RFID: How to Apply the Tag

- [Greg] Hello, I'm Greg Strait.

I'm here today to talk to you about RFID tags in livestock and how to apply that tag.

Tagging, do all cattle require an official tag?

Yes they do.

Bulls, cows, steers, and calves must have an official RFID tag.

Age requirements by the state, dairy breeds all ages are required to have a permanent identification.

Beef breeds, any animal older than 18 months must have an RFID tag.

Cattle any age used for rodeos, shows, or exhibition must have an official tag.

Calves going to sale barns, do they need to be tagged?

All animals leaving your farm must be tagged.

Yes, the animals going to a sale barn do have the stick tag on the back of them.

However, that is not an official tag that will be with them permanently.

Official RFID tag, it is unlawful to remove that tag and will be with them for the entirety of their life.

This will allow you to still have some control after the animal leaves your farm if you do have a permanent identification on these animals.

How do you obtain the tags?

Contact your local veterinarian, local Department of Ag, or your local Extension Office.

They will assist you in obtaining these tags.

How to use the taggers.

How do you place the tag on the taggers?

We'll show you that here just in the next subsequent slides.

The taggers I prefer to use is the Total Tagger by Allflex.

This tagger is very accommodating to most tags and is very easy to use.

You place the male portion of the tag on the pin and the female portion of the tag under the silver clip on the Allflex tagger.

Be sure to disinfect the taggers prior to applying the tag and this will decrease the bacteria load on the tag, on the taggers, and also on the ear of the animal reducing infection in subsequent days.

Where do we place that tag?

Place it on the inner quarter of the ear.

I always prefer the left ear of the animal, which is on your right-hand side when you're looking at the face of the animal with the numbers facing forward.

That means when that animal is facing forward you can read those numbers on that female portion of the tag.

The male portion of that tag penetrates the back of the ear and enters the female portion, which is on the inside of the ear so you can read that tag.

If you're on the inner quarter of that ear it will reduce the likelihood of that tag being ripped out if it is caught on something while the animal is in the holding area.

Do you already have permanent tags?

You may, a permanent tag has to have a US symbol on that tag and I will show you that here on this slide.

The US symbol is inside a shield and it is on all tags that are permanent tags and our US tags can be used as identification on these livestock.

The female and the male portion both have that US emblem on them.

Remember, the male portion of that tag is the pointed end, the female portion is the rounded end that receives that male portion of that tag.

The male portion punctures the hole in the ear from the back to the front of the ear.

The female portion is located on the front of the ear.

Why are we doing this now?

Why are we talking about RFID tags?

Once that animal leaves your farm you lose all control if it does not have a permanent identification.

That permanent identification may come in handy some day when you are in need to find out where that animal is located if there is a problem with a disease outbreak.

You need to be able to positively identify the livestock that left your farm and originate on your farm so that you are not subsequently charged or have any false accusation of your operation.

All photos were taken by Greg Straight, Penn State Extension Educator.