No Mandatory Animal ID

Some more interesting information on the "wonder tags," the RFID tags that the Government wants us to use on our cattle for the National Animal Identification System.

BeefTalk: Electronic identification - Two steps ahead, one back

Attempts to implement a national identification program for animal trace-back have been noticed. News about the outbreak of a disease with notable impact has increased the pro and con discussion, but the lasting outcome is far from defined.

The Dickinson Research Extension Center is involved in a project that is designed to monitor cattle in transit and locate cattle during shipment. This research involves evaluating the ability to read calves going on and off a truck using low-frequency RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.

So, what did their research show?

For the optimist, the trial was 94.4 percent successful. For the practical cattle producer, only four of the six runs actually resulted in a 94.4 percent or higher success rate. In reality, only 66.7 percent of the runs actually achieved a realistic outcome, while 33.3 percent failed. One tag failed twice, requiring three reads to achieve a 100 percent read for this set of data.

ONLY 66.7% ACHIEVED A REALISTIC OUTCOME. That's horrible. The Government wants us to rely on a technology that is only effective 2/3 of the time. Sorry Charlie, that's just not going to work. How much more work and labor is this system going to entail with these kind of numbers? I don't even want to think about it. Running the cattle and reading the tags time and time again because the system doesn't work right. You start running over 500 cows with these kinds of numbers and the chances of getting a good read on them are slim to none.

This whole NAIS system needs to be scaled back a whole lot. A herd ID system with permanent metal tags would be the easiest, low tech solution that could be made to work for all. I still wouldn't like it particularly, but it would work.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure entices the government to foist off a failed technology on us, the producers.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in ID Methods at 04:55 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

RFID vulnerable to attacks, researchers say

Researchers say they have proven that effective attacks can be launched against radio frequency identification tags.

In tests, standard "Generation 1" RFID tags and readers were unable to function after they were overloaded with data, researchers at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, said in a report published this month.

"Vulnerabilities in the newer UHF style of RFID tags have been found and are of concern for anyone trying to implement an RFID system that would have 'mission critical' or human life issues involved in it," warned academics in the SCISSEC research group at the university.

Yet more trouble with the vaunted RFID tags that are supposed to solve all the perceived problems people see with the cattle industry. This is different than the virus I reported on earlier and yet another way the tags fail to meet expectations. How does the government expect this system to work so wonderfully with such problems being found with the tags?

Simple, they don't, they just want to get more fingers in our business, as if they don't have enough all ready, to control us for their benefits.

serf: a member of a servile feudal class bound to the soil and subject to the will of his lord

Yea, that's what they want, serfs. We need to oppose NAIS before we all servile to our Lord the government and do whatever they want.

An ear tag never stopped a disease but it sure exposes the flaws in the tags and our government.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in ID Methods at 04:24 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Digital Angel Livestock Tag Sales Climb

"As we get closer to full implementation of a National Identification Program in the United States, retailers, producers and cattlemen, in general are preparing for the evolution into RFID technology as a standard in the livestock tracking industry," President and Chief Executive Kevin N. McGrath said. "Both in the United States and internationally, the use of RFID in livestock tracking continues to grow."

Now I've heard the theory that the tag manufacturers are the ones driving this whole NAIS business since they will be able to sell more tags that the government is requiring cattle producers to buy. I don't buy it. They are not the ones driving the policy. The big meat packers are driving the policy, the tag makers are just taking advantage of the situation and make a ton of money selling tags that will now be mandatory.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it will line the tag manufacturers pockets with lots of money.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in ID Methods at 04:34 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)