04/14/05 Animal identification symposium in Idaho

Livestock producers and animal health officials will be in Boise May 17th for an Animal ID Symposium. Northwest Pilot Project coordinator Julie Morrison says this meeting is worth the time and effort. MORRISON "A comprehensive group that will be taking a hard look at the issues facing id in the Northwest." So what's working so far? Morrison says they've found that they can use group identification on cattle at the cow-calf level that then gets converted into individual animal id at the first point those animals are co-mingled, be it the feed lot or a sale yard. MORRISON "And we've been able to link the individual animal number with a group number and it still provides the complete trace from birth to death. But it's a little more practical sometimes for some of our cow-calf producers to be able to use that group lot identification." The May 17th symposium is free to NWPP participants and cooperating state agency officials but they must pre-register by May 6th. More info and registration forms are available at www.northwestpilot.org. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott