.: TI’s RFID tags provide an award winning solution for Livestock Identification in Australia :.

August 2003 – On August 5 2003, Aleis International was awarded The 2003 Premier of Queensland’s SMART Award for Outstanding Achievement in Agribusiness for livestock management technology. The SMART awards were presented by The Premier and Minister for Trade, Peter Beattie and the awards recognise the innovators who are creating jobs and potential export income.

Texas Instrument’s RFID tagging technology is being used as part of this new award winning MultiRead RFID Tracking System developed by Aleis International to allow cattle owners to comply with Australia’s stringent National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS).

Established to meet livestock identification and traceability requirements mandated by the European Union (EU) in 1999, NLIS is the largest and most sophisticated livestock database and management system anywhere in the world. Australia was the first country to adopt RFID tracking for all cattle exports. Its producers are required to positively identify cattle and provide complete traceability right back to the producer.

To meet these requirements, all animals are tagged (using a rumen pellet or ear tag) with a low frequency 134.2 kHz RFID transponder from Texas Instruments RFID Systems. These Radio Frequency Identification devices uniquely identify each animal and allow producers to add, change, or retrieve details relating to each animal, such as health information, farm location history, market eligibility, and commercial information at each point in the food chain.

As many as 3,000 cattle can be recorded each day with the Aleis MultiRead System, compared to previous methods, which tracked a daily average of only a few hundred animals.

In addition to compliance with EU guidelines, other advantages of the Aleis MultiRead System include more accurate tracking and data capture, faster processing time, decreased labour costs, and more efficient communication throughout the entire supply chain.
Warrnambool Livestock Exchange in Victoria, Australia is the first cattle market to use TI’s latest ISO 11784/5 compliant low frequency RFID transponders. As animals of varying size move through the saleyard weighing system, readers installed across a laneway, or at the entrance or exit to a weighbridge, identify and track their movements. Because RFID technology does not require line-of-sight, it takes only a millisecond to read a cattle’s unique ID number, allowing animals to be identified quickly and accurately, without physical restraint.

The NLIS database was established in response to the European Union's demand for a tamper proof animal identification and traceback system. Producers on the NLIS database are required to identify cattle with an accredited radio frequency identification device (RFID). Each RFID device is embedded with an electronic transponder permanently coded with a unique number. This transponder number is linked to the property and individual animal number on the NLIS database. The technology governing the NLIS allows real time integration of data between producers, saleyards, abattoirs and exporters. In addition to guaranteeing a seamless meat traceback system, it allows producers who use computerised records or are involved in breeding programs to monitor and improve carcass quality.

For more information about Aleis or the NLIS, please visit www.aleis.com. For more information on The SMART Awards, visit www.sd.qld.gov.au/smartawards.
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