In an era where food safety and animal health are global priorities, RFID tags for livestock have emerged as a critical tool for modern farming. These advanced electronic identification systems enable real-time tracking, disease control, and supply chain transparency—protecting both livestock and consumers. From ear tags to injectable microchips, RFID technology ensures accurate data collection, regulatory compliance, and efficient herd management. Discover how farms and governments worldwide are leveraging RFID to combat outbreaks like avian flu and mad cow disease while optimizing agricultural productivity.
In recent years, there have been outbreaks of animal diseases around the world, such as mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza, which have brought serious harm to people’s health and lives and dealt a heavy blow to the world’s animal husbandry industry, thus attracting great attention from countries around the world, especially those in Europe. To this end, governments of various countries have rapidly formulated policies and taken various measures to strengthen the management of animals, of which the identification and tracking of animals has become one of these major measures. For example, the British Government has stipulated that all kinds of tracking and identification means must be adopted for cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, horses and other breeding animals. In recent years, the practice of animal electronic identification shows that the electronic identification method of RFID in animal management plays an increasingly important role.
1.Animal identification and tracking
Animal identification and tracking refers to the use of specific tags, with a certain technical means and the proposed recognition of the animal corresponding to, and can always track the relevant properties of animals and management of a technology.
The identification and tracking of various animals can strengthen the control and supervision of foreign animal diseases, protect the safety of native species, and ensure the safety of international trade of livestock products; it can strengthen the government’s management of animal inoculation and disease prevention, improve the diagnosis of animal diseases and reporting capabilities, as well as the emergency response to domestic and foreign animal epidemics.
2.RFID involved in the link
Feeding link: in the livestock born and bred at the time, in the body of the livestock installed on the RFID tag (such as made into ear tag or foot ring), these electronic tags in the livestock was born in the ear, and thereafter the breeder with a hand-held device, constantly set, collect or store the information in the process of it growing up, from the source of the production safety control. It also records the livestock’s vaccination records, disease information and key information about the breeding process at all times. Before livestock slaughtering, RFID tags are first read through handheld machines to confirm that disease-free livestock can be released.
Slaughter link: Before slaughtering, read the RFID tag information on the livestock to confirm that the livestock is a record of epidemic prevention and actual health before slaughtering and entering the market, and at the same time, the information will be written into the box label, cargo pallet label and price tags to go.
Supervision by the competent authorities: the regulatory authorities in the process of market supervision, the requirements of all sales outlets of goods trays, boxes and price tags contain RFID tags, the origin of meat, name, type, grade, price and other relevant data written into the electronic tag.
Logistics distribution link: fresh meat into circulation, in loading meat tray or packing box affixed with RFID electronic tags, transported to the designated supermarket or market sales point, in the handover of goods, only through the fixed long-distance range readers or handheld read-write read boxes or trays on the RFID electronic tags can be.
Foreign livestock management: such as foreign provinces and cities shipped to have been slaughtered meat products to enter the market, the first to the designated regulatory location for product testing, after passing the test affixed to the product information and related inspection information of the electronic tag. At the same time, the supervisory authority issues a certificate of qualification for products sold in the market.
3. RFID animal tag types and methods of use
Animal RFID tags are roughly divided into collar type, ear tag type, injection type and pill type electronic tags, as shown in Figure.
UHF 860-960 MHz Livestock RFID Ear Tag
- The collar type electron label can very easily from one animal to change to another animal, mainly applies in the stable pen in the automatic feed allotment as well as determines the milk yield.
- The ear tag type electron label performance is greatly superior to the bar code ear tag. Because the electronic label stores the data much more than the bar code, and can apply to have the oil stain, the rain water the bad environment. The reading distance of the reader is much larger than the reading distance of the bar code, and can realize the batch reading.
- The injection type electron label only began to apply in recent years, its principle is to use a special tool to place the electronic label to the animal’s skin, therefore in the animal’s body and the electronic label between established a fixed link, this kind of link can only be revoked through the surgery. At present can do the commercial injection type electron label only one rice grain size.
- The pill type electronic label is to place an electronic label in an acid-resistant cylindrical container, mostly ceramic. This container is then placed through the esophagus of the animal into the pre-gastric fluid of the ruminant, and generally speaking, the pill-type electronic tag will stay in the animal’s stomach for life. The biggest characteristic of this way is simple and firm, and can place the electronic label into the animal body without harming the animal.
RFID Chip in Ear
4.Basic system functions
- Basic animal information: records of basic information such as birth information, breeder information, growth information, access to pasture, and outgoing information;
- Epidemic prevention information: records of epidemic prevention, vaccination, epidemic prevention inspection, epidemic prevention treatment and other information;
- Supervision of circulation: records of temperature, humidity, roadside inspection and other information;
- Slaughtering and quarantine records: records of information such as slaughtering and quarantine, date of slaughtering, storage environment and so on;
- Sales product information: records of information of sales place, sales date, distributor information;
- Statistical query function of the state supervision department;
- System background management function;
- Traceability query function;