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How technology helped reduce the impact of a bovine tuberculosis outbreak

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A disease outbreak is one of the most tragic things that can happen in any industry that relies on crops or livestock. In September 2016, the Canadian beef industry was faced with an outbreak of Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) – a disease that had the potential to devastate our cattle producers’ operations.

Fortunately, in this case, the outbreak was brought under control, and its impact minimized, using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Read on to find out how.

What happens when disease is discovered

When the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that a case of bovine TB had been detected in a cow from Alberta, the first step was to identify the farm of origin. This was quickly achieved through a combination of RFID tags, brand identification tattoos, metal tags and farm tags.

The next step was an investigation so that control measures could be put in place to help prevent the spread of the disease. According to the CFIA, the investigation’s first stage involved identifying all the animals from that farm, and any that had encountered them.

Phase two of the investigation required tracing all animals that had left the infected farm in the last five years, and also tracing any animals that they had come into contact with.

During the third phase, CFIA identified the herds from which animals had been introduced into the infected herd in the past five years. The goal here was to identify the source of the infection, but the reality is that it cannot always be positively confirmed.

Once the infected animals had been identified, and farms they’d been on were traced, any adult cattle that could have come into contact with the infected animals were quarantined and tested to verify whether the disease had spread to other farms.

By the time the outbreak was contained, approximately 11,500 head of cattle had been humanely destroyed, and 14,000 were quarantined and subsequently released.

The role of traceability

Being able to trace the movement of cattle that may have been exposed to the infected herd was fundamental to the CFIA’s ability to prevent the spread and impact of the disease.

According to CFIA, animal traceability contributes to be an effective disease response and reduces the impact of a disease outbreak on individual producers and the industry as a whole. Good tracing information supports a faster response and can help limit the number of farms that must be quarantined.

The outcome of the outbreak

The TB outbreak was finally contained, but not before the beef industry experienced a significant impact. Nonetheless, without the benefits of RFID technology, the outcome would have been even worse. It’s worth noting that Canada’s world-leading cattle traceability system is made possible due to the diligence of industry members, who play a critical role in ensuring this information is collected and maintained. If this information had been incomplete or unavailable, the length of the investigation and the ability to determine the source of the infection would have been impacted significantly.

You can read more about RFID technology in these posts:

Cattle traceability and Canada’s place as a global beef producer: how a tag retention study is helping

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Canada has a reputation for producing some of the finest beef in the world. Part of what cements this international standing is our ability to accurately track cattle from their farm of origin right through to slaughter. Using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, beef producers provide detailed information about each animal, including health and feed histories.

While this technology already sets Canada apart from other countries, there’s always room for improvement. One of the major concerns for livestock producers has been tags that fall off or become compromised, but until recently the degree of this problem was unclear. To address the issue, Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) commenced a National Tag Retention Project in 2011. This project studied the long-term viability of the tags in use.

We spoke with Paul Laronde, tag and technology manager at CCIA, about the project, which was four years in the making.

Q: Why was the tag retention project deemed necessary?

Paul: Tags are mandatory within the system for all cattle leaving the farm of origin. Tag retention is affected by a number of things, and it affects all livestock operators differently. While some industry members have little or no problem with tag retention, others are frustrated by tag loss, which costs time and money. Though there is a lot of anecdotal evidence regarding tag loss from industry members, it was determined that a science-based trial may be able to narrow down the causes and rates of tag loss that are outside of a livestock operator’s control.

Q: Was there a sense before the trial of the expected results?

Paul: Going into the trial, there were no expectations. As a research trial, it is important to generate unbiased data from actual field conditions. It was so important to remove bias from the testing that experienced, third-party cattle-handling experts – professional cowboys – were contracted to apply the approved tags to animals involved in the trial. Since there were no assumptions made about the research trial, there were no surprises.

Q: What were the results?

Paul: We gathered real-world tag retention data, which was analyzed by expert scientists to ensure the data interpretation was valid and relatable to industry. Among the learnings resulting from the trial, were the different retention rates between various tag applicators, and the preference by the professional cowboys for particular applicator(s). CCIA encourages livestock operators to try another brand of tags with matching applicator, if they are experiencing any challenges or frustration with the tag application process.

Q: What are some of the solutions that will be recommended?

Paul: Approved tags performed well for the majority of this study. The comments from the researchers that applied tags have been shared with each approved tag manufacturer as feedback, with the continued goal of working together to improve tag and applicator design and retention in future. One of the critical outputs of the project was to highlight the need for further tag testing – to build on this project’s results and to test tags in the field for longer periods of time.

Moving forward to improve tag retention and effectiveness

CCIA will use the results of this study to recommend solutions for maximizing tag retention and readability, and also to hold manufacturers accountable for the performance of their own products.

You can learn more about the role RFID technology plays in the Canadian beef export market in ‘Why traceability is making Canada a world leader in beef production.’ In other posts you can learn about how RFID technology is assisting with the development of verified sustainable beef and with alleviating the agricultural labour crisis.

How technology is helping improve feedlot efficiencies

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If you’ve spent any time at a feedlot or on a cattle ranch, you might have noticed the numbered ear tags worn by each animal. More than a simple numbering system, these tags are sophisticated tagging and tracking devices that contain detailed, up-to-the-minute information about each individual animal.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are part of an industry-driven program, administered by the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, and have many different purposes, such as age verification and traceability. But they are helping with more than just tracking. At Cattleland Feedyards, RFID tags are an integral component of a Residual Feed Intake (RFI) research program being conducted in their Integrated Beef Research Station (IBRS).

To learn more, we spoke with Sarah Van Schothorst, a research assistant at Cattleland:

Q: How is RFID technology used to monitor cattle feeding?

Sarah: Here at Cattleland, we use a feeding system created by GrowSafe Systems to measure individual feed intakes. Each animal eats at a feed bunk, which is a large feed tub on weigh bars, or load bars, which measure the food given. The system automatically reads the tag and starts collecting data on the amount consumed. The data is wirelessly transferred to a panel in the feedyard and then to a computer.

Q: Why is it important to measure intake in this way?

Sarah: We use the technology to help us monitor the feed efficiency of potential breeding bulls. We are able to determine which animals are gaining weight while eating less, through the calculation of feed to gain ratios. This is called ‘residual feed intake’, and it’s an inheritable trait. Having technology available that allows us to monitor individual intakes allows us to select genetic lines that will be more cost effective and more environmentally friendly due to less consumption of resources during the animal’s production life.

The technology also allows us to identify individual animals with reduced intakes, leading to earlier detection of animals that will need treatment.

Q: Who monitors the data, and what actions might follow?

Sarah: This technology is fairly labour intensive. GrowSafe Systems monitors all of their systems and records the data for each trial, and for each cattle pen. At Cattleland, I work with the GrowSafe support team to ensure that the animals are in the best condition, feeds are delivered properly, and the system is in working order by doing necessary maintenance and any repairs. The bunks need to remain clean and the load bars free from debris that may affect weighing of the feed or data collection.

Q: How long has this technology been used?

Sarah: GrowSafe Systems developed the technology in Canada starting in the mid- to late 90s. Cattleland implemented its use in 2002-2003.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts where we will continue our technology theme, and look at other ways innovation is helping make the cattle feeding industry more efficient and more sustainable.