SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — As of Sept. 20, the Illinois Department of Agriculture had almost one-third of the livestock premises in the state registered for the National Animal Identifications System (NAIS). This is higher than the 2007 target of 27 percent.

Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) Director Chuck Hartke is pleased with the response. “Livestock premises registration gives us the ability to quickly identify locations of infected animals and neighboring farms that may be at risk of a potential disease outbreak,” he said. “This not only helps to minimize the effect on the livestock industry, but also helps to safeguard the public.

“I would encourage those livestock producers who have not yet registered to do so as soon as possible to help protect the Illinois livestock industry.”

Those registering total nearly 9,000 premises that have come into this voluntary program.

NAIS is comprised of three key components: premises registration, animal identification and animal tracking. Premises registration is the foundation of NAIS. Registering premises or location does not obligate one to participate in animal identification or tracking. The reason NAIS suggests producers may want to be part of the system is in case of emergency, information can be conveyed quickly and easily.

Dr. Colleen O’Keefe, division manager of Food Safety and Animal Protection, explained how the system will work.

“NAIS will provide us with a comprehensive database of every food animal facility in the state and will significantly decrease the amount of time it would take for the department to identify and contain a disease,” she said.

“This system, when fully operational, will enable animals and premises that have been exposed to a disease to be identified within 48 hours of the disease’s discovery, but it only works if we have full support from livestock owners.”

IDOA points out it is easy to register and livestock producers may do this online. The application is posted at www.agr.state.il.us/ premiseid

Registration and the process will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. It requires completion of a short application that asks for a facility’s street and mailing addresses, contact information, type of operation and the animal species it handles. It is easy to find where to go, by following menus that ensure similar facilities are categorized the same way.

After submitting the form, the facility will be issued a federal premise ID number.

For those who prefer it, mail and telephone registration are available. Applicants should either write to IDOA, Bureau of Animal Health, P.O. Box 19281, Springfield, Ill. 62794, or call, toll-free, 866-299-9256.