Tracking the progress of RFID
track every domesticated animal, claims an American beef industry
specialist. The current BSE crisis in the US has generated renewed
interest in RFID for tracking cattle and other livestock, and a
number of schemes have recently been implemented across the globe.
In Australia, for example, the National Livestock Information Scheme has just approved tags and readers for use by beef producers and the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) recently selected a supplier of RFID tags for use on cattle in Canada. Tagging is mandatory in Canada.
But according to professor Dale Blasi of Kansas State University, it will be several years before this happens as a number of important issues still need to be resolved. These include data privacy, the potential liability of those who raise the animals, and the cost and performance of RFID tags and readers.
A basic RFID system consist of three components: an antenna or coil, a transceiver with decoder and a transponder electronically programmed with unique information. The antenna emits radio signals to activate the tag and read and write data to it. Antennas are the conduits between the tag and the transceiver, which controls the system's data acquisition and communication.
Animal tracking tags, inserted beneath the skin, can be as small as a pencil lead in diameter and one-half inches in length. Typically, cows are tracked as they move down a chute to and from a corral. Readers are set up on either side of the chute to read tags in the animals' left ear. But the chutes are often made of metal, which can interfere with the performance of the system.
"We have tested a lot of equipment from different vendors and have observed variable results," said Blasi in the RFID Journal. "When you have animals lined up head to tail in a chute, there are some issues with getting the transponders to give up their numbers. Most commercial feeders [industrial beef producers] will have to make some design changes to their animal processing facilities so that the readers will work in their environment."
Experts also believe that it will take time for the infrastructure necessary to support RFID tracking to be put in place. While the tags and readers have been around for a long time, there hasn't been a lot of software designed specifically for certain segments of the cattle industry.But the potential is there. Chris Regan marketing executive for UK-based RFID specialist Mannings told FoodProductionDaily.com that once the meat processing industry fully realises the benefits associated with RFID tracking, the technology will take off.
"The technology is still not known enough," he said. "Even in veterinary circles, I don't think that the usefulness of RFID is fully appreciated. If you look at the micro chip, you might not realise that the information from this can be put into a database, and that this can then be linked to other computers - with RFID we can generate information at an exponential rate."
The technology has numerous applications for the meat processing industry. Tags can be used to locate animals, which following the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the UK, is a major concern in Europe. Residual chemicals in slaughtered livestock can also be more accurately calculated. This is again is a topical point in the week that Scottish farmed salmon stocks were being investigated for containing high levels of cancer-causing pollutants.
Both Blasi and Regan agree that RFID is the technology of the future, and both point to supermarkets as being the driving force behind change. More specifically, Regan identifies Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, as the key. Wal-Mart has introduced RFID tracking technology in its supply chain.
"20 years ago, Wal-Mart introduced the barcode. They said: 'we're doing this, and you can follow us if you like.' They are simply the biggest, and where they go, everyone follows."
