Tune in to Benefits of RFID (Radio Frequency ID) Technology

Although RFID technology has come of age, producers and most equipment manufacturers have yet to take advantage

Most dairy farmers have been faithfully tagging their herds with radio frequency identification [RFID] tags for some time now. Although tags have added a few dollars per head to the cost of cattle identification, the radio component has been given little air time, either off or on the farm. Meanwhile, reliable tag readers have been developed. If the tags are in the cows, and the tools to read them are working, it's time to turn the radio on and begin to reap some benefits.

The National Livestock Identification for Dairy [NLID] program notes that RFID is now the only acceptable tag to use. New information on its Web site [www.nlid.org] indicates all cattle born after January 2004 must be RFID-tagged by January 2008 to move anywhere off your farm. Panel bar code tags will be accepted only for cattle born before 2004 and, according to NLID, "even for these animals, owners may wish to upgrade tags so that all animals on the move carry an RFID component to avoid delays and to meet the expectations of both receivers and enforcement personnel."

Alberta Agriculture recently published a beef cattle study demonstrating the capabilities of two systems for reading animals at auction or slaughter. An Allflex system using four panel readers in two laneways, each 34 inches wide and 14 feet long, read 99.9 per cent of the half-duplex tags in seven-month-old calves moving through the system at a speed of 10.4 km per hour. A Digital Angel system read 77.7 per cent of tags, using six panels in a single 58-inch laneway with calves moving at 14.7 kilometres per hour. You can find more details of the study by visiting www1.agric.gov.ab.ca.

The 99.9 per cent figure is excellent-especially considering the speed and volume of cattle going through. Dairy cows leaving a double-20 rapid exit parlour through a single-sort point need to clear it at a minimum speed of less than one km per hour. It appears that simpler systems will suffice in the dairy barn.

In Australia, meat packers use RFID technology to generate reports on carcass yield and quality that go directly back to farms of origin. Here at home, cull cows from Quebec, where RFID is fully implemented, attract a premium. Buyers have assurances they were born after the BSE-related feed ban. It is hoped that similar programs can be implemented in Ontario and elsewhere soon.

On the farm, automated identification is an important part of new technology that saves labour and refines management control. RFID has been a component of parlour automation for many years but most systems use big, costly neck or leg bands. You have to manage these devices and they can represent a big loss when one comes off and disappears through a slatted floor.

The Alberta trial demonstrates that technology for fast, accurate reading of the internationally standardized RFID tags is available and works well. Common sense suggests that dairy equipment suppliers should quickly abandon their individual neck and leg systems and offer parlour identification, sorting systems, computer feeders and other equipment that read RFID tags. Although cows may still need to wear additional hardware to collect data on activity or temperature, even these systems would be more farmer friendly if the cow ID could originate from the unique lifetime ear tag information.

Some automation such as robotic calf feeding and Dairymaster parlour equipment already use the ear tag for identification. Other companies should consider updating their systems.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has an ongoing interest in RFID from the standpoint of food safety off the farm and precision management to improve production efficiency on the farm.

This article first appeared in the Ruminations column of The Milk Producer Magazine, August, 2006.

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