace and animal and ensure it’s quality. The premiums nearly cover the cost of the equipment to electronically identify all of a producer’s cattle. According to Nebraska Farmer Magazine, Mike Briggs, a feedlot operator from Seward, stated, “…The premiums have offset the cost of EID [electronic identification] ear tags and the EID reader…It costs about $2 per ear tag and $300 for the reader” (qtd. in McCabe 1) Many producers have not implemented EID because it could possibly be funded by governmental subsidies. Premiums for cattle can top out at $50 a head, depending on their yield grade and quality grade, or if they were involved in a program, such as Certified Angus Beef (CAB).

Expanded Markets- With the implementation of a national database that houses electronic animal identification information, consumers will be more confident in the product they are buying. As a result, the reopening of Japan’s market will allow trade sanctions to resume, giving the U.S.’s $1 billion export beef commodity a breath of fresh air (Smith). At the national level, it would ensure product safety and quality to consumers. For example, consumers will be able to check beef quality by seeing whom packages organic beef.

Although the USDA has not made it mandatory for producers to electronically identify their cattle, they are urging producers to implement the practice and technology. The USDA has stated that EID will become mandatory sometime between 2008-2010. Producers that sign up early and implement this technology will be ahead of any deadlines that may be set, and they can start reaping the rewards that the program offers.

English Composition I
Student Cause/Effect Essay #4

Animal ID

English Composition I Student Cause/Effect Essay #4

Animal ID

English Composition I
Student Cause/Effect Essay #4