Announcements
- Note: Federal rule changes go into effect November 5, 2024, requiring official ear tags applied to cattle and bison to be readable both visually AND electronically. This requirement applies to official identification placed for any reason, including interstate movement, brucellosis vaccination, and tuberculosis testing. Cattle tagged with visual-only official tags prior to November 5, 2024, do not need to be retagged unless they lose their ID. These changes only apply to official ID for cattle and bison.
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Limited supply of RFID readers available: The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has a limited supply of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers available for markets and dealers, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). DATCP currently does not have free 840 official RFID tags available. Future availability of 840 RFID tags is pending further funding from USDA. Refer to the "RFID Tags and Readers" section on this page for more information.
Introduction
Animal disease traceability—knowing where diseased and at-risk animals are, where they've been, and when they were there—is very important to ensure a rapid response when animal disease events take place. An efficient and accurate animal disease traceability system helps reduce the number of animals involved in an investigation, reduces the time needed to respond, and decreases the cost to producers and the government.
RFID Tags & Readers
840 RFID tags
840 official RFID tags are only for use in cattle and bison. These tags are intermittently available from DATCP courtesy of the USDA; refer to the "Announcements" section on this page for more information. 840 RFID tags can also be purchased directly from approved manufacturers or their vendors. An alphabetical list of approved RFID tag manufacturers follows:
More information about approved 840 RFID tag options from each company can be found in the USDA Approved "840" Official Identification document, also available in the "Resources" section of this page.
Limited opportunity for markets and dealers to use RFID readers
DATCP has a limited supply of RFID tag readers available for use by markets and dealers. The readers are intended to electronically read and record the official ID of animals with RFID tags to aid in keeping market and dealer records and/or completing certificates of veterinary inspection.
Recordkeeping Requirements
Anyone acquiring official
840 tags for distribution must become an Animal Identification Number (AIN)
Device Manager and must record tags in the database as required under that
agreement. Learn more via USDA’s How to Become an AIN Device Manager online guide.
Markets, dealers, and veterinarians acquiring official 840 tags to apply to animals must keep records that include the specific addresses at which the tags are applied to animals. (For veterinarians, this would likely be the farm locations where the animals are tagged.) The recordkeeping system should allow retrieval of tag information within 48 hours of a request from the USDA Veterinary Services Area Veterinarian in Charge or the State Veterinarian in Wisconsin.
Veterinarians receiving free tags from DATCP courtesy of USDA must also submit tag application records to DATCP by emailing paul.johann@wisconsin.gov or mailing DATCP-DAH, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI, 53708-8911.
Accuracy Issues with Dairy Comp 305
It has come to our attention that some of the identification lists generated by Dairy Comp 305 are printing numbers that are not accurate. In these cases, the animals have been identified with 840 tags, which are official identification, but the numbers are printing out with "USA" noted in place of "840". When the numbers are printed out this way, it is not clear that the tags are official identification and this will result in follow up with you as the veterinarian and potentially the person who receives the animals.
This is due to a default setting in Dairy Comp 305. It can be changed by going to the Preferences under Setup and choosing Numeric for the International ID Format. If you are using Dairy Comp 305, especially to generate lists for regulatory reasons such as writing CVIs, double check this setting to make sure the official identification is printing correctly.
As accredited veterinarians, when you are writing certificates of veterinary inspection (CVIs or health certificates), you are responsible for making sure that the CVI is complete and accurate. This generally includes making sure that all the boxes on the CVI are completed. Addresses should be complete and should include at a minimum the physical location from which the animals are leaving and to which they are going (PO boxes are not physical animal locations). If applicable, mailing addresses for the owners should be included as well. In addition, most livestock species require official identification. Sometimes tests, vaccinations, or statements are required. Contact the state of destination to ensure the animals meet the import requirements and make sure those requirements are clearly documented on the CVI.
When official identification is required, it should be clearly, completely, and accurately documented on the CVI. If a list of identification numbers is provided to accompany the CVI, a copy of the list should accompany each copy of the CVI.