The Rural Voice, 2000-09, Page 20Follow that steer
A new tagging system will allow beef animals to be followed
from birth to packing plant
Sometimes to be modern, you
have to go back to the past, at
least that's the way it is in the
beef industry these days.
Back in 1985. before brucellosis
was declared dead in Canada, 85-90
per cent of cattle in Canada carried
an identifying ear tag. Since then the
number of cattle with identification
has been shrinking, to the point
where only about 10 per cent of
animals have any form of permanent
identification. Beginning this year, in
an effort to provide more assurance
to worried consumers, cattle will be
getting ear tags again.
The Canadian Cattle Identification
Program is now being eased into
place. The system begins on January
1, 2001 and by July 1, 2001, all cattle
that are moved beyond their herd of
origin must carry an approved tag. ,
"It's a health issue," Stan Eby of
Kincardine, president of the Ontario
Cattlemen's Association told farmers
attending Grey -Bruce Farmers' Week
earlier this year. "There's a lack of
confidence in food safety." It's a
perception problem, he said, because
there are fewer problems with food
safety today than in the past.
But consumers, following the
outbreak of BSE (mad cow disease)
16 THE RURAL VOICE
in Britain need all the reassurance
they can get.
And for beef producers, the lesson
of Britain is just how costly it can be
to lose consumer confidence. Export
markets immediately slammed their
doors on British beef which would
have been devastating enough but
frightened British consumers also
stopped buying, reducing domestic
demand by 40 per cent.
More recently, an outbreak of foot
and mouth disease struck Japan,
South Korea and Taiwan which
halted exports of their beef. In such
cases, says Dr. Terry Hunt, who
represents the Canadian Veterinary
CCIA tags will identify cattle
throughout their lives right up
to inspection.
Medical Association on the Canadian
Cattle Identification Agency
(CCIA), a disease can turn into a
disaster if there's no way of rapidly
tracing animals.
"The national ID program is
essential in order to maintain the
health status of the Canadian herd,"
Hunt says. "On a world-wide basis,
we're far from eliminating these
diseases that can be a complete
disaster to national herds.
Canada has its own history with
such catastrophic diseases. When
foot and mouth disease broke out in
Canada in 1952, beef producers were
hit hard by a price collapse. •
The new system aims to assist in
limiting the damage if another such
crisis should occur. "Today, we can
claim the healthiest cattle industry in
the world," says Carl Block, head of
the.CCIA, "but we have no guarantee
what tomorrow may bring."
Stung by the British situation,
importers around the world are
demanding better protection in the
way of traceability of the beef they're
buying. With 50 per cent of Canadian
beef being exported, some form of
trace -back system is essential to
provide reassurance about the safety
of the beef supply.