Animal ID has reappeared as a controversial issue in beef circles. Here’s a look at how and why cattle producers identify their cattle.

Burt Rutherford, Senior Editor

April 25, 2017

1 Min Read
Survey snippet: How do you identify your cattle?

Cattle producers have identified their cattle to indicate ownership for as long as there have been domestic cattle. And some of those methods, like ear notching and branding, are still widely used today. But have cattle producers adopted newer, more technology-driven identification methods?

To that end, we surveyed BEEF readers recently to get a feel for your use of and opinions on animal identification. Here’s a look at what you had to say.

When asked what form of ranch-wide animal identification readers use, the majority, at 70%, use dangle ear tags. While that wasn’t surprising, what was surprising (at least to us) is that 47.2% use a hot iron brand. Given the general acceptance of branding as a permanent indication of ownership, our hypothesis was that branding would be more common.

Beyond that, 14.6% use freeze branding and 5.4% don’t use any form of identification at all. Another 18.1% say “other, “with most responses indicating that ear notches and EID or RFID tags are used (Figure 1). Totals add up to more than 100% because of multiple responses.

April-2017-BEEF_10_04-survey-fig1.png

As far as why readers use ranchwide animal identification, 83.3% say for management and 70.5% say to indicate ownership. Theft deterrence was important for 51.6%; 26.6% indicate they do it for marketing; 19.1% to comply with verification or value-added programs; and 15.9% to comply with government cattle health programs (Figure 2). Totals add up to more than 100% because of multiple responses.

April-2017-beef-10-04-surveyfig2.png

See all of the data from our exclusive 2017 survey here.

About the Author(s)

Burt Rutherford

Senior Editor, BEEF Magazine

Burt Rutherford is director of content and senior editor of BEEF. He has nearly 40 years’ experience communicating about the beef industry. A Colorado native and graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in agricultural journalism, he now works from his home base in Colorado. He worked as communications director for the North American Limousin Foundation and editor of the Western Livestock Journal before spending 21 years as communications director for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. He works to keep BEEF readers informed of trends and production practices to bolster the bottom line.

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