At the 2024 CattleCon held in Orlando, Florida, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays talked with the President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Mark Eisele. Hays and Eisele talk about disease traceability and what electronic identification has to offer for the beef industry.
Our coverage from the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Orlando is being powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater.
Eisele runs a cow-calf and yearling operation in the southeast corner of Wyoming on both public and private lands. When asked why he felt the calling to run for NCBA President, Eisele said he wants to give back to those who have made his way of life possible.
One of the big conversations at CattleCon this year was animal disease traceability. If disease made its way into the United States, Eisele said many do not understand the heavy implications.
“It is right on our doorstep,” Eisele said. “We are going to start accepting imports from Paraguay and Brazil which we have fought vehemently but haven’t got accomplished.”
Eisele said if there is an animal disease outbreak anywhere in the U.S., there will instantly be a 72-hour freeze of all livestock.
“You can’t get to pasture, you can’t get to packing plant from the feedlot, you can’t market your calves, you can’t do anything,” Eisele said. “If you have disease traceability, you can move. If you are not in an affected area, you will get a pass to be able to move. That is critical.”
Another detrimental impact of animal disease breakout in the United States is a loss of export markets.
“Those markets go away, and it is very difficult to get them back,” Eisele said.
The solution, Eisele said, is moving forward with voluntary traceability, or electronic identification.
“Other countries are doing it now,” Eisele said. “The United States is actually behind. We want to have the USDA give us some funding to help get producers into that system and make it work. We want a private third party holding data. Confidentiality is a part of that. I think if we can do those things and bring it into the fold, I think producers will accept it, and it will be very useful.”
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