NLIS and CUB for LAG--Day 3

Thankfully, we got to sleep in this morning and I didn't feel too behind anymore. Our first visit today took us to see the Department of Primary Industries for a lesson in Australia's National Livestock Identification System. Nationally government mandated in 2002, this system requires cattle receive an electronic transponder tag to be placed in the right ear of all cattle before they leave the property they were born on and then all movement recorded via scans at each transfer of ownership, resulting in over 100,000 movement records per day in the country; 99.5% of which are processed electronically within 24 hours of scanning.

Tag options for cattle identification; white is original, orange is for cattle that lose the original

Another option is an internal transponder, although it is rarely used

This program helps them maintain traceability to aid in exotic disease control, residue in meat, endemic disease, and ensures market access since over 60% of the beef produced in the country is exported.












By the time cattle make it to scanning at the abattoir, the system will be able to identify if it has any risk of exposure to numerous diseases and each animal's carcass can then be individually tested for any given issue. 







After some short cultural visits around Melbourne including the Shrine of Remembrance, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Captain Cooke's cottage, we headed to the Carlton United Brewery. This brewery bottles up over 2 million liters of several popular Australian beers every day including Carlton Draught and Foster's.  After our tour of fermenting tanks and bottling facilities, we got to sample a few of our choice. My favorite was a pear cider called Bulmer's. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon visit. And then it was supper and off to bed for an early morning!