The National Institute for Animal Agriculture and the US Animal Health Association will be co-hosting the 2017 Strategy Forum on Livestock Traceability to discuss the important issue of livestock traceability in Denver, Colorado this September.

Collaboration among producers, commercial interests and regulatory agencies at the state, tribal and federal level have had an increasing impact on the success of the USDA Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) Program. Program updates and an assessment report of its implementation from 2013-2016 will be part of the presentation.

Industry participants, state animal health officials, representatives from the Veterinary Services area of the USAHA, among others, are part of a targeted audience consisting of the many stakeholders interested in Livestock Traceability. The Forum will provide an opportunity to review current traceability enforcement rules and discussion of points of consensus and challenges.

Livestock traceability efforts have become more systemized every year, with traditional identification methods continuing to be used side-by-side with new technologies. The Forum will explore how technology, from RFID use to data management, will influence the future of traceability.

Other sessions will examine the development of the next version of the Owner/Shipper Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Interstate movement, evaluate the implications of traceability for livestock used for rodeo, fairs & exhibitions, how the Canadian Traceability Program operates, and the importance of traceability as an aspect of biosecurity and for meeting evolving requirements of global trade.