A PUBLICATION OF MINNESOTA DHIA Volume 3, Issue 11 November - December 2003

Protecting American animal agriculture by safeguarding animal health is vital to the wellbeing of all U. S. citizens. It promotes human health; provides wholesome, reliable, and secure food resources; mitigates national economic threats; and enhances a sustainable environment. Essential to achieving this goal is an efficient and effective animal identification program. Building upon previously established and successful animal health and animal identification programs involving many animal industries, an industry-state-federal partnership, aided by the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), was formed in 2002 to more uniformly coordinate a national animal identification plan. This r esulting plan, requested by the United
States Animal Health Association (USAHA) and facilitated by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), was formulated in 2003 for presentation at the October, 2003 annual meeting of the USAHA. M ore than 100 animal industry and state-federal government professionals representing more than 70 allied associations/organizations collectively assessed and suggested workable improvements to the plan to meet future U. S. animal identification needs.

Fundamental to controlling any disease threat, foreign or domestic, to the nation’s animal resources is to have a system that can identify individual animals or groups, the premises where they are located, and the date of entry to that premises. Further, in order to achieve optimal success in controlling or eradicating an animal health threat, the ability to retrieve that information within 48 hours of confirmation of a disease outbreak and to implement intervention strategies is necessary. The USAIP is focused on utilizing state-of-the-art national and international standards with the best available and practical technologies. It is dynamic and flexible, and will incorporate new and proven technologies as they become available. States’ needs in implementing animal identification will receive priority within the uniformity provided by federal oversight.

Phase I involves premises identification assignment by state veterinarians by July 2004; Phase II involves individual or group/lot identification for interstate (July 2005) and intrastate (July 2006) commerce; and Phase III involves retrofitting remain ing processing plants and markets and other industry segments with appropriate technology that will enhance our ability to track animals throughout the livestock marketing chain to protect and improve the health of the national herd. Initial implementatio n will focus on the cattle, swine, and small ruminant industries. Individual or group/lot numbers be available for issuance by February, 2005.

These standards will apply to all animals within the represented industries regardless of their intended use as seedstock, commercial, pets or other personal uses.

It is well acknowledged that costs associated with the USAIP will be substantial and that a public/private funding plan is justified. Significant state and federal costs will be incurred in overseeing, maintaining, updating, and improving necessary inf rastructure. Continued efforts will be required to seek federal and state financial support for this integral component of safeguarding animal health in protecting American animal agriculture.

For more detail and to comment on this identification proposal, please go to www.usaip.info. USDA regulation writers are working on the proposal and public comment is sought.

The ID proposal calls for the use of Radio Frequency Identification, which involves a computer chip and visible imprint containing a unique 12-character number. The chip can be contained in an eartag or boulus. Readers would be used to identify anima ls at points of concentration such as sale barns and county fairs. Price of RFID tags currently starts at a little over $2 per tag.

Progress made in Milk Quality; SCC dropping in 2003

DHIA data shows producers are making progress in lowering Somatic Cell Counts. The graph below shows that over the last 5 months, SCC averages are lower in 2003 than in the previous 3 years. Data shows that 1999 SCC averages wer e higher than 2003 for the most recent 4 months ending with October data. Congratulations to dairy producers who are making Quality Count in Minnesota.

For information on bulk tank and individual cow mastitis culturing, as well as bedding cultures, please contact Minnesota DHIA at 800-827-3442 or our Herd Advancement Specialist Gabe Gieske at 320-260-3432. SCC testing on cows outside of regular sampl e day is a service that is also available. Contact your DHIA Field Rep or DHIA Lab.

Barron Washburn DHIA Lab (Barron WI) @ 715-537-5438

Fox Valley DHIA Lab (Neenah WI) @ 920-733-6598

Stearns County DHIA Lab (Sauk Centre MN) @ 800-369-2697

Minnesota DHIA Lab (Zumbrota MN) @ 507-732-5880

SCC is listed in thousands

MN DHIA recently recognized Field Representative, Mary Ann "Sparky" Hoge for her exceptional first-year performance by being named the "Rookie of the Year". Sparky is from Brill, WI has been a Field Representative since June, 2001 for Barron – Washburn DHI.. Currently she tests 36 herds and 1800 cows.

Sparky attended college in Whitewater, WI where she earned a Bachelors Degree in Science and Environmental Geography. In her spare time, Sparky enjoys hunting and ice fishing.

One of every 6 DHIA members in Minnesota uses Dairy Comp 305 or Scout software that is licensed or rented from Minnesota DHIA and Valley Agricultural Software (VAS). Updates for 2004 are being finalized and will be distributed starting in Decem ber. VAS states that this update has the highest number of enhancements of any update they have ever done. Among the many enhancements is the addition of page 7 to cow cards that includes space for a digital picture of your cow or calf, pedigree inform ation (may be imported from a breed association), and text. Advanced analysis of reproductive and event information, better graphics, and many more features are also included in the update.

Current DC305 and Scout users average 2,115 pounds more of milk per-cow per-year than DHIA herds without software. That translates to $254 more milk per cow per year at $12 milk, and $15,500 more income per year from a herd of 61 cows (median herd size in MN DHIA). Scout rents breaks down to 53 cents a day for your herd, while the powerful Dairy Comp 305 goes for $1.97 per day for your herd. Please call us or stop in at our booth at the TriState Dairy Conference in Rochester on Dec 2 & 3 or the MMPA Dairy Conference in St. Cloud on Dec 10 & 11 for more details or a demonstration of this fast and powerful tool. This is software to manage and make money with, but it will also fill you ID, mastitis tracking, animal health and drug record needs .

In addition to on-farm users, 123 consultants, veterinarians, and educational specialists use Dairy Comp 305 or its sister version Analyzer.

A US government survey in late 2002 showed that Dairy Comp 305 is used to manage far more dairy cows than any other software in the US. The Ftech module and Loop data handling system Minnesota DHIA uses for Field Reps and your data is also now used by DHIAs in all of Canada, Argentina, the Northeastern United States, and is being implemented in Wisconsin.