For Immediate Release 6/3/03

Nebraska Cattlemen Offers Animal-ID,
Data-Management Services

(June 3, 2003) LINCOLN, NEB. - The Nebraska Cattlemen reached an agreement last week with APEIS, a technology company in Norfolk, Neb., to provide BEEFTrax(tm), a state-of-the-art electronic-identification and data-management system for cattle producers in Nebraska and across the nation. After meeting with several of the nation's leading animal-ID and data-management firms, NC decided the APEIS system was the most appropriate for assisting producers with current and future cattle-marketing challenges.

The BEEFTrax system allows producers to manage individual-animal data for their herds while creating a recognizable, source-verifiable, electronically identified supply of cattle. Producers also will be able to benchmark their animals against others in the BEEFTrax system by using innovative technology from APEIS.

"Through the use of electronic ID tags, producers will benefit from a patent-pending Pre-Records tag-ordering and processing service, which is built into the system," said Van Neidig, APEIS president and system co-founder. "BEEFTrax will enable compliance with the new country-of-origin labeling guidelines and will assist in meeting the demands of asset management."

NC leaders solicited proposals from five animal-ID companies. After careful review and discussion, they selected the BEEFTrax system, said NC President Jim Hanna of Brownlee.

"We felt it was important to offer an affordable animal-ID and data-management alternative as broadly as possible," Hanna said. "Cattle producers from Nebraska and across the nation can choose to participate in BEEFTrax, regardless of membership status."

NC members own or manage more than half of Nebraska's beef cattle population, which includes more than 6 million head on farms and ranches and in feedyards. Selecting the best system was a daunting challenge, said NC President-Elect Allen Bright of Antioch.

"The NC Board of Directors authorized pursuing a contract with APEIS in April, and NC members will learn more about the system at the association's Midyear Conference in Valentine," said Bright, chairman of the task force that reviewed the ID options available for producers.

The NC Animal ID Task Force formally will report its findings and endorse the BEEFTrax system during the Midyear General Session, which is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. on June 13 in Valentine High School. For conference registration information, call NC at (402) 475-2333.

The Nebraska Cattlemen association (www.nebraskacattlemen.org) represents the state's beef cattle industry - 5,000 professional cattle breeders, ranchers and feeders in 47 local cattlemen's affiliates. Its headquarters are in Lincoln, and a second office in Alliance serves cattlemen in western Nebraska.

For more information, contact:

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