November 2024 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN 13 THE NEED FOR CHANGE The United States has not experienced a foreign animal disease outbreak since a foot and mouth disease outbreak in 1929. Since producers have not had to deal with an outbreak in almost a century, it can be difficult for the formation of a traceability system to feel like a priority. “Having not suffered the consequences of a disease outbreak, it can be hard for producers to feel the need for a nationally significant traceability system because it would change the way we have operated for many years,” Grund says. However, in recent years, many industry stakeholders have expressed the need for a more robust, industry-wide cattle disease traceability system. “The diseases that we currently have dealt with in the past within the U.S. – whether it’s brucellosis or tuberculosis – we have a very good animal disease traceability system currently in place for those cattle it affects,” Grund says. “Our system works well within that regard.” However, when it comes to highly contagious diseases like foot and mouth disease, which is prevalent in other countries and is highly contagious, Grund says that is where the country’s current traceability system is lacking. “When we think about prepping for those types of diseases, that’s where it becomes very important to have a speed-ofcommerce, a more contact-tracing system type, rather than an individual identification traceability system, which we currently have today in the U.S.,” Grund says. Walahoski agrees. “I believe that our industry is not prepared to deal with a foreign animal disease event, and improving the ability to track individual animals across the United States is vital to minimizing the devastating effects that such an event would have on all cattle producers.” To ensure the United States is adequately prepared to manage a disease outbreak, industry partners from across the country, including Nebraska Cattlemen, have worked together to develop a national infrastructure for disease traceability – U.S. CattleTrace. A producer-led initiative, U.S. CattleTrace is aimed at building a voluntary, nationally significant animal disease traceability system that works for producers and works collaboratively with animal health officials. It isn’t possible to prevent a disease outbreak from occurring, but the response to a potential outbreak can be controlled. Ensuring that state and federal animal health officials are prepared to respond to a disease outbreak is critical. “Today, the tools in [animal health officials’] toolbox to respond to a disease will severely affect and hinder our ability within the beef cattle industry to respond and get back to business continuity quicker,” Grund says. “We’re talking about stop movements for an indefinite period of time; we’re talking about movement permits; we’re talking about quarantines within certain areas. These are the current tools they have to respond to best keep the diseases under wraps within the U.S. “We’re hoping that if we could more quickly and accurately look at these diseases, we’d be able to respond much quicker and get back to normal business continuity in the face of diseases outbreak,” he adds. “Our current system has each state in charge of managing the shipment data for incoming cattle to their state. In a disease investigation, each potential state involved would have to be contacted separately to determine if any of the animals in question are included in their records,” Walahoski explains. “This process takes time, and in the event of a disease outbreak, timely tracking and isolation of animals will be critical to decreasing the severity and the duration of the disease. The development of a central database for housing the individual animal data would be a huge step forward for our industry to minimize the effects of an outbreak.” Protecting producer data is a priority for U.S. CattleTrace, and the organization only utilizes four data points: animal ID, date, time and GPS coordinates of where an animal is read. “No producer information is collected or contained in the U.S. CattleTrace database,” Grund says. “Further, we have taken every known security precaution further fortifying data security.” The diversity among industry segments makes the U.S. beef industry unique, and also creates a bit of a challenge to develop a traceability system that fits the specific needs of producers in each segment. That’s why producer buy-in is critical. “It is no surprise that some producers may have some concerns with traceability, but when it comes to disease traceability, every producer should be invested,” says Jesse Fulton, Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance director. Grund agrees, “Without unity and consensus on how to build a system that works for each segment of the industry, a system will not exist.” ~NC~ 2024 U.S. CATTLETRACE SYMPOSIUM Individuals interested in what the nation’s current traceability and response systems look like or how traceability and response could look like with a nationally significant system are encouraged to attend the 2024 U.S. CattleTrace Symposium in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 18-19, 2024. This year’s symposium will feature an immersive experience with a tabletop exercise where attendees will witness the country’s current foreign animal disease outbreak response efforts, followed by a demonstration showcasing how an enhanced animal disease traceability system, such as U.S. CattleTrace, can assist current response plans. Symposium attendees include producers, animal health officials, meat processors, retailers and allied industry members who are passionate about propelling voluntary animal disease traceability into the future. Event registration is $25. For more information, visit www.uscattletrace.org/2024symposium.
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