Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) awarded $234,967 to the Livestock & Poultry Commission Arkansas under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) for the period of April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027. This cooperative agreement supports the maintenance and improvement of animal disease traceability in Arkansas, enabling rapid identification of infected, infested, or exposed animals to reduce disease spread and response time. The recipient will administer official identification systems, expand electronic records through stakeholder outreach, and ensure compliance with traceability regulations across all 33 Arkansas livestock markets.

Key deliverables include conducting National Premise Test (NPT) and real traces utilizing official identification with data entry; assigning and applying Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags at all 33 Arkansas markets; tracking all issued tags in the CORE ONE database; conducting market inspections at every sale; and providing stakeholder education on animal disease traceability. The agreement directly benefits the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, over 28,000 cattle herds representing more than 1.56 million cattle, the state's 33 livestock markets, and the general public through enhanced national herd traceability and improved disease response capabilities.