Press Release                            

For Immediate Release                             

For more information contact:
Glenn Smith, 478.747.6539, Glenn.Smith@AgInfoLink.com

USDA Approves AgInfoLink as Interim Animal Tracking Database for National Animal Identification System

Longmont, CO, October 2nd, 2006- AgInfoLink USA, a privately-held food traceability information solutions provider, has been approved by USDA as an Animal Tracking Database for the interim/development phase of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) granted the approval for participation after a rigorous independent review of AgInfoLink’s system including patented software and hardware infrastructure. AgInfoLink meets the requirements to share customer data on a voluntary basis to USDA’s information system to track livestock movements in an animal disease surveillance or emergency.   

AgInfoLink has been supportive of the goal of protecting the health of the nation’s livestock herd through a cooperative relationship between the private sector and government. The company has used its combination of industry domain expertise and technical experience to help craft this solution which is ready to meet the requirements of government and producers today.

“AgInfoLink customers can be assured that our company is positioned to help producers meet their needs for national animal identification,” according to Mark Armentrout, AgInfoLink’s Chief Operating Officer. “Our role is to provide a cost effective way for livestock producers to participate in NAIS and to provide a way to protect those producers’ confidential herd information.”

In addition to complying with national animal ID requirements, AgInfoLink also offers producers a way to capture value on their animal ID investment. Glenn Smith, USA Country Manager for AgInfoLink, adds, “Livestock producers are making an investment in animal identification. AgInfoLink offers solutions to help those producers leverage that investment into a positive return through age and source verification, herd record management, and utilization of information for improved production and marketing.”

USDA is building the National Animal Identification System through a network of private industry and public database service providers. Livestock producers may choose to work through a value added data service provider like AgInfoLink to capture production information as well as animal identification data. In the event of an animal disease surveillance or emergency, USDA would query private systems for information on specific animals. Then, and only then, would AgInfoLink make limited data available to USDA. AgInfoLink would act as a “Data Trustee” to maintain confidential producer information in the private sector until it was absolutely needed by state or federal animal health officials. The data that is to be shared from the private AgInfoLink database to USDA will only include animal ID (tag number), premises ID (location of the animal), time/date of the event, and the event code (animal sighting, tagging, move-out, etc).

AgInfoLink offers information management services and solutions to the livestock industry. Solutions include animal identification devices like tags and RFID readers, verification services including age and source verification through its USDA-approved Processed Verified Program (PVP), software or paper-based data collection methods, and information reporting and analysis tools.

For more information about AgInfoLink’s animal identification solutions, contact AgInfoLink at 800-287-8787 or info@aginfolink.com.

About AgInfoLink

Traceability Starts Here. Founded in 1997, AgInfoLink designs and develops secure, high quality, traceability solutions for the world’s food supply. The company’s products provide the food industry with data collection, secure data transmission, data warehousing, reporting and analysis tools for increasing profits and reducing risk. AgInfoLink solutions provide customers increased efficiencies, increased commodity value, and “value traceability” from the farm to the table. The company’s headquarters are located in Longmont, CO. (www.aginfolink.com)