Veterinarians play a crucial role in protecting animal health
In 2009, the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium (WLIC) started a cooperative effort with veterinarians around the state to implement RFID technology as part of their calfhood vaccination programs. With over 16% of the dairy cows in Wisconsin identified with RFID, veterinarians will need to be prepared to work with farms using RFID today and increasingly in the future.
What is the Veterinarian Program?
As part of calfhood vaccinations, veterinarians have applied the orange metal brucellosis vaccination tag to calves for many years. However, with the increasing use of official AIN (840) RFID tags on farms throughout the state, WLIC is proud to provide assistance for those veterinarians looking to use implement RFID in their daily on-farm routines. From education and training to helping make reader and handheld purchase decisions to helping set up software, WLIC is willing to help any interested veterinarian get started.
What are the benefits of the Veterinarian Program?
Participating veterinarians have found the program to greatly increase efficiency in their daily routines along with these additional benefits:
- Don’t waste metal tags
- 840 RFID tags are considered official ID, there is no need to tag the animal again with another tag
- Save yourself time
- Quickly scan the tag with a reader to make a record of the animal event (ie: vaccination, animal inventory, etc
- You can also hook the reader up to a handheld to enter data
- Eliminate paper and clipboard methods which require reading and writing down tag number
- Eliminate human error
- Mistakes often happen when trying to record long series of numbers, eliminate these by using an RFID reader which automatically stores the numbers for you
- Reduce unnecessary paperwork and filing
- With a handheld and reader its simple to record events such as calfhood vaccinations, upload the animals to your laptop or PC, and let the computer fill in the Calfhood Vaccination Report form for you; Simply print, sign and send!
How do I sign up?
If you are interested in taking part in the WLIC Veterinarian Program and would like RFID technology to save you extra time and labor, please call 888.808.1910 or email info@wiid.org. We would be happy to answer any questions about readers, handhelds, tags, official ID, or any other concerns you may have!