Safeguard arizona and american livestock health and industry by supporting a robust system of animal disease traceability (ADT) and associated reporting and exercising activities

The Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded the Arizona Department of Agriculture a cooperative agreement totaling $184,950 on April 1, 2026, under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) to establish and maintain an animal disease traceability system protecting Arizona livestock from transboundary and foreign animal diseases.

The award funds administration of official identification devices, electronic record management through USAHERDS and VET-CVI platforms, outreach to cattle producers and stakeholders, national priority tracing exercises, and compliance and enforcement of livestock traceability regulations. Quarterly activities include accreditation outreach averaging 40–50 participants per quarter; one to two trace exercises per year; attendance at Southern Arizona Cattleman's Protective Association quarterly meetings; recording of over 100,000 RFID tags per quarter for cattle and bison; and quarterly tracking of interstate certificate of veterinary inspection movement documentation for livestock imports and exports. Work is performed in Arizona and monitored daily with quarterly reporting to the program manager.

The period of performance runs from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027. The cooperative agreement supports early detection and prevention of foreign animal diseases, particularly those that may enter Arizona via its international border with Mexico, while enhancing a secure agricultural industry aligned with homeland security objectives.

This award further supports arizona in early detection and prevention of transboundary animal diseases and emerging foreign animal diseases (fads), the incursion of which can be a growing threat due to the state sharing an international border with mexico. In this way, this award aids in the enhancement of homeland security, through supporting a secure agricultural industry. Food security is homeland security. Administration of official identification devices, management of electronic records and information sharing via usaherds and VET-CVI, outreach and communication to cattle producers and other arizona stakeholders, national priority tracing exercises, and compliance and enforcement of traceability regulations. Scope and frequency of activities are performed and monitored daily and reported quarterly to the program manager. Further details are provided in question 3. Scope and frequency of activities are outlined below and are explained in further detail within the cooperative agreement workbook: monthly accreditation (outreach) averaging 40-50 participants a quarter; 1-2 trace exercises per year; attendance at quarterly southern arizona cattleman's protective association (sacpa) meetings; quarterly recording of rfid tags, with over 100,000 recorded per quarter for cattle and bison and quarterly tracking of icvi movement documentation for imports and exports. Goals include ensuring compliance with state and federal livestock movement requirements and leveraging a robust system of rfid and icvi documentation to effectively manage livestock movements while preventing disease incursion or spread. In the event of a disease outbreak, the system in place, which is supported by this cooperative agreement, will allow regulatory officials to be able to perform efficient and accurate epidemiological traceback investigations and quickly control and stop spread. Deliverables include quarterly reports and an ADT roadmap that is updated and submitted by cooperative agreement recipient every three years. Meetings with the program manager will occur as needed to manage completion of workbook activities/goals. Expected outcomes are outlined below and are explained in further detail within the cooperative agreement workbook: the arizona department of agriculture distributed 50,000 rfid tags in FY25; quarterly recording of rfid tags, with over 100,000 recorded per quarter for cattle and bison; quarterly tracking of icvi movement documentation for imports and exports with quarter 2 of FY25 seeing 3,393 export of cattle/bison, sheep/goat, equine, and swine collectively and 1,949 icvi of imports. Arizona producers/stakeholders/tribal nations/arizona resi dents/accredited veterinarian's (AVS) in arizona. There are 915 category i and 768 category II AVS in arizona, with a total of 1 ,683 AVS. There are 16,900 native american agricultural producers. In arizona there are 15,100 farm operations, including 171,000 beef cattle, 70 dairies producing 4 billion pounds of milk annually, 2 commercial layer producers with over 10 million laying hens, and 1 commercial swine production facility with 180,000 breeding sows. There are also 7 livestock markets, and 10 slaughter facilities, with 4 being USDA inspected slaughter facilities, and 6 being state inspected slaughter facilities. Arizona's agricultural industry ranks 13TH in the US for agricultural production and contributes 30.9B to the state's economy. Public impact of the arizona department of agriculture includes support of 138,000 full and part time jobs. Animal movements in arizona include predominantly cattle. International imports from two southern border ports (douglas and nogales) in 2024 were $396.7 million, in hundreds of thousands of cattle from mexico. Over 180,000-200,00 cattle a year are inspected before being sold/transported/slaughtered. Other annual movements of import/export of livestock in arizona include 8,000 feeder pigs imported with 290,000 swine moved annually, with a steady population of 160-180,000 commercial swine. Additionally, 91,000 sheep and lambs and 39,000 goats with transit for seasonal grazing or sale, with estimated stable population of 125,000 head and 78,000 horses residing in arizona will seasonally transit for exhibitions, rodeos, and other events. As of 1/1/2026 cattle/calf inventory of arizona is estimated at 970,000 head with 267 ,000 head in feedlots, and approximately 305,000 calves born in arizona each year that transit to california for rearing then return to arizona for finishing. No subrecipient awards.