Live Cattle Tracking

Suggested Anchor Introduction

New Mexico State University researchers working with the Santa Teresa Livestock Border Crossing have designed a tracking systemfor cattle imported into the United States. Anna María Pérez-Wright has the story.

Story

Click to Listen:

New Mexico State University scientists have developed a prototype cattle-tracking system to improve the tracking of live cattle imported to the United States from Mexico. N-M-S-U agricultural economist Rhonda Skaggs says the new database could be used to better guard against the possibility of an agroterrorism attack or livestock disease outbreak.

"If the United States were to actually be in a situation where we needed to have better information about tracking cattle, we would be in a seriously bad situation because we really don't have the data in order to do that very effectively in our country at the current time."

The study was based on a two-year examination of live cattle imports through the international port of entry between Santa Teresa and San Jerónimo on the Mexican border. The most modern of the nation's cattle ports of entry, Santa Teresa handles about a quarter of the cattle that enter the United States from Mexico, some 250,000 feeder animals destined for American feedyards. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.