New Electronic Ear Tagging Rule Affects Independent Farmers

There has been recent discussion in the agriculture industry about moving towards electronic ear tags for livestock moving across state lines. While ear tags are already the norm for operations across the country, these new RFID (radio frequency ID) tags would enter information on animal and Farm details into a new government database. While the intent of electronic ear tagging is to improve traceability, access to government databases by other non-authorized individuals and organizations raises potential privacy and competitive concerns.