REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- USDA released on Friday the final traceability rule requirements for animal identification in the cattle sector.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is putting into place tools to better trace disease outbreaks through information and technology and the use of electronic ID tags for certain groups of cattle.

"Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly -- but will help keep our markets open," Michael Watson, APHIS administrator, said in a news release.

In February, delegates at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) annual meeting discussed how cattle producers should prepare for this ruling. Its policy was amended to coincide with USDA's 2013 Animal Disease Traceability Rule.

NCBA president Mark Eisele said, in response to the rule, "USDA's final traceability rule updates the existing requirement for animal identification, switching from solely visual tags to tags that are both electronically and visually readable for certain classes of cattle moving interstate."

PREVIOUS RULE AMENDED

USDA's final traceability rule amends a previous 2013 rule that requires sexually intact cattle 18 months and older, rodeo and exhibition cattle, and dairy cattle moving interstate to have an official form of animal identification. Cattle producers already comply with the 2013 rule, causing cattle being moved interstate to have a visual ID tag.

The new final rule switches to electronic ID tags, which are easier to read and yield a faster traceability response during an animal disease outbreak, according to NCBA.

APHIS said the most significant benefits will be enhanced ability to limit disease outbreak impact in the U.S., as well as maintaining foreign markets.

"Many producers are already familiar with using these visual tags and under the new rule, they will instead use electronic tags. NCBA has worked hard to secure $15 million in funding for producers to reduce the cost of implementing this change," Eisele said.

Only 11% of the U.S. cattle herd is affected by this final rule, which will not take effect for six months after it is put in the Federal Register to provide time for producers to prepare.

For more information, visit www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/traceability. It also features a link to each state's state veterinarian to receive free electronic ID tags.

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

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