Farmers know that keeping good records is vital to their business. However many livestock farmers are facing a unique challenge due to yet another supply chain issue. Ear tag orders are backed up 6 months or more from being shipped to farmers and that’s causing headaches for many. Julie Sweney, board member with the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium (WLIC) shares more.
So what’s the reason ear tags are backordered so far? Julie says that like just about everything else, supply chain issues are to blame. She says a perfect storm of labor issues and transportation issues came together to really slow down production of a much needed item on farms. But there is good news, according to her sources the backlog is getting caught up and tags are once again moving where they need to go.
With many farmers using tags for more than just a visual ID, particularly with farms that rely on RFID tags for their calf feeders and parlor systems, farmers have needed to get creative. Julie reminds farmers that ordering far enough ahead is the best option. But she cautioned that there’s no need to order a stockpile of tags to last years and make the backlog worse.
Sweney serves as the Vice-Chair of the WLIC Board. She says that the group is made up of representatives from not only dairy and beef cattle but also poultry and the swine industry. Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium is a third party organization that focuses on not only making sure that farm data is accurate, but also serves as a buffer that protects sensitive farm data from being subject to public record.
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