Animal Disease Traceability Rule Changes: What Producers Need to Know

Nov 27, 2024

November 5, 2024, marked the implementation date for the updated federal animal disease traceability regulations requiring electronic identification tags in certain classes of cattle and bison crossing state lines.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service implemented the new rule to better pinpoint and respond to animal disease outbreaks in hopes to limit both the spread of disease and the economic impacts of disease on livestock producers.

It is important for producers to know that the classes of cattle required to be identified have not changed. The rule applies to all dairy cattle, sexually intact beef cattle and bison over 18 months of age, and all exhibition and rodeo stock moving interstate. The rule does not apply to stocker or feeder cattle.

In accordance with the new rule, any animal tagged after Nov. 5 will need an 840 electronic identification tag. The ear tags must be visually and electronically readable for official use. Cattle already identified with a sliver Brite metal tag or orange bangs metal tag prior to Nov. 5 will not need to be retagged with an electronic tag.

Producers can obtain 840 EID tags through the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. The tags are free of charge, but the producer must cover the cost of shipping.

Other options to obtain 840 EID tags include:

Direct from the manufacturer (i.e. Allflex, DataMars and Y-Tex)
Your current vet supply distributor
Shearwell Data – Animal identification and management systems
All Data Tags

A premises ID is required to order 840 EID tags regardless of source. A PIN application is available on the Animal Industry State Veterinarian page.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.