Achieve several key objectives. Firstly, IT aims to meet traceability performance standards by diligently documenting and recording relevant traces and trace exercises in EMRS2

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) awarded a $131,348 Cooperative Agreement to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (MN BAH) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program (CFDA 10.025). The purpose of this award is to enhance animal disease traceability in Minnesota by:

1. Meeting traceability performance standards through diligent documentation and recording of relevant traces and trace exercises in EMRS2.
2. Collaborating with USDA APHIS to distribute RFID tags, minimizing data entry errors, and transitioning to a paperless system to improve animal disease traceability.
3. Continuing to utilize the Coreone database, aligned with USDA and other state systems, to maintain compatibility.
4. Implementing an outreach plan to educate stakeholders on animal disease traceability requirements.

The award period runs from Apr 1, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026. This grant represents USDA APHIS's ongoing efforts under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program to support comprehensive animal health initiatives across the U.S.

Additionally, the agreement seeks to enhance the potential of a fully electronic system by collaborating with USDA aphis VS in minnesota to distribute rfid tags, thereby minimizing data entry errors, transitioning to a paperless system, and improving animal disease traceability (ADT). The continued use of trace first's coreone database, aligned with USDA and other state systems, is crucial for compatibility. An essential aspect involves implementing an outreach plan to educate various stakeholders, such as dealers, agents, producers, veterinarians, on animal disease traceability, with recorded activities in appendix b.2. Activities to be performed. • traces for diseased cattle or cattle exposed to disease will document the required animal information for the trace within EMRS2 for eligible traces • orders for rfid tags for replacement heifers will be managed by the MN BAH and forwarded to the animal identification coordinator for distribution from the aphis warehouse. Distributed official ear tag numbers will be entered into the recipient's database. • the coreone database is web-based so that recipient staff and aphis employees will have total access to data from any computer or handheld device that has web connectivity. Deliverables and expected outcomes. Outcomes for this objective will be the continued use of coreone by trace first's animal health database. Tpms will be conducted throughout each reporting period as they are received by the USDA aphis VS. The recipient will increase awareness and compliance for animal identification requirements and record keeping with outreach to these individuals and groups. With continued contact, the correct use of official identification and record keeping will increase. Outputs for rfid tag distribution are the number of official ear tags distributed to minnesota veterinarians and livestock producers and captured in the recipient's database. Intended beneficiary(IES). Beneficiaries include minnesota veterinarians, livestock producers, livestock markets, and others involved in animal agriculture who stand to benefit from enhanced animal disease traceability and streamlined record-keeping processes. Sub recipient activities. N/a