Country of Origin Labeling COOL

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Country of Origin Labeling(COOL)

• Billy Moss
• Area Livestock Teacher
• North Region Agricultural Education
• February 2004

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Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

• This concept was brought about to identify U.S.
  meat from foreign meat and would be used as a
  marketing tool to promote beef grown in the U.S.
• COOL legislation was passed in the 2002 Farm Bill.

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Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

• The bill would require an origin on covered
  products. All steps in the chain (production,
  feedlot, slaughter, fabricator, distributor, and
  retailer) will be held responsible for accuracy
  of the claim. Non-compliance with the claim can
  result in a 10,000 fine.

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Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

• The USDA will require a verifiable record-keeping
  audit trail with a goal of 48 hour traceback in
  any incident.

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Mandatory Animal ID

• Billy Moss
• Area Livestock Teacher
• North Region Agricultural Education

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Mandatory Animal ID

• Mandatory Premise and Animal ID is Coming!
  Current discussion holds that a Premise ID will
  first be required, identifying each place of
  production. Individual Animal ID would soon
  follow.

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How should individual producers prepare for
Mandatory Animal ID?

• Document the origin of every animal on your
  place. You can use the following to get started
• 1.) Bills of Sale If you run stockers or
  background, keep as many records of your purchase
  as you can.
• 2.) Record Books If you are a cow/calf
  operator, ID everything! Start simple write
  down descriptions of each cow and eartag them.
  Record if the animal was home raised or
  purchased. If purchased, record where you bought
  her. With each calf crop, write down birthing
  dates and descriptions.

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How should individual producers prepare for
Mandatory Animal ID?

• Document the origin of every animal on your
  place. You can use the following to get started
• 3.) Vet and Feed Records buy an 88 cent
  notebook and write down any pertinent
  information. Record the serial and batch numbers
  on any vaccine you administer, as well as the
  date and what group of cattle received it.
• 4) Any others items you feel are inportant to
  tracking the animals in your operation.

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How should individual producers prepare for
Mandatory Animal ID?

• ID all animals. Start with eartags. A permanent
  tattoo in the ear would be a wise investment.
• Develop an on-farm record keeping system.
• Get as much information as possible in regard to
  future purchases.

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How should individual producers prepare for
Mandatory Animal ID?

• Expect to have to provide information to verify
  origin of cattle at all future sales.
• Verification may have to be done by a 3rd party
  at some point.
• Use electronic ID and market cattle within a
  system where you will receive production data to
  support management changes.

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Sources of Information

• www.BSE.org
• www.USDA.org
• Moser Ranch sale catalog
• Newspaper and magazine articles