BISMARCK — Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring is urging North Dakota cattle producers to enroll their herds in the North Dakota Verified Livestock program.
“It’s getting close to shipping time, when some producers will be applying RFID tags to their animals,” Goehring said. “There is still time for producers to enroll in the program and be able to market this year’s calf crop as age/source verified.”
Authorized by the North Dakota Legislature, the North Dakota Verified Livestock program enables livestock producers and feeding operations to verify the age and source of their animals. The information is required by a number of beef importing countries, such as South Korea, Japan and the recently opened Chinese market.
“Signing up for the program is easy and completely voluntary,” Goehring said.
Interested producers should contact Jason Wirtz, North Dakota Department of Agriculture livestock development specialist, at (701) 220-1628 or jwirtz@nd.gov for more information or to sign up for the program.
More than 60,000 head have been enrolled in North Dakota Verified Livestock, which is operated by Nebraska-based Samson LLC under contract with NDDA.
— North Dakota Department of Agriculture
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