New UHF tags promise safer food supply chain
analysed by Kansas State University's new Animal Identification
Knowledge Laboratory in order to assess its application in the
livestock industry.
The research comes in response to the industry's desire to implement an RFID-based identification and trace back systems to eliminate the possible spread of disease.
The objective of its evaluation is to provide empirical data on the viability of UHF technology, provide a comparative study on the features and benefits of UHF and LF (low frequency) technology, and to educate industry users on the efficiency of RFID for livestock identification and traceability.
"We are very pleased to have Dr Dale Blasi and his colleagues, the leaders in animal RFID research among North American universities, provide an independent evaluation of our UHF technology for livestock identification," said Barry Bennett, president of Advanced ID.
"The real benefit of this evaluation will be to provide industry users with an accurateunderstanding of the features of UHF and LF technology."
The livestock industry is desperate to install measures that would guarantee the safety of the food supply. Outbreaks of disease have resulted in export bans and collapsed markets.
Japan for example banned US beef and beef products after a single case of BSE in an 8-year-old cow imported into the United States from Canada was detected in December 2003, and is showing resistance to fully reopening its borders. In the UK, the BSE crisis in the late 1990s led to a 40 per cent domestic decline in beef sales and the complete loss of many export markets.
"We continue to hear from current RFID users in the livestock industry from the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries that low frequency technology is not meeting their needs," said Bennett. "Some users have commented that LF scanners are verylarge and bulky, not user friendly, unreliable in operating environments with machinery, and canonly read one tag at a time.
"Others have said they feel LF technology is too limited in scope to make it a permanent option. Our UHF technology will allow users to implement a cost effective identification and trace back system, attain greater efficiency and automation within their own operations - as well as throughout the supply chain, and ensure reliable data for expedient trace back queries.
"With our experience selling LF products to the animal market since 1994, webelieve UHF technology offers significantly greater benefits for livestock management."
In other developments, with the recent appointment of Thailand's new Minister of Agriculture,Advanced ID is expected to resume its negotiations to secure a contract for livestock identificationand trace back of chickens, pigs and cattle. In Taiwan, the company is presently modifying itsRFID tags utilised for the identification and trace back of pigs due to some tags being damagedfrom biting.
Once its RFID tags are able to withstand this biting pressure - expected in the weeksahead, Advanced ID will continue its field trials.
Advanced ID Corporation is a complete solutions provider in the radio frequency identification(RFID) animal tracking and traceability market. The technology, which hooks miniature antennas up to tiny computer chips smaller than a grain of sand to track items at a distance, could revolutionise disease prevention.
Advanced ID also markets its ultra high frequency DataTRAC tags, readers, and software solutions to minimise or eliminate the impact of biosecurity and food safety issues related to the livestock industry.
