The beef industry is a complex network of stakeholders — seedstock producers, cow-calf operations, stockers, feedlots and packers. With this segmentation comes a challenge: being prepared to act swiftly and effectively if a highly contagious disease like Foot and Mouth Disease strikes.
To amplify traceability efforts U.S. CattleTrace is now partnering with Where Food Comes From. The collaboration aims to align resources and expertise improving disease traceability while maintaining producer-driven decision making, data privacy and data confidentiality.
“This partnership is a collaborative effort to strengthen traceability and enhance the tools available to producers,” says Callahan Grund, U.S. CattleTrace executive director.
U.S. CattleTrace was founded as a voluntary, producer-driven, private-industry, confidential traceability system designed to provide rapid contact tracing. By collecting four key data points — animal identification, date, time and GPS location — the system builds a critical infrastructure for disease response and containment.
Participation is simple for producers. For ranches, backgrounders or stockers, the start is tagging with an RFID tag. Once cattle leave the ranch of origin, U.S. CattleTrace aims to trace an animal through its life cycle at any point of commerce or comingling in the beef supply chain.
U.S. CattleTrace will work with any operation in the supply chain looking to facilitate the flow of data for animal disease traceability purposes. The system collects only those four data points on any animal that passes through a reader at a facility working with U.S. CattleTrace. The data collected is securely locked up and only utilized in the case of a disease outbreak and no other identifying data is included.
“The need for the industry to unite around one effort to accomplish animal disease traceability is paramount to achieving a nationally significant contact tracing program,” says Joe Leathers, 6666 Ranch general manager and U.S. CattleTrace board chairman. “With Where Food Comes From’s long-time leadership within the cattle industry, I’m excited to see the progress we can make together in advancing this important initiative.”
IMI Global, a division of Where Food Comes From, has been providing verification solutions for the beef industry since 1995 ensuring transparency in labeling claims and adding value with product differentiation and market access domestically and internationally.
Highlighting the synergy of the partnership, Leann Saunders, COO and co-founder of Where Food Comes From, explains, “Whether verifying environmental and animal raising claims or tracing cattle movements, the common denominator is animal identification and traceability. Our hope is to reduce duplication for customers that wish to support both efforts, though it remains optional for all Where Food Comes From customers.”
Where Food Comes From will administer the technical aspects of U.S. CattleTrace’s mission while keeping key decisions in the hands of its leadership and board.
“The partnership comes at pivotal moment. We’ve seen the disruption disease outbreaks can cause. Being proactive with traceability is essential to securing the future of the beef industry,” adds John Saunders, Where Food Comes From CEO.
The collaboration helps position the industry to maintain high biosecurity standards, which will be crucial in safeguarding the long-term sustainability of beef production.
“Disease traceability isn’t just a precaution, it’s a proactive strategy for securing the industry’s future,” Grund says. “By participating, producers will not only protect their operations but also contribute to a stronger, more resilient beef supply chain.”
Your Next Read: Foot And Mouth Disease: Producers Should Be Prepared
