KLA leadership is expressing appreciation for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s approval of funding for the second year of the CattleTrace pilot project. The $250,000 is part of the fiscal year 2020 budget.
“We applaud Gov. Kelly for approving the Legislature’s appropriation of funds to further this important project,” said KLA President Barb Downey, a rancher from Wamego. “These funds will be used to develop an animal traceability system designed to reduce the number of animals involved in any disease investigation and restore normal livestock commerce as soon as possible after an outbreak.”
State funding for CattleTrace was supported by KLA and is to be combined with continued funding from private sources. The two-year project, currently in its first year, is testing an end-to-end disease traceability system beginning with cow-calf producers and ending at the processing plant. CattleTrace will create an infrastructure that will help manage a disease outbreak and may provide opportunities for the cattle industry to add value. The project will serve as a model to help guide development of a cost-effective national program that can work at the speed of commerce.