While it’s been available for the dairy industry for a while, thanks to legislative action earlier this year, the Electronic Cattle Transaction Reporting system (ECTR), is now available to all cattle owners in Washington.  The Washington state Department of Agriculture’s Jodi Jones said they had a soft roll out of the system last month, allowing beef operators to use 840 tags, rather than the traditional paperwork.  Jones said not only does this help the beef industry in Washington enter the information age, but ECTR can also save money.

 

“In order to use a traditional brand inspector, producers have to pay a $20 call out fee.  There is no call out fee associated with the ECTR system, and so it’s a cost savings for those folks to use ECTR.”

 

Jones said whether producers use ECTR, or the traditional systems, they are still responsible for the animal disease traceability fee of 23 cents per head, and the beef commission assessment which is $1.50 per head.  Jones noted that ECTR is a Washington only based platform, and while not mandatory, it provides producers with another option.

 

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“They can call the traditional brand inspector to come out and physically inspect the animals on their property.  We also have certified veterinarians which are private veterinarians, who can perform brand inspections, on behalf of the department, and then we just offered another option or avenue for cattle producers to report electronically.”

 

Jones noted ECTR benefits WSDA in a number of ways:

  • Advancing Disease Tractability
  • Increasing Efficiency
  • Reducing Costs
  • Streamlines The Reporting Process

 

To learn more about the ECTR program, visit the WSDA's Website, or call (360) 902-1855.

 

 

 

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com

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