Support animal disease traceability activities consistent with 9CFR86, that will provide specific information to the recipient, aphis, and other interested parties for various livestock commodities…

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded the Texas Animal Health Commission a cooperative agreement totaling $445,104 on April 1, 2026, to support animal disease traceability activities consistent with 9 CFR 86 under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025).

The recipient will register livestock premises; issue premises ID numbers, local ID numbers, and flock ID numbers; order and distribute no-cost USDA ID tags to producers, accredited veterinarians, and approved operations; and provide electronic tag readers to producers. The Texas Animal Health Commission will enter and track animal ID information in accessible and searchable databases and conduct traceability activities including national priority tracing exercises and real-life disease tracking. Outreach activities to producers and accredited veterinarians will encourage use of electronic identification tags and documentation, including maintaining an animal disease traceability webpage, handouts, factsheets, and social media posts. The recipient will ensure compliance with interstate movement animal disease traceability standards by inspecting livestock shipments at key entry points and initiating enforcement actions for noncompliance.

Specific deliverables for the performance period include providing 60 low-frequency wand reader kits, 6 mini-pocket low-frequency RFID tag readers, and 61 RFID tag applicators to accredited veterinarians and producers. The recipient will complete data entry on all applicable records into designated databases in a timely manner and pass all national priority tracing exercises and trace performance measures.

Performance occurs in Texas and runs from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027. The obligated amount is $445,104.

Support animal disease traceability activities consistent with 9CFR86, that will provide specific information to the recipient, aphis, and other interested parties for various livestock commodities under an animal disease traceability agreement. Activities to be performed: a. The recipient will register premises and issue allocated premises ID numbers, local ID numbers, and flock ID numbers. B. For no-cost ID tags supplied by USDA, the recipient will order and distribute tags to producers, accredited veterinarians, and operations approved to receive tags. C. The recipient will provide electronic tag readers (as available) to producers. D. The recipient will enter and track animal ID information in accessible and searchable databases. E. The recipient will conduct traceability activities, including national priority tracing exercises and real-life disease tracking, in a timely manner. F. The recipient will conduct outreach activities to producers and accredited veterinarians to encourage use of electronic identification tags and documentation. Outreach includes, but is not limited to, maintaining an ADT webpage, handouts, factsheets, and regular social media posts. G. The recipient will ensure compliance with interstate movement ADT standards by inspecting livestock shipments at key entry points initiating enforcement actions for noncompliance. Deliverables and expected outcomes: a. Specific deliverables: provide 60 low frequency wand reader kits to accredited veterinarians this year; provide 6 mini-pocket low-frequency rfid tag readers to accredited veterinarians this year; provide 61 rfid tag applicators to accredited veterinarians and producers this year; complete data entry on all applicable records into designated databases in a timely manner b. The recipient will conduct animal traceability activities in a timely and effective manner, evidenced by passing all national priority tracing exercises and trace performance measures and performing traces in program disease management. C. The recipient will encourage on-farm application of official ID in small ruminants by providing producer outreach and education and free program tags and taggers (as available). The expected outcome is a decreased arrival of untagged animals at livestock markets. D. The recipient will continue to increase use of e lectronic cvis. The expected outcome is fewer paper cvis received in office requiring hand entry of data. E. The recipient will inform accredited veterinarians and other tag managers of recordkeeping requirements for official identification devices. The recipient will investigate offenders to these requirements. The expected outcome is accurate records for tags applied by veterinarians and markets. The beneficiaries of this agreement are aphis and livestock producers of texas and the agriculture industry of the united states. Maintaining animal traceability is a cornerstone to maintaining the health and marketability of domestic livestock. There are no subrecipients in this agreement.