With the start date less than 18 months away, concerns remain about the accuracy in reading the tags and who will bear the costs
by DON STONEMAN
With the target date for a mandatory cattle identification system at sales barns using radio frequency tags less than 18 months away, a lot of questions remain unanswered.
The chair of a research committee charged with studying systems to make this work in auction markets says that the accuracy in reading the tags varies widely, depending on the sales yards, the group of cattle and the day, affecting speed of commerce at the yards. The overall costs to sales barns, and ultimately to producers, is up in the air.