Livestock traceback participation disappoints -USDA

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A disappointing one-third of cattle, hog and poultry farmers are enrolled in a livestock traceback system intended as a primary U.S. defense against mad cow and other diseases, an Agriculture Department official said on Tuesday.

To be effective, participation must be at least 70 percent, said USDA chief veterinarian John Clifford. He said low participation could hamper disease control and make it harder to restore sales to nations who ban U.S. meat.

"Unfortunately, a disappointing rate of producer participation -- currently only 35 percent -- hampers our ability to achieve animal traceability outbreak," he told a joint hearing of House Agriculture and Homeland Security subcommittees.

The goal of the voluntary identification program is to locate the home farm and herdmates of sick animals within 48 hours of an disease outbreak. About 510,000 premises have been registered out of 1.4 million premises the USDA wants to sign up.

The government embraced a voluntary tracking system as a response to the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in December 2003. Critics, including some members of Congress, say the program, which has cost $130 million, is not working. Many have called for a mandatory system and hinted they may withhold funding until it is put in place.

"While 70 percent would provide some measure of traceability, I must emphasize that we really need to achieve higher participation rates, as high as 90 percent, to ensure the benefits of the system," said Clifford.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with meat industry leaders last month and vowed to move aggressively to improve the livestock tracking system which he said "does not provide the level of protection for the market and animal health that is important."

USDA will tour the country over the next several months to help it answer questions such as whether traceback should be mandatory or voluntary, who should control the data and who should pay for the program.