USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has awarded contracts to three tag companies to purchase up to 8 million low-frequency radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tags.
The three companies are Allflex, Datamars and Y-Tex. Tags will be provided to state animal health officials and will be distributed for use in breeding cattle and bison at no cost to producers.
“USDA continues its commitment to protecting our nation’s animal agriculture by increasing traceability in the cattle and bison sectors, in this case by providing free RFID tags to interested producers,” said Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach. “This will not only help offset the costs of switching to RFID tags, but also help us more quickly respond to potential disease events.”
USDA currently has a commenting period open until Oct. 5 over the potential future use of RFID tags. Comments may be submitted by searching for Docket No. APHIS-2020-0022 at regulations.gov.
