Iowa livestock producers encouraged to register premises now!

The National Animal Identification System is a national animal health program intended to identify all livestock and equine animals in the United States, tracking their movements from one premises to another. It is being developed by the United States Department of Agriculture in partnership with state animal health agencies. The program will allow 48-hour trace back and trace forward capabilities of livestock that may have a disease or have been exposed to disease.

NAIS consists of three parts: premises identification, animal identification, and tracking of animal movements. The first part of the system, and the one that we are focusing on now, is premises registration. It is important that Iowa's livestock producers have their premises registered to make it possible to trace ailing and exposed livestock to the probable source of infection. The sooner animal health officials identify infected and exposed animals, the sooner they can contain the disease and put a stop to it. Registering livestock premises will help us ensure the health and welfare of Iowa's livestock industry.

Premises registration is voluntary at this point, and done at no cost to the applicant. It deals only with the land itself, and what types of animals reside on that property. Registering premises is an easy process. Producers complete a premises registration form and send it back to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Once the form is received, the information is entered into a database and a Premises Identification Number is assigned by USDA. An informational letter and identification card is then sent out to the applicant. The card contains the premises information and identification number, which is printed on the card and encoded on both a bar code and magnetic strip.

IDALS is encouraging all producers and livestock-related non-producers to get their premises registered now, and avoid any costs that may be incurred in the future. For your convenience, a premises registration form is included with this issue of the Iowa Pork Producer. Simply remove the form, complete it and return to IDALS. You also can download a premises registration form and get more information at http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/premiseID.htm. If you have any questions, please contact Steve White, the state animal identification coordinator, at (888) 778-7675.

With everyone's help, we will better protect our national herd in case of foreign or domestic animal disease, which could be devastating to our producers and our economy.