The USDA’s National Scrapie Eradication Program is currently testing a new disease management grant that aims to provide electronic identification tags for sheep producers. The primary focus of this grant is on sale barns in Oregon, where many producers are already using EID tags for both sheep and cattle. According to American Sheep Industry Executive Director, Peter Orwick, the technology for sheep still needs significant improvement in order to facilitate faster movement of commerce.
To demonstrate the limitations of current technology in the sheep industry, a recent video was created by the USDA in collaboration with a sale barn in Colorado. The video aimed to highlight the challenges that producers still face when using traditional metal tags. While some producers are making progress towards implementing EID tags, there are still several obstacles that need to be overcome.
One of the main obstacles to implementing EID tags in sheep is the high cost of each tag, which can range from $3 to $4 per sheep. This expense is currently not feasible for producers, which means that technology must advance in order to make EID tags a more realistic option for the industry as a whole. Despite interstate ID requirements for mature sheep having been part of the scrapie program for over two decades, many producers are still using traditional metal tags instead of EID tags.
Overall, while there have been efforts made towards implementing EID tags in the sheep industry, there is still much work that needs to be done before they become a practical solution for all producers.
