April 2, 2008| IDairy 2008 NIAA Annual Meeting Update
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- February 15, 2008| IDairy Radio Advertisements on DairyLine
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- February 14, 2008 | IDairy World Ag Expo Update
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- February 8, 2008 | IDairy Premises Registration Program Initiates Outreach to Maryland Dairy Producers
- ARLINGTON, VA – IDairy, a coalition of six national dairy organizations, has launched an outreach effort to encourage Maryland dairy producers to participate in premises registration as part of the National Animal Identification System to protect our dairy herd in the event of an animal disease outbreak. The outreach effort includes an educational mailing to Maryland dairy producers with valuable information about premises registration. Over the past several years, the dairy industry has dealt with animal health issues, both at home and abroad, that have highlighted the importance of understanding where livestock are located. Premises registration helps with this task. By recording the location where livestock are raised, held, or boarded, Maryland dairy producers can promote animal health, consumer confidence, and domestic and international markets while at the same time providing essential information that can assist in curbing an animal disease emergency. IDairy encourages Maryland dairy producers to register their premises. Registration is quick, free, and simple, and a registration form has been included in the mailing to all Maryland dairy producers. Anyone interested in learning more about IDairy and premises registration is encouraged to visit its website at www.idairy.org, or contact one of the organizations listed below. IDairy aims to reach as many dairy producers as possible, since it believes that the safety of the nation’s livestock depends on everyone.
- August 24, 2007 | Line on Agriculture - Foot & Mouth Disease Prompts Action
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- August 2, 2007 | $1 Million From USDA To Move Forward Registering Premises
- ARLINGTON, VA - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) will receive a grant of up to $1 million intended to register dairy premises under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). NMPF will use the money to work with its IDairy coalition partners to further the registration effort.
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. - October 5, 2006 | IDairy Chooses Animal Identification Database
- MADISON, WI– Representatives from the IDairy coalition officially announced the National FAIR system as the database for manageing dairy identification information on Thursday, October 5, 2006 at World Dairy Expo. During the press conference, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the six organizations naming National FAIR as IDairy's choice to confidentially house dairy and livestock identification data in compliance with the upcoming national animal identification system.
“Dairy producers need a private animal identification database that can ensure confidentiality, while also complying with the needs of USDA, at a low cost,” said Jerry Kozak, National Milk Producers Federation President/CEO. “As the IDairy coalition looked across the industry for such a system, National FAIR was the clear choice. Producers who choose to work with IDairy can be ensured they are leading the charge for a national animal identification system.”
IDairy was founded in October 2005 by six leading dairy organizations: American Jersey Cattle Association, Holstein Association USA, Inc., National Association for Animal Breeders, National Dairy Herd Improvement Association, National Milk Producers Federation and the Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association. IDairy provides a united front for the dairy producer community to move forward with a national animal identification system.
The coalition's initiative included a three step phase to national animal identification: registration of premises; animal identification; and the transfer of data from individual systems to a national database.
Dairy producers can now work with IDairy to meet all three of these phases. By purchasing radio frequency identification (RFID) eartags, producers can be enrolled in National FAIR's USDA interim approved data tracking system to ensure they are following all the requirements set forth.
The National Farm Animal Identification and Records (FAIR) system is administered by the Holstein Association USA, Inc. An individual, electronic animal identification system with proven 48-hour traceback abilities, National FAIR has successfully enrolled over three million animals in a secure, online database since 1998. In September 2006, after an independent review administered by the USDA, National FAIR was named an approved interim/development participant in USDA's National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
“This may be the most significant, comprehensive and united effort this country's dairy industry has ever put together,” said John M. Meyer, Holstein Association USA, Inc. CEO. “We believe U.S. dairy producers are pleased that these organizations have joined together as one to lead the nation's animal identification efforts.”
Dairy and livestock producers can visit the IDairy website: www.idairy.org to learn more about the IDairy database system. - October 6, 2005 | National Animal Identification Gets Extra Push From IDairy
- MADISON, WI --The dairy industry has put its self in center stage at the World Dairy Expo in the animal identification arena. IDairy, a group of six leading dairy organizations, announced Thursday it will work to facilitate a national animal ID system.
Representatives from the American Jersey Cattle Association, Holstein Association USA, Inc., National Association for Animal Breeders, National Dairy Herd Improvement Association, National Milk Producers Federation and Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association all came together today to urge dairy producers to register their farm premises as the first step toward a national animal ID program.
“We cannot wait for the government, other industries or an animal disease to force dairy farmers into an animal identification system. We need to come together as an industry and protect the dairy sector through national animal ID,” said the newly formed IDairy organization.
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture decides on the logistics of a national ID system, IDairy will take steps to further the dairy industry along in the process. The industry is uniquely positioned because more than half of the 9 million milking cows are already identified through dairy organizations.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.