RFID case study: Warrnambool Livestock Exchange

In 2003, Warrnambool Livestock Exchange became the first livestock sales yard to implement an RFID system that was designed to help cattle owners comply with Australia's stringent National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). NLIS, which is thought to be the largest and most sophisticated livestock database and management system in the world, was established to meet livestock identification and traceability requirements mandated by the European Union in 1999.

 

Aleis International developed the Aleis MultiRead System for the NLIS. Each animal has a rumen or ear tag, containing a Texas Instruments 134.2KHz transponder. These tags have read/write capabilities, allowing farmers to add, change, or retrieve details on each animal, such as health information, farm location history, market eligibility and commercial information, on the spot.

 

As the animals move through the weighing system, interrogators installed across a lane or at the entrance or exit to a weighbridge read their tag to identify them and track their movements. As many as 3,000 cattle can be recorded each day with the Aleis system compared with previous methods, which tracked a daily average of only a few hundred animals.

This case study is from the IDTechEx RFID Knowledgebase of over 1500 case studies of RFID in action. Please visit www.rfidbase.com .

 

Food & Livestock Traceability 2006 conference will be held on February 1-2 2006 in Dallas, USA. This hot topic is driven by health scares, bioterrorism and new laws. It will become the largest RFID application but we cover DNA and many other vital technologies as well. For further details please visit www.trackingfood.com