36^th ICAR Session draws attendees from 43 countries

Posted June 30, 2008

The International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) 36^th Session, held June 16-20, in Niagara Falls , N.Y. , drew 450 participants from 43 countries and six continents. Those in attendance represented governmental regulatory agencies, livestock species associations, dairy lab managers, researchers, animal scientists, data collection organizations, Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) managers, animal identification (ID) device and milk testing equipment manufacturers, and animal geneticists.

            Under Secretary of Agriculture Bruce Knight, who represents the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s marketing and regulatory programs, addressed the international crowd. Charged with protecting U.S. plants and animals for the fair marketing of products, Knight focused on the importance of animal ID and tracking. He emphasized that the key to the National Animal Identification System’s success is animal ID. Producers need to be consistent in radio frequency ID (RFID) tagging and tracking group lots within their operations.

            To increase the efficiencies of animal tracing and traceability, Knight explained the need for system standardization that works within the marketplace. “Through better animal tracking databases and animal trace processing systems, we can significantly increase the communication streams between government officials and agricultural producers,” Knight stated.

            Special sessions held during the conference included ICAR Reference Laboratory Network, North American Laboratory Managers Association, ID Summit, DHI Managers Workshop, Manufacturers’ Showcase and AI Summit.

            Some of the topics addressed during the week included intellectual property needs in the animal breeding and agribusiness industries, animal genomics, milk testing calibration, robotic milk sampling analysis, milk ELISA (Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) testing, female fertility evaluations, agri-terrorism, genetic correlations, managing genetic recessives, RFID technology, Data Collection Ratings, quality assurance, disease testing via milk samples, alpaca genetic improvement, marketing value-added products and services, new technologies in recording and managing AI data, mobile phone solutions and dairy herd management improvement tools.

            The National Dairy Herd Information Association (NDHIA) staff coordinated planning and meeting arrangements for the 36^th ICAR Session. This is the first time ICAR has held its biennial session in the United States .

            Conference Gold sponsors included Destron Fearing, Tru-Test Ltd., Foss and Bentley Instruments. Silver sponsors were Dairy One Cooperative and NDHIA. Bronze sponsors included IDology, Ram Mechanical, Global Animal Management, Caisley, NorthStar Cooperative, Delta Instruments, Farnam, AgSource Cooperative Services, Capital Plastic Products, Finnzymes Diagnostics, Astoria-Pacific International, CanWest DHI, Afimilk and Dairy Records Management Systems. At the Donor and Contributor level were Continental Plastic, CRV and Minnesota DHIA.

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