A 2017 BEEF Survey says beef producers give cautious support to traceability, Burt Rutherford said as he spoke to members of the International Livestock Identification Association (ILIA) at their annual conference.
This is important because at present, outside of those for various value-added programs, the U.S. doesn’t have a nationwide birth-to-consumer traceability system.
Source: BEEF, August 1, 2018. Link. Rutherford references data challenges and potential opportunities for handling many of the historical objections.
The Cattle Traceability Working Group, an outfit independent from any other cattle or beef organization, has been formed to work on an industry-led and governed ID and traceability system. Given the advent of blockchain technology, it’s possible to isolate data and only allow access to certain groups. Under a government program, that’s probably not possible.
INSIGHTS: Conception-to-table tracking is a consumer demand. However, an historical argument against traceability includes lender visibility to a live animal inventory, because it could change cattle from personal property to real property.