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The Canadian Livestock Identification Agency (CCIA), a non-profit organization that protects the safety and health of dairy and beef cattle, is now testing whether the current RFID technology can provide a stable read rate and will not slow down the operation of the auction market. CCIA members are composed of trade organizations and related organizations that represent livestock farmers and meat processors, including the Livestock Marketing Association of Canada (LMAC), which represents the interests of the auction market and the Canadian Veterinary Association.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and CCIA recommended that the Canadian cattle industry install RFID readers in all 250 auction markets nationwide by the end of 2011, according to Rick Wright, chairman of the CCIA Auction Market Application Research Project Steering Committee. This app will automatically track the arrival and departure of cattle. However, before application, the industry must understand the maturity of this technology.
Canadian government mandates labeling of cattle
The test results of the auction market applied research project will be made public in February 2010.
A total of three vendors provide readers for testing: Destron Fearing, Aleis International and Allflex USA. The RFID reader can read 134.2 kHz passive RFID tags that comply with ISO 11784 and 11785 standards.
The research began in mid-September, and CCIA began to install equipment in eight cattle auction markets. The machine will also invite three auction houses that have installed readers to join the project to test a variety of readers installed in large, medium and small-scale auction houses. The study is scheduled to be completed in mid-December, when CCIA hopes to determine whether the existing RFID technology can provide a stable read rate and reasonable cost benefit ratio without slowing down the movement of the herd. CCIA staff will measure the reading rate and determine which conditions will cause the increase and decrease in the reading rate. CCIA will also compare the rate of cattle passing through the slipway with and without RFID technology to understand how RFID readers might affect this process.
The Canadian Livestock Sales Association sent a request for voluntary participation to its members, and selected 11 auction houses representing different geographic regions (multiple weather conditions), multiple operating scales, and multiple types of cattle. These auction houses are located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, with operations ranging from 20,000 to 100,000.
The three auction houses that have installed RFID equipment are the Ontario Livestock Exchange, the Ottawa Livestock Exchange and the BC Co-op Livestock Store.The eight newcomers are Stockyards in Ontario; Ste. Rose Auction House, Gladstone Auction House Killarney Auction House and Winnipeg Livestock Market in Manitoba; Whitewood Livestock Market, Spiritwood Livestock Market and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan Livestock Exchange
The Canadian government mandates the labeling of cattle, and all cattle that come to the auction site have passive low-frequency ear tags.
The unique ID code of each cattle tag is registered with the federal government and corresponds to the farm where it is located. CCIA installed RFID portal readers at multiple locations in eight auction houses that did not use RFID. Instead of applying new tags, CCIA staff read the ear tags on the cow’s ears that were ordered at birth.
CCIA employees observe the reading rate of the tags when the cattle arrive at the auction site and move on the slipway. When the cattle were sold and sent out of the auction house to be transported by truck, the tags were read again. Using a cable Internet connection, the reader then sends the tag ID tag to the back-end server, and the CCIA software stores the read data.
In addition to monitoring the reading of tags to ensure that the reader reads the tags when the cattle pass the slipway, CCIA employees also observe any conditions that may cause a decrease in the reading rate, such as cold weather, wet or muddy livestock, or when animals pass the slipway. speed. They are also studying when and why RFID might slow the movement of cattle. In some small auction houses, animals will pass through a narrow slideway one at a time; while in some large auction houses, the slideway is 5 feet wide and cattle will pass by more than one at a time.
As the weather gets colder, the technology will be tested in a variety of weather conditions, including rain and snow. According to Wright, the rate of movement of the cattle and the weather will affect the reading rate of tags.
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