Animal identification plays an important role in animal

breeding and production systems as well as disease

eradication, disease prevention, and food safety. Proper

identification is important for identifying herd ownership

and pinpointing outstanding or poor performance among

individual animals.

According to the USDAs National Animal Health

Monitoring System (NAHMS), 60.3 percent of beef

cow/calf producers individually identify their cows, and

53.1 percent individually identify their calves. Producers

that use individual identification represent 78.5 and 70.2

percent of the cows and calves surveyed in the NAHMS

Beef Cow/Calf Health and Productivity Audit (CHAPA).

Animal identification methods were part of the

NAHMS study conducted in November and December of

1992 on 799 beef cow/calf operations in 18 of the top

beef states.1 The producers surveyed had at least five

cows or heifers and at least 50 percent of their calf crop

born in the first 6 months of the year. The 18 states

participating represented 70 percent of U.S. beef cow/calf

operations.

Individual identification was defined as any number or

mark that was unique to that animal. Figure 1 shows that

the most common forms of individual identification

recorded by producers for calves were plastic eartags

(40.8 percent) and brucellosis eartags (21.7 percent).

Nearly 56 percent of the calves in the 18 participating

states are on operations that use plastic ear tags. Just over

28 percent of the producers reported individually

identifying calves within 24 hours of birth. Freeze

branding and microchips, more recently developed forms

of identification, are not yet widely used by the industry.

Producers use individual identification methods for

cows to a similar extent with 45.3 percent of the

producers using plastic eartags and 28.3 percent using

brucellosis eartags (Figure 2). Just over 61 percent of the

cows are on operations where plastic eartags are used for

identification.

Animal Identification Practices

in Beef Cow/Calf Herds

National Animal Health Monitoring System

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Animal and

Plant Health

Inspection

Service

Veterinary

Services

Figure 1

Figure 2

January 1994

1 Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri,

Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.
Herd identification (all animals in the herd

have the same mark or number) may be used

either in addition to individual identification or

by itself. NAHMS found that 45.7 percent of

the producers in the CHAPA states used some

form of herd identification. Figure 3 shows that

plastic ear tags (27.1 percent) and hot iron

brands (21.4 percent) were used most often.

However, since large operations use hot iron

branding more frequently, the number of animals

present on these operations is greater (40.2

percent) than the animals on operations that use

plastic ear tags (32.8 percent).

A producer may use multiple identification

methods to meet production management needs

and identification regulations or to minimize the

chance of losing an animals identification .

Figure 4 shows that 23.9, 31.1, and 15.7 percent

of the producers use two or more forms of

identification for calves, cows, and the herd,

respectively.

The number of producers using individual and

herd identification tends to vary by herd size.

Figure 5 indicates that as herds get larger,

producers are more likely to use forms of

individual and herd identification.

NAHMS collaborators included the National

Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA), State and

Federal Veterinary Medical Officers, and the

National Veterinary Services Laboratories

(USDA:APH IS:VS).

Other CHAPA information is available on the

following topics: Branding, Injection sites,

Facilities, Calf health, and Reproductive

efficiency. For more information, contact:

Centers for Epidemiology & Animal Health

USDA:APHIS:VS, Attn. NAHMS

2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. B, MS 2E7 

Fort Collins, Colorado 80526-8117

(970) 494-7000

NAHMSweb@usda.gov

N137.01293

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5