IDairy is pleased to announce that 70% of the United States’ 59,000 commercial dairy producers are estimated to have registered their premises as part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Today more than 42,000 dairy producers are estimated to have registered their premises under NAIS.
During the past year, IDairy worked with state and federal officials to promote dairy producer participation in NAIS as part of a cooperative agreement between U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), on behalf of IDairy. Along with NMPF, IDairy consists of 5 other dairy organizations: American Jersey Cattle Association; Holstein Association USA, Inc.; Dairy Calf & Heifer Association; National Dairy Herd Information Association; and National Association of Animal Breeders.
“IDairy worked closely with USDA and state officials over the past year on the common goal of promoting premises registration as part of NAIS,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “When we began our effort last year assisting USDA and individual state agencies, we estimated that 35,000 commercial dairy producers and heifer growers had registered their premises. Today, state government estimates indicate that over 42,000 commercial dairy producers and heifer growers now participate in NAIS. NAIS is an important part of our dairy industry’s national insurance policy against animal disease outbreaks.”
The next step for IDairy will involve encouraging producers to use radio frequency based Animal Identification Number (AIN) eartags, referred to as “840” AIN RF eartags, which are available now. IDairy has developed standards for RFID tags to be used in the dairy industry, including assuring that such tags are NAIS-compliant. Dairy producers have already begun using RFID tags, and they may use the 840 AIN RF tags as proof of U.S. origin when the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law goes into effect this fall.