Syscan ID - leading the way

Syscan ID,a leader in hand held RFID tag readers continues to innovate and supply practical tools at a reasonable cost.Syscan ID is leading the way again with the launch of its new Android app available on the Android market for free. This tool is leading edge and replaces expensive handheld units with a smartphone that you already own. Version is available in English , French and Spanish.

Livetrack ISO wand reader + LTM software + LT Android App .

Total reliable traceability.

Livetrack V4 -Global Leader

Easy to use and robust, The Livetrack V4 EID reader is the perfect tool for all tracking need sin the animal identification. The advanced capabilities and cutting edge firmware allows the Livetrack V4 EID reader to be an ideal solution for producers, transporters, feedlot operators, auction houses, sales yards and veterinarians.


Made of a dual shell ABS construction coupled with rubberized grip, it provides a robust and lightweight reader powered by a long lasting battery. Tag read confirmation is supported by audible sound and vibrating handle. The Multilingual, alpha-numeric keypad allows data entry as well as quick navigation through the advance menu. A large non-volatile memory of 10000 tags can easily be read on the largest screen. Optional Bluetooth allows a 300 foot data transfer range to the included Livetrack manager software.

The Livetrack Manager software offer, remote upgrades to your firmware, virtual keypad for those that wish to work of a PC, personalized data entry sheets, and much more. Join one of our many webinars or call www.syscan-id.com

Quick and simple connection to most scales and farm management software’s, make the livetrack V4 EID reader , a reliable out of the box solution.

Mobile Android App for Livetrack ISO wand reader

Announcement – New Mobile Android App

Syscan ID Inc. is launching the new Mobile Android application. Developed for Android enabled Smartphone’s, this unique tool provides the freedom and functional capabilities to help users with their existing technology, saving time and money.

The unique interoperability of the Livetrack ISO wand Reader and the Mobile LTM Android App create a unique tool in the Ag market space.

Simple and easy to use the tool allows flexibility and unique features such as:

 Simple connection to Smartphone

 Easy to scroll list of tags

 Weight statistics on growth patterns and rates

 Easy to manage reader settings

 Quick contact

 Animal ID – Visual and EID number sync

 Send list via email and download /upload features

 Much more

Visit the Android Market to download your version now.

South Korea opens border to Canadian beef, veal

Ottawa, Ont. – The federal government has announced that South Korea has re-opened beef and veal trade with Canada.

The government and the beef industry have been actively seeking re-entry into South Korea since it closed the market due to the discovery of BSE in Canada in May 2003. Prior to that, South Korea was Canada’s fourth-largest export market, selling approximately 17,300 tonnes of beef worth $60 million.

According to Brad Wildeman, chairman of Canada Beef Inc., exports to South Korea could reach 6,500 tonnes worth about $30 million by 2015, with the potential to grow to 14,000 tonnes worth $65 million by 2020.

*Source Food In Canada

UK - Big rise in dairy and lowland beef and sheep incomes forecast

DAIRY and lowland livestock grazing farms in England are see to see substantial increases in income in the current financial year, the latest Defra estimates show.


Average incomes on arable, mixed, dairy, upland and lowland beef and sheep farms are all forecast to rise in 2011/12. But pig and poultry farms and those classified as ‘general cropping’ will suffer drops in incomes fall, Defra Farm Business Income figures show.


In summary the provisional figures for England (not inflation adjusted) show:

Dairy 2011/12 average incomes up 27 per cent to £84,000 on 2010/11.

Cereals up 6 per cent to £90,000.

Grazing Livestock (Lowland) up 30 per cent to £28,000.

Grazing Livestock (LFA) up 12 per cent to £24,000.

Mixed farms up 7 per cent to £54,500.

General cropping down 24 per cent to £85,000.

Specialist pigs down 20 per cent to £35,500.

Specialist poultry down 8 per cent to £62,500.

Defra statisticians attributed the ‘substantial’ increase in dairy farm incomes to a 10 per cent rise in milk prices, combined with firmer prices for breeding heifers, beef cattle and cull cows.


The improved fortunes for upland and lowland grazing livestock farms are largely the result of firmer prices for fat and store cattle alongside continuing high values for finished lambs, cull ewes and replacement breeding sheep.

The value of beef animals, in particular, is considerably higher than a year ago, explaining why lowland farms are benefitting more than LFA farms, where sheep account for more of output.


In the cases of both dairy and grazing livestock these increases in output have more then offset rising costs, particularly for feed and fertiliser


The slight increase in cereal farms incomes forecasts is put down to much higher incomes derived from oilseed rape crops due to increased area, yield and prices. Output from cereals is also expected to increase due to higher wheat and barley prices and slightly higher wheat yields.

Pig farms are set to suffer a second successive big fall in income as soaring feed costs, which account for more than half of overall costs, continue to outweigh higher prices.


It is a similar story on poultry farms, where higher output from the egg and broiler sectors will be offset by increased costs, mainly of feed.


The predicted fall in general cropping income is primarily due to lower output from potato producers, as favourable spring planting conditions and subsequent high yields in 211 resulted to lower prices.

NFU chief economist Phil Bicknell said the forecasts reflect are in contrast to the performance of the wider economy, underlining agriculture’s contribution to it. “This is undoubtedly positive news for parts of the industry,” he said.


But he cautioned that, while the figures were welcome, but the continued rise in input costs and the Eurozone crisis means ‘there’s no room for complacency’.


“Not all farm types saw improvements to their bottom line. “All farmers have faced significantly higher operating costs over the last year, with the 18 per cent increase in fuel costs and the 20 per cent rise in fertiliser prices the most significant.

He added that the figures also mask ‘much variation’, with, for example, some parts of the country affected more than others by drought conditions in 2011.


· The 2011/12 forecasts, which include 2011 harvest and SPS data, are based on information available in early January for prices, animal populations, marketing, crop areas and yields.
* by Alistair Driver

McDonald’s Features Real Ranchers In New Campaign

A new McDonald’s ad campaign for 2012 features the real people who raise lettuce, potatoes and beef for the chain’s famous Big Macs and Quarter Pounders. Self-proclaimed “Beef Snob,” Steve Foglesong, an Illinois rancher and cattle feeder as well as former National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president, is featured in the ads. What a great opportunity to share the positive agriculture story with the masses. McDonald’s is a huge supporter of American agriculture, and its new campaign highlights the great partnership we have with the company.


McDonald’s and beef:
“It takes a lifetime to build a ranch,” says Foglesong, owner of Black Gold Cattle Co. “We take a great deal of pride in what we do here. Beef’s what we do. I’m what you’d call a beef snob. Fact is, you can’t get great taste without great quality.”
 

 
* source Beef Daily

What to make a change in 2012?

New Year's resolutions can be overwhelming.


Instead of tackling all of them at once, list all the things you would change if you had the time. Take a good look at the list and think about the one thing that would impact several things on the list. Make it short and simple. Perhaps you need to be more aggressive, or maybe you need to slow down, or speak up for yourself more often. If you're not sure, try something for a few weeks and see if it's working. Then, each morning, remind yourself of your one thing.

Soon it will become second nature as the results reinforce your commitment to change.

Best of 2012 yet to come

From all of us, we want to wish you all the very best in 2012..

As we move forward, we continue to develop our RFID / EID reader used in Livestock traceability and our LTM Software.
New tools, new features and improvement all based on feedback from our clientele from Indonesia, Australia, North America and South America......
Stay posted.

New Zealand - to follow Aust, Canada into mandatory RFID

Electronic tagging of cattle will become mandatory in New Zealand from July 1 next year, the industry-owned company responsible for developing the country’s national livestock identification system announced this week.


The mandatory tagging date was set after the proposed National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme (NAIT) received cross-party support in Parliament. The broad political backing now means that legislation required to enshrine the new system in law is likely to be passed regardless of the outcome of the 2011 New Zealand general election in November.

Under the scheme all NZ cattle producers will be required to tag cattle with NAIT-approved RFID tags from July 1, 2012. Deer producers will  join the scheme on March 1, 2013. The scheme will be implemented and administered by NAIT Ltd, a company owned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, and Deer Industry New Zealand. NAIT Ltd chief executive Russell Burnard said the scheme would assure overseas markets that a livestock disease can be quickly contained in the event of any biosecurity incidents.

“NAIT’s cross-party support in Parliament bodes well for the NAIT Bill being passed after the election,” Mr Burnard said in a press release issued yesterday.  “This, and confirmation of our system provider, gives our industry shareholders confidence the NAIT scheme is well placed for a 1 July mandatory date.”

The NZ Government has provided capital expenditure to build the NAIT system and will fund 35pc of its ongoing operational expenditure. The remaining 65pc of operational expenditure will be met through a mix of direct funding from NAIT’s shareholders (Beef + Lamb New Zealand 44.5pc, Dairy NZ 53.5pc and Deer 2pc) and levies on NAIT RFID ear tags and carcasses at the point of slaughter.
Canada introduced a mandatory cattle identification system in 2002, and Australia in 2005.  
“The purpose of the NAIT system is to safeguard the New Zealand brand and farmers’ income by protecting market access for New Zealand animal products through enhancing regulatory and consumer confidence in New Zealand’s ability to manage biosecurity incidents,” NAIT Ltd said.
NZ’s Federated Farmers says it has raised many concerns about the scheme during its development process but would now work to ensure the transition will be as smooth as possible after the scheme received broad political backing.

An estimated 9.8 million cattle will have to be electronically tagged and registered online in the three years after July 1, 2012.

Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills said the organisation was “still highly dubious of the claimed benefits” and was working to ensure it would have the least impact on the bottom line of producers.
Concerns also revolved around ownership and control of the immense intellectual property that NAIT would accumulate and how the data provided by farmers would be used.
He said that with significant penalty provisions included in the scheme, a massive farmer-education campaign would be required by NAIT to ensure all producers had the information they required to comply by July 1, 2012.

A simple website, mail and advertising campaign as used in recent high profile rural campaigns would not be sufficient, Mr Wills said. There were particular concerns about what support would be extended to farmers who, through geography, had limited or no internet access."For a number of seasons to come, there will be a lot of farms left in the internet wilderness. What happens to farms lacking the internet?

"After it goes live next February, farmers will have only four or so months to get any cattle they plan to move off-farm onto NAIT. We need the assurance NAIT won't fall over due to the weight of enrolments.

"Federated Farmers will maintain very close scrutiny of the system, its effectiveness and cost, because we are still highly dubious of the claimed benefits.”.

*source: beef central  J.Nason

Ireland- Cattle Trade Remains Strong

Irish Farmers Association (IFA) National Livestock Committee Chairman Michael Doran said the cattle trade remains strong with factories paying a base price of €4.00/kg for steers and €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg for heifers.

Michael Doran said demand is very strong for the Christmas trade and In spec steers and heifers are commanding premium prices at the factories.

The IFA livestock leader said the beef market prospect going forward remain very positive. He said across the UK and EU markets production is down, exports are up, imports are down and prices are rising. The world beef market has been transformed over the last 12 months with prices in South America, North America, Australia and other major producing countries approaching EU levels of €3.50/€3.80/kg. He said this is a fundamental and unprecedented change in the beef market.

In the UK Michael Doran said production is forecast to be down by six per cent next year and prices are continuing to rise at €4.15/kg and up to €4.27/kg in Scotland for R grade steers.

In Ireland, Bord Bia are forecasting supplies to be down by up to 90,000 head for 2012 with prime steer supplies back 70,000 head and heifers down 37,000 head. Michael Doran said this will leave cattle extremely tight at the factories next spring and for 2012. He said factories were still trying to contract cattle for early next year.

The IFA livestock leader pointed out that for the first eight months of 2011, the EU ran a net beef deficit of 200,000t. He said EU beef exports reached 420,000, compared imports at 214,000t. This is a reflection of the very strong world market for beef. Michael Doran pointed out that EU countries had exported 119,000t to Turkey, 85,000t to Russia and a further 213,000t to other destinations all over the world.

On EU beef imports, Michael Doran said imports from South America had declined significantly with Brazil down to 80,000t from 363,000t in 2007. Imports from Argentina to the end of August are also back at 42,000t compared to 122,000t in 2009.

Source* TheCattleSite News Desk

Canada- Positive Outlook For Crop, Meat & Dairy Producers

Alberta producers are benefiting from a good growing season and higher beef, poultry, pork and dairy prices. The 2011 results show a positive outlook for many producers.

The 2011 growing season proved to be a good year for crops, producing high quality and good yields for many Alberta producers, despite the cool, damp start.

There was also optimism in the livestock sector as market receipts rose by close to one per cent to C$2.2 billion in 2011, led by higher receipts for hogs, dairy and poultry. Beef prices are also at their highest since 2003, showing strong signs of a recovering livestock industry.

“Agriculture is the largest renewable industry in Alberta, totalling C$6.7 billion in exports in 2010 and employing 70,000 Albertans directly and indirectly” said Premier Alison Redford. “A thriving agriculture industry is an important part of a strong Alberta economy.”

“Through the first half of 2011, Alberta had the highest Farm Cash Receipts in Canada, totaling C$5.2 billion” said Evan Berger, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Cattle futures prices were at their highest level ever in October 2011.”

The market situation for feeder cattle began to improve in 2010, with prices rising through the fall of that year and continuing to increase in 2011. In the cash markets for Alberta, nominal prices of feeder cattle for the 500-600 pound and 800-900 pound weight classes ending late October were C$161 and C$134 per hundredweight, respectively. Prices have not been at these levels since 2003.

Crop market receipts jumped by almost 39 per cent to C$2.7 billion in the first half of 2011, largely due to higher prices for most major crops and increased marketing. With favorable harvest conditions experienced this fall, harvest is now complete across the province.

Although 2011 is being viewed as a turn-around year for the agriculture sector, it was not without its challenges, such as unpredictable weather, higher prices of inputs like fertiliser and fuel and a strong Canadian dollar. However, higher livestock and crop prices have brought a return to profitability for many in the industry.

Sourece * TheCattleSite News Desk

UAE - Coming to terms with Animal identification

The Animal Identification and Registration System (AIRS) campaign registered and tagged over a million animals in the livestock category, the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) announced.

The authority allocated 55 teams of four each to implement and reach its target in Abu Dhabi city and the Eastern Region that includes Al Ain.

In Al Gharbia or the Western Region, work will be completed by the end of February.

In the last three months since the AIRS kicked off in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, 7,878 farms were visited.The authority also said the animals already registered include 105,087 camels, 25,748 cows and 1,050,087 sheep and goat heads.

"AIRS campaign is progressing extremely well and we are geared up to complete it on schedule. Farm owners and workers have fully understood the huge benefits AIRS can bring about for them, the consumers, the community, and are greatly supportive for field teams. This is indeed a decisive factor that is helping us to complete both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Regions on time and we are very thankful for them," said Mohamed Jalal Al Reyaysa, Director of Communication and Community Service, ADFCA. "As we embark on the Western Region AIRS campaign, we invite livestock owners in Abu Dhabi Region whose animals have not been identified yet to contact the AIRS help desk 800555, or other various existing communications channels to provide all required information such as farm area and number, GPS Location, livestock number per species and AIRS team will set a visit time," he advised.

AIRS is compulsory and free of charge for livestock owners and it allows the traceability of animals and products of animal origin.

The program aims to achieve many benefits for Abu Dhabi, livestock owners and consumers and the community such as national database for animals towards achieving food safety, better livestock management systems, as well as better diseases surveillance and control of humans and animals health emergencies.

EU - Why Traceability is important

Why Traceability is important:
Traceability is important as it allows the localisation and tracing of animals to veterinary purposes leading to the effective control and eradication of animal diseases, as well as the traceability of food for public health reasons. Animal identification, which is one the main pillars to build up a traceability system, has been already introduced in the EU for several animal species including horses, pets, cattle, sheep and goat and pigs.

How tracing works:Traceability systems must be able to identify where products have come from and where they are going and to promptly provide this information to the competent authorities of a country on request. Traceability works on the basis of the following minimum elements: individual animal identification from birth until harvest, animal movement records that trace animals as they are transported and identify both the location of origin and destination of the animal; animal records (document of the location of each animal's death and the cause); and a central database that is able to store the above-mentioned information as well as to quickly trace animals.

Consumer protection and food safety:One of the major aims of putting in place a system for traceability is to ensure consumer protection and food safety. The current system of traceability for bovine meat was introduced in the EU as a response to the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis in order to re-establish consumer confidence in beef and beef products through transparency and traceability.
The current system of bovine identification and traceability is perceived as being efficient by most of the stakeholders and answers to the actual policy objective of ensuring consumer protection and food safety but can be improved to reduce identification errors and to manage disease outbreak crises’ if and when they occur.

The European Commission and DG SANCO’s role:
To propose and to co-ordinate the set up of the process for establishing systems for animal identification and traceability, on the basis of consensus with the 27 EU member states and stakeholders. It also aims to avoid disparities between EU member states in relation to the implementation and enforcement by auditing the functioning of the competent authorities and the understanding of the animal identification and traceability rules.  This will ensure an equal treatment of farmers/consumers throughout the EU and to avoid market and competition distortions.
 
The benefits for the farmer:
EID, if used in conjunction with e-reading may help to reduce identification errors and to reduce time for notifications. One of the main benefits is the reduction of the administrative burden which is due to the written notifications necessary for keepers (farmers and other stakeholders).  Currently, all bovine notifications (births, deaths, animal movements) must be manually registered and converted into an electronic format on to a computer database. EID is an excellent tool for improving farm management and on-farm automation. Additional benefits will include prevention of disease and fraud and an improvement in genetic and crisis management.

The European Commission plans to present its proposal to EU member states during the first half of  2011. The date for implementation is not yet known but it will depend on the  pace of progress of work in the Council and the European Parliament.

Source: newsroom - meattradenewsdaily.co.uk

Quick overview the EID Reader from Syscan ID

Easy to use and robust, The Livetrack V4 EID reader is the perfect tool for all tracking need sin the animal identification. The advanced capabilities and cutting edge firmware allows the Livetrack V4 EID reader to be an ideal solution for producers, transporters, feedlot operators, auction houses, sales yards and veterinarians.

Made of a dual shell ABS construction coupled with rubberized grip, it provides a robust and lightweight reader powered by a long lasting battery. Tag read confirmation is supported by audible sound and vibrating handle. The Multilingual, alpha-numeric keypad allows data entry as well as quick navigation through the advance menu. A large non-volatile memory of 10000 tags can easily be read on the largest screen. Optional Bluetooth allows a 300 foot data transfer range to the included Livetrack manager software.

The Livetrack Managersoftware offer, remote upgrades to your firmware, virtual keypad for those that wish to work of a PC, personalized data entry sheets, and much more. Join one of our many webinars or call www.syscan-id.com

 

Quick and simple connection to most scales and farm management software’s, make the livetrack V4 EID reader , a reliable out of the box solution.

Livestock and food traceability : Quebec's example

Livestock and food traceability in Québec - MAPAQ\ATQ from Agri-Traçabilité Québec on Vimeo.

Source ATQ