Use of RFID

[pdfangus]

Is anyone here using RFID for cattle managment?

Not looking to start a NAIS debate.

Wanting to know of real world experience in using RFID for herd managment.

Wondering if tag retention is as big a problem as I think it would be for a cow herd.

I am thinking of using AVID microchip implants and a reader that I found that will go into the flash drive of my PDA. Just going to chip the cows and replacement heifers as a supplemental ID.

Ideally my wife who sees the cows a few times a year could scan the cow and input health info when the vet is here and I can stay in the back and work cows.
When an ear tag is lost the whole process would not have to grind to a halt.
My cows lose thirty to forty percent of the ear tags every year.
cows are branded but not all brands read well.
cows are tattoed but I don't need my wife clobbered by a head swinging cow who don't want to share her personal info.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

30 to 40% tag loss every year? why do you suppose that is? I lose a few after maybe 4 or 5 years and of course they fade but even in what I consider brushy country I don't lose many. I use Allflex Globals (not rf).

 

[pdfangus]

30 to 40% tag loss every year? why do you suppose that is? I lose a few after maybe 4 or 5 years and of course they fade but even in what I consider brushy country I don't lose many. I use Allflex Globals (not rf).

Easy answer

round bales fed in a round bale feeder.

Back of tags snag on string and pop either the tag comes out or the ear rips.

don't even mention trying to get the partner to change feeding methods. I would most likely not live long enough to convince him of that. I like to pick my battles. Improvise, adapt and overcome.

Ergo i am looking at all I can look at to go tagless.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

OK gotcha. What about a big old freeze brand? With angus, that should be nice and readable. Or is that not allowed by breed assoc.?

 

[fit2btied]

...Back of tags snag on string and pop either the tag comes out or the ear rips...

That's one of the reasons we cut the strings and get rid of them. We normally run 20-25 pairs, all Z-tagged, and have never lost more than 1 or 2 in a year. Most of the time we don't lose any. Fly tags are much harder to find in the Z's.

 

[jayfarmlaw]

yes, several companies are looking into RFID for cattle tags. One company I know of actually started with the idea of meeting Animal ID needs with a bonus but then spread to tracking all types of items from there.

The problem with an implated chip is that the packers will have to locate the chip and remove it at the time of harvest. That issue is yet to be resolved. RFID offers all type of interesting other possibilities including triangulating the location of each animal. I love the inplant idea because the technology is available to monitor temerature, pulse ox, heart rate, you name it. I know of one company that was trying to monitor hormone levels to try and predict when a cow was about to calve.

Another company is using a rumen bolus.

Within 10 years, our cattle will have better health records than our kids. A producer will be able to check the loacation and general health of his cattle from his home computer. If an animal develops a problem (based on preset parameters) such as a temperature spiking above 102...his cell phone can call him to tell him animal 2265 just developed a fever, is located in the South pasture, and give an instant review of the animal health records since birth or purchase.

When you work your stock, your laptop will be as important as your squeeze chute. A reader will track the animal through the chute and any medication can be scanned and added to the medical records.

Even better, your cell phone could call you to tell you that 10 head are traveling 55 mph down the highway. Do you know where your cattle are??

Right now, the company is working with feedlots and packers to develop the beta test.

At first I was against the "Big Brother" concept of record keeping. But there is a definate potential for value added premiums with these records. When you buy sale barn cattle...or go to a production sale, I know I would be willing to pay more for an animal if I knew what shots it has received and when. Livestock scales are getting cheaper so you could actually track weights as well. I keep complete records on machinery...now I have started on my cattle too.

If you do a search on All-Flex, Y-Tex and the other tag makers, I think some already have RFID tags out there.

This turned into a long way to say yes, but this is the future of ranching.

Good luck,

Jay

 

[pdfangus]

Thanks for the responses

toward hay strings.

My partner and I both work day jobs. He is a judge and gets home earlier than I do generally but this time of year we don't see cattle in the day light more than three days a week. He has a place near a feed alley where he has round bale feeders near a fence. In th dark of night he approaches the fence and drops the bales into the round bale feeders. My neighbor is older than I and if I told him he had to cut the strings before dropping the bale he would say fine lets sell em all.

They are freeze branded but not all freeze brands turn out real well. And it is always the cow with the bad brand that loses her tag first. In fact the ones with good brands are not tagged.

I know all about RFID tags.

Here is a link for the chip I am interested in. It would go in the base of the ear and should eliminate the packer concerns of locating the chip. Has a coating to encourage growth around the chip to prevent migration.

http://www.ezidavid.com/products.htm

 

[danl]

Other than popping off ear tags, isn't eating haystrings bad for a cow?
Plus having one heck of a mess to clean up.

 

[rockridgecattle]

RFID are manditory in Canada. There has been talk of making these tages useful for all sorts of things but for the common guy has yet to happen cheap enough. I would like to see it to manage herd health though.
We make sure when we put the tag in to go back and hand push the button into the tag.
RFID also goes in the ear in a different than say a regular tag.
Our RFIDs are buttons with a barcode # that goes into the first 1/3 of the ear. Then we also tag with a dangle tag for management purposes. If they lose one, we can manually cross reference with the other.
Would be nicer with an affordable reader though.

As for the twine problem, you have three choices.

1. Tell your partner to get with the program...gentley of course. We finally told ours if he wanted to throw a tantrum to head back to the house and not come out until he decided he was a adult...did not go over well...had some improved effect though

2. Suggest to your partner you'll take over the feeding and he can do the other chore

3. Go out after he feeds and take off the twine

And finally, show the partner the cost in using sisal VS plastic twine...got our partners attention. Not the immediate purchase) cost but the long term cost...dead cow, twine everywhere, tag replacement, time to p/u used twine, bearing wear and tear on tractors, enviromental, and anything else you can add to the bill.

wasting or saving money usually is a great motivator for change.