Indiana State Board of Animal Health Article
Effective Jan. 1, 2015, Indiana's animal identification rules will change to comply with USDA's Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) program.
The changes reflect new federal requirements for identification and documentation for all major livestock species to improve national traceability in high-consequence disease incidents, such as bovine tuberculosis. Some of the dairy-specific requirements for ID actually took effect at the federal level in March of last year. Since then, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) staff has been working to rewrite state rules to align with USDA's.
The following guidelines describe what types of identification and documentation are considered official in Indiana, along with when they are required.
Tag Requirements
BOAH recognizes three forms of identification as official for cattle and bison. All are approved by USDA for interstate movements of livestock, and are accepted by all 50 states:
To be considered official, all tags must bear the US shield. Old, out-dated tags are not acceptable, unless they were placed in the animal before March 11, 2015. After that date, all tags must comply with the new standards.
Official ID is required upon change of ownership and/or entry to Indiana for the following cattle:
All exhibition/rodeo cattle must also bear official ID, regardless of age.
A series of MPP dairy producer information meetings were held throughout Indiana, a partnership between Purdue Extension, Farm Service Agency and Indiana Dairy Producers.
MPP is a safety net for catastrophic risk protection and should not be used as a profit-making tool. Enrollment for 2014 and 2015 is from Sept. 2, 2014 through December 5, 2014. Once a farm is enrolled, the operation is committed through 2018 for at least the $100 program fee and the minimum coverage. All dairy operations who work through a cooperative should have received a statement of milk production, which is very helpful in using the online decision support tool. Click here and then look to the upper right corner for the decision tool link. There are also instructions for use if you have questions.
Please contact Doug Leman at 317-695-8228 if you wish to discuss this program, need further information, or have any questions about it. Dairy farmers should not miss the opportunity for minimum protection at least for 2015, but producers must sign up with FSA by December 5th. News from 12/4/14. FSA/USDA has just extended the MPP Signup deadline to December 19.
