with the county in which you run your cattle. This allows for 254 ver- sions of the same brand, in the same location on the animal — only 1 per county, but the possibility of many duplicates in the state. “We do recognize fi rebrands in
Texas as a form of offi cial identifi ca- tion for ownership, but fi rebrands registered at the county level will not be accepted as a form of offi - cial identifi cation for traceability and movement reasons,” Ellis says. Texas is not alone in this decision. “I’m not aware of any non-fi rebrand state that is going to accept fi re- brands from another state as a form of offi cial identifi cation for com- pliance with the traceability rule. Our animals move on ear tags, 840 RFID (radio frequency identifi ca- tion) tags, tattoos registered with a beef breed association, and occa- sionally fi rebrands registered with
a breed association.” Ellis explains that if a breed as-
sociation authorizes fi rebrands as an offi cial form of identifi cation within the registry, and is capable of providing ownership data based on the brand, then that form of fi re- brand is acceptable. Rodeo cattle are required to have
permanent offi cial identifi cation at all times. “Mexico-origin roping steers are going to have an RFID tag or an ear tag.” Ellis says the commissioners ex-
panded the list of acceptable tags to include commercially made fl ap tags with the ranch name and number on them. “Some folks put a plastic bangle tag in the ear of their cattle. If they have done that, then there’s no reason to use a metal tag if the tag is commercially produced with a name and number printed on it.” TAHC partnered with USDA to
distribute free metal tags to pro- ducers. More than a million metal tags have been distributed since June through a network that also includes large-animal veterinarians and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agents. Also, many auction markets of-
fer a tagging service for producers who do not or cannot tag at home. “We have worked with every
auction market,” Ellis says. “They have tags that were given to them for free if they wanted them. If a producer wants to allow a sale barn to tag their animal, that’s fi ne.” He suggests producers talk to the lo- cal market about the process prior to taking their animals to the sale.
To the packing plant Adult cattle that are sold via the
auction market have a tag glued to their back to identify them in
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800-722-1299 Contact Your Local Ranger Gate Dealer or Contact Us for a Dealer in Your Area 44 The Cattleman March 2013