How does the TROVAN system compare to conventional identification methods?
Branding…. Branding has been used for visual identification of animal ownership for hundreds of years. Both freeze branding and hot iron branding are in common use. Since they do not provide positive identification of individual animals, brands are not suitable for use in national product integrity and traceback system: at best they provide herd identification. They can become illegible over time, and are subject to alteration and duplication by third parties. They also reduce the value of the hide of subject animals by damaging choice portions of said hide. Brands can also be duplicated outside a given jurisdiction. Brands are not able to provide worldwide guaranteed uniqueness. Ear tags…. One of the most widely used in-herd approaches to identification, eartags with printed alpha-numeric ID codes have traditionally been used by beef and dairy producers. The perceived advantages are: ease of application, possibility to visually identify individual animals and perceived low tag cos
