Tracking Cattle – From Brands to Scans

Does radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology seem out of place on a cattle ranch? Millions of livestock animals around the world are now being monitored by low-frequency transponders. Although this technology doesn't belong in an old black-and-white John Wayne movie, RFID is in use on ranches today.

Cowboy Methods – Hot Branding and Freeze Branding

Traditionally, cattle are branded with their ranch's "logo" to avoid confusion with herds from other ranches. Branding is also an effort to prevent thievery. A hot-iron shape is used to burn the ranch's brand (unique identifying mark) into the hide of each animal. The burn heals, leaving a hairless area that usually scars black.

If hot branding sounds painful, consider freeze branding. The ranch's same identifying mark is placed on the animal's hip or shoulder, but the tool is dipped in liquid nitrogen instead of being held over a fire. When pressed on the hide, the tool freezes the skin, causing the hair to grow back white in the shape of the brand.

Branding is used to classify an animal with its herd rather than to identify a unique individual. While branding is good for sorting out jumbled-up herds, it doesn't always thwart cattle rustlers (yes, they still exist) who can easily alter a brand's shape.

High-Tech Alternatives: RFID Transponders and Retinal Scans

One high-tech alternative to branding is an RFID transponder. These devices are scanned by hand-held readers to display the animal's information on a screen. Typically, this information includes the animal's age, breed, pedigree, and owner. The information on each transponder is stored in a secure database accessible by the owner. If an animal is lost or stolen, the owner can broadcast an alert so that veterinarians or potential buyers can spot a scam.

The RFID transponder can be placed on the animal in either of two ways. The first method is in an ear tag. As its name suggests, this plastic, numbered, ranch identification tag is clipped to the animal's ear. Alternatively, RFID transponders can be put in capsules and injected under the skin (like the emergency contact information chips used for dogs). These tamper-proof transponders do not require batteries and are fairly inexpensive.

Retinal scans are another method that is gaining popularity in the livestock industry. Like a human fingerprint, every retina is unique. A retinal scanner flashes light into the eye and records the pattern of the veins. An initial image is taken of each animal and stored in a database. Later, the image can be used to identify an animal for treatment or sale, or to detect suspected thievery.

Retinal scans are used by Maverick Ranch Natural Meats in Denver, Colorado, which markets natural beef. The ranch's animals receive retinal scans at least four times during their lives to confirm identity in order to conform to Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), an initiative designed to establish the country of origin for meat and peanut products.

Resources:

http://www.tv.com/cowboy-tech/episode/455190/summary.html

http://www.electrocom.com.au/rfid_animalid.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051020084929.htm

http://www.maverickranch.com/product_safety/cool.cfm

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ansi/cool/