By Marcia Love
A cattle rancher from Macrorie is awaiting a decision by the Canada Agriculture Review Tribunal following a hearing regarding the retention and efficiency of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags required for cattle age verification.
Dr. Ken Habermehl, a licensed veterinarian and cattle producer, presented his case against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) age verification process on June 15.
Habermehl said the tags, which became mandatory for all Canadian cattle producers on July 1, are inefficient and require reviewing by CFIA and the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA).
The moot court hearing was held at the University of Saskatchewan’s law college, with many cattle producers in attendance.
Habermehl and Jim Ness, a cattle producer from Alberta, presented their arguments against the effectiveness of RFID tags.
A final decision by Dr. Donald Buckingham, chairman of the Canada Agriculture Review Tribunal, will be presented 90 days after the hearing.
Habermehl said his case speaks for all cattle producers experiencing difficulties with the new tags.
“I know what happened (at the hearing) was a good thing for all cow-calf cattlemen, and it made awareness of the problems that will keep arising,” he explained. “There is a huge problem with quality control on the ear tags.”
Habermehl’s issues with the RFID tags began in May 2009 as he was shipping cattle to a pasture at Elbow and discovered some of the tags came off in the chute.
Seven of his cattle were found to be missing tags. The CFIA inspector at the pasture told him the tags had to be replaced, so Habermehl drove back to his ranch for more ear tags.
“I thought that everything was fine and that would be the end of it,” he said.
But in September, Habermehl received a letter in the mail from CFIA for a fine of $500 for shipping cattle without proper RFID tags.
Since then, he has spoken to other ranchers and farmers with similar short-term retention problems with RFID tags. This prompted Habermehl to take his case to the Canada Agriculture Review Tribunal.
During the hearing, Habermehl had CFIA inspectors brought in as witnesses at his own expense.
Although it will be two more months before he hears the tribunal’s resolution, Habermehl said he is relieved the hearing is over.
“My case might not win the fight... but in the long run it might leave a trail of recognition that there is a flaw in the system and some correction has to be made,” he said.