September 11, 2007

Kansas State University expands animal ID research

The Kansas State University Centre for Animal Identification has expanded research in evaluating animal identification systems to develop and evaluate livestock identification programmes in the state.

Kansas State University animal science professor Dale Blasi said the research aims to add economic value to livestock producers in the state such as radio frequency identification.

Blasi spearheaded the university's Animal Identification Knowledge Laboratory since it was established in 2003. With funding by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the laboratory aimed to provide unbiased evaluation of animal identification technologies.

The centre will be based in the university's Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, in which Blasi is a beef cattle specialist with Kansas State Research and Extension. Much of the research will be conducted in the university's Beef Stocker Unit, which provides access to large amounts of cattle in typical livestock management scenarios.

The centre's arrival comes more than three years after USDA announced a plan to implement a National Animal Identification System for purposes of rapid identification, containment and eradication of potential foreign animal diseases.

USDA's action sparked the development of new electronic and biometric animal identification technologies, which prompted the need for unbiased evaluation and dissemination of results.