Conduct animal disease traceability activities that will provide valuable and current field data to the award recipient, USDA-aphis, and other interested parties for various commodities under animal…

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded a $174,146 Cooperative Agreement to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on April 1, 2026, under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025). The award runs through March 31, 2027, with work performed in Virginia.

The recipient will distribute 100,000 electronic eartags and RFID readers to Virginia livestock producers for official animal identification and traceability. The recipient will maintain and share all electronic and paper-based traceability data through the Surveillance Collaboration Services database (SCS-VA), keeping records 100% available to all stakeholders at any time. The recipient will establish a regulatory presence at 35 or more public livestock sales, with livestock inspectors present on a weekly basis to oversee compliance with state and federal regulations and discuss requirements with producers, veterinarians, and market staff. The recipient will conduct frequent accreditation seminars for licensed veterinarians and execute the annual national traceability performance measures exercises assigned by USDA-APHIS-Veterinary Services, working to reduce total traceback times. These activities provide field data for surveillance, preparedness, response, and public outreach to protect American agriculture and meet Veterinary Services mission goals.

Conduct animal disease traceability activities that will provide valuable and current field data to the award recipient, USDA-aphis, and other interested parties for various commodities under animal disease traceability cooperative agreement in order to meet the needs for surveillance, preparedness, response, and public outreach with the aim to protect american agriculture and accomplish VS mission goals. 2. Activities to be performed: to distribute and apply official animal identification devices to virginia state livestock producers such as electronic eartags and eartag rfid readers, maintaining and improving information databases while keeping these 100% available to all stakeholders, performing frequent inspections to livestock facilities ensuring compliance with 9 code of federal regulations, and to conduct animal traces (back and forth) in a timely manner during planned exercises or in real-life animal diseases investigations. 3. Deliverables and expected outcomes: a. To distribute a total of 100,000 electronic eartags to stakeholders. B. To record and share all electronic and paper based traceability data making IT 100% available at any time to the parties involved through the surveillance collaboration services database (SCS-VA) platform. C. To build a strong regulatory presence at all 35+ public livestock sales where the livestock inspectors will be present on a weekly basis, overseeing and discussing state and federal regulations with producers, veterinarians, and market staff. D. To carry out frequent accreditation seminars to licensed veterinarians. E. To execute the annual national traceability performance measures exercises as assigned by USDA-aphis-VS, bringing down the total traceback times consistently. The main beneficiaries of this cooperation will be the american agro-industry, livestock producers, animal and public health organiz ations, USDA-aphis, and the recipient which will translate into a more robust agricultural economy in the state of virginia and the U.S.