ARLINGTON, VA — Through the collective efforts of IDairy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), state governments, and allied organizations, more than 70% of the United States' 59,000 commercial dairy producers are estimated to have registered their premises as part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

During the past year, IDairy worked with state and federal officials to promote dairy producer participation in NAIS as part of a cooperative agreement between USDA and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), on behalf of IDairy. Along with NMPF, IDairy consists of 5 other dairy organizations: American Jersey Cattle Association; Holstein Association USA, Inc.; Dairy Calf & Heifer Association; National Dairy Herd Information Association; and National Association of Animal Breeders.

"IDairy worked closely with USDA and state officials over the past year on the common goal of promoting premises registration as part of NAIS," said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. "When we began our effort last year assisting USDA and individual state agencies, we estimated that 35,000 commercial dairy producers and heifer growers had registered their premises. Today, state government estimates indicate that over 42,000 commercial dairy producers and heifer growers now participate in NAIS. NAIS is an important part of our dairy industry's national insurance policy against animal disease outbreaks."

The next step for IDairy will involve encouraging producers to use radio frequency based Animal Identification Number (AIN) eartags, referred to as "840" AIN RF eartags, which are available now. IDairy has developed standards for RFID tags to be used in the dairy industry, including assuring that such tags are NAIS-compliant. Dairy producers have already begun using RFID tags, and they may use the 840 AIN RF tags as proof of U.S. origin when the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law goes into effect this fall.

Today more than 42,000 dairy producers are estimated to have registered their premises under NAIS. About 17,000 additional commercial dairy operations still need to register. IDairy's goal is to have 100% of the operations registered in order to enable animal health officials to quickly respond to an animal health emergency.

IDairy was established in 2005 and consists of a coalition of 6 dairy organizations: American Jersey Cattle Association; Holstein Association USA, Inc.; Dairy Calf & Heifer Association; National Dairy Herd Information Association; National Association of Animal Breeders; and National Milk Producers Federation.

Since IDairy was established in 2005, over 30,000 dairy producers have registered their premises under the NAIS, but as many as 35,000 commercial dairy operations are yet to be registered. IDairy's goal is to have 100 percent of the operations registered in order to enable animal health officials to quickly respond to an animal health emergency.

“This agreement is another important step forward as we advance the National Animal Identification System," said Bruce Knight, under secretary for USDA's marketing and regulatory programs. "It builds on agreements previously announced with the National Pork Board, the National FFA Organization and the U.S. Animal Identification Organization to promote animal health by providing producers with the information they need to take the important step of registering their premises and protecting their animals."

Under the agreement announced today NMPF, with the cooperation of the rest of the IDairy consortium, will conduct an outreach campaign including direct mail, advertising, Internet activities, dairy trade show presentations and individual contacts with producers including on-site visits.

“All of the organizations involved with IDairy look forward to working with USDA to promote premises registration as part of the NAIS,” said Jerry Kozak CEO/President NMPF. “We feel that with our broad industry connections, we can make a powerful impact through this agreement. NAIS is an important part of our dairy industry's national insurance policy against animal disease outbreaks.”

Kozak said that IDairy is pleased to be working with the government, as both organizations are committed to the concept of having a national animal identification program.

NAIS consists of three components: premises registration, animal identification and tracing. Earlier this year, USDA announced the availability of $6 million for cooperative agreements, subject to availability, to support nonprofit agricultural organizations to promote NAIS and to increase participation in premises registration. NMPF will receive just over $1 million of that for dairy outreach activities.

IDairy was formed in 2005 by NMPF, American Jersey Cattle Association, Dairy Calf & Heifer Association, the Holstein Association USA, National Association of Animal Breeders and National Dairy Herd Improvement Association to promote NAIS in the dairy industry.

IDairy hopes to have all dairy cows identified prior to the 2009 goal set by USDA.

In order to accomplish this, IDairy has three phases. The first phase is to have farmers register their premises; next, farmers have to identify each animal; and finally, the transfer of data from the individual systems to a national database will be the third phase of IDairy.

IDairy will soon be able to track how many premises are registered and provide information to dairy farmers to make each step of this process as seamless as possible. Down the road, IDairy will provide tag criteria and specific instructions on the best method of identifying each dairy animal.

Visit www.idairy.org for the most up to date information involving national animal ID and the organizations involved.