In livestock management, RFID animal tag is used to identify and track individual animals, including cows, bison, pigs, goats and more. A tamper-proof RFID animal tag in a durable plastic case is attached to the ear of each animal via an easy-to-use applicator tool. Many tags are composed of two discs joined together through the animal’s ear. The process is similar to piercing a human ear. Each tagged animal is assigned a unique tracking number, and RFID readers identify each animal via its RFID tag.

Farms can use either portable or stationary RFID readers to interrogate the tags. Some portable readers look like wands that can be waved over livestock, while others are more traditional in design. Stationary readers can be incorporated in gateways that cattle walk through, or as part of the traditional scales used to weigh the animals. The data collected from the readers is fed into the facility’s computer system, which can be connected via the Internet to cloud-based tracking systems. Given the right type of readers, livestock location can be monitored in real time.