Premises Identification Essential to Animal Health and Safety
By Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff The total value of all cattle, sheep and hogs on Pennsylvania farms during 2004 was $1.9 billion—making livestock production one of the major building blocks of our $4.9 billion agricultural industry. From a producer profitability and human health perspective, the health and security of Pennsylvania’s livestock is essential to maintaining the agriculture industry, our state’s economy, and access to increasingly restricted global markets. To ensure that these vital goals are met, it is necessary to be able to efficiently and effectively contain and eradicate an animal disease outbreak. The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) initiative is an important part of the animal disease tracking and monitoring framework.
NAIS has three phases; the first is to identify and register animal agriculture premises. By 2009, the U. S. Department of Agriculture will require all premises to be identified with a national premises identification number. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is focused and committed to developing a successful and producer-driven premises identification system that will provide needed animal disease control information, further protecting farmers and their livestock.
The American public and the national media have focused attention in recent years on animal diseases, such as avian influenza, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and the potential for agricultural terrorism. Global markets have also reacted to perceived animal disease threats. Japan and other countries have placed restrictions on meat imports, buying only animals that can be source- or age-verified. Many national restaurant or food retail companies are reacting to changing consumer demands by seeking out products that can be source- or age-verified as well. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has closely observed these changing conditions in the marketplace, and has responded to strengthen Pennsylvania’s livestock industry by building one of the leading premises identification programs in the country.
Disease outbreaks in other countries have encouraged us to identify all premises and animals that have had direct contact with a foreign animal disease or domestic disease of concern within 48 hours of discovery. Any farm can be affected by animal disease, regardless of size, so it is important for all operations to be identified.
Registering premises also makes sense from a veterinary and disease control perspective. Premises identification allows the Commonwealth to communicate timely disease outbreak information to impacted producers, such as symptoms to look for, species which may be affected, and who to call if you suspect an outbreak on your farm. Premises identification also allows our veterinary experts the opportunity to communicate timely disease prevention information and bio-security measures to producers. From a producer perspective, premises identification removes unnecessary quarantines that may impact producers, as more precise information is available to veterinarians trying to determine the extent of disease outbreak and exposed animals. Finally, in the case of an outbreak, premises identification allows us to quickly deploy state resources to rapidly contain and prevent the spread of a contagious animal disease.
The premises identification number will be linked to the location itself, not to the person who owns it. In this way, the identification number is very similar to a postal address, and only serves as a way of knowing where animals are located in the state. Pennsylvania’s identification numbers will be the same as USDA’s – a permanent and nationally unique number. The number will also work simultaneously with the Pennsylvania Animal Health Emergency Reporting Diagnostic System (PAHERDS) and Pennsylvania Laboratory Information Managements System (PALIMS). These programs are used to track animal disease testing and reporting.
Using the premises identification number throughout the state’s systems will ensure that information travels quickly, safely and accurately. There will be no registration fee or charge to farmers who register their premises in Pennsylvania – only a few minutes of their time to complete an electronic or paper premises identification form. Premises animal identification serves to protect both producers and consumers.
For information on Pennsylvania’s animal health efforts, visit www.agriculture.state.pa.us, and learn more about premises identification, under the “What’s New” section. To learn more about NAIS, visit
http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais.
