Marketing - Livestock
Livestock specialists assist NC producers with the development and implementation of marketing avenues for sheep, swine, goat, beef, and dairy cattle. They provide assistance to producers in getting enrolled in the USDA PVP Program so that their calves can be age and source verified. They also assist in qualifying feeder calves for the NC Value-Added sales.
The Livestock specialists develop, coordinate, and manage the livestock shows at the NC State Fair.
Welcome to the Got To Be NC Livestock Tag Program!
Recognizing the pride of NC producers by working with them to create a premium for their livestock while also enabling them to be in compliance with state and federal transportation laws. We have updated this page to try to clarify livestock that qualify for the Got to Be NC Livestock Tag Program. This is to enable NC producers to take advantage of opportunities to advance their genetics, and continue to enhance the Got to Be NC livestock program.
How the program works: There are several requirements for eligibility.
Producer of the livestock must be a NC resident and owner of the dam at the time she is bred, when the offspring are born, and at time those offspring are sold.
The livestock must be born in NC and produced by NC owned livestock, this includes both: natural and embryo births. In other words, if offspring result from embryo transfer the recipient females must be owned by a NC resident, located and born in NC in order to qualify.
**If the dam of the livestock in question is owned by a NC resident, and that ownership is maintained throughout the breeding, gestation, and birthing process - so long as the offspring are born in NC - the dam may be artificially bred at the reproductive facility of their choice even if out of state - so long as the dam returns once bred and remains in NC through the gestation process and offspring are born here**.
**If the dam in question is owned by a NC resident, and that ownership is maintained throughout the embryo collection process - embryos may be collected at the reproductive facility of their choice even if out of state. If collected out of state, embryos must be transplanted into recipients located in NC. Recipients may be owned by the donor’s owner or another NC resident cooperating with the owner of the donor female**.
**In the case of embryo collection at an out of state facility, the donor must return to the NC producer once bred and stay there through the gestation process and offspring must be born at the NC producer’s location for the natural offspring to qualify in the program**.
The producer is responsible for maintaining accurate records that verify the eligibility of the animals tagged into the program, and should a challenge arise and the producer cannot produce adequate records to verify such qualification the animal in question will be disqualified. Other actions regarding producer eligibility may also be taken.
As has always been the case, if a NC producer purchases bred females or embryos from an out of state producer, even if those offspring are born in NC, they do not qualify for Got to Be NC tags, as the NC producer was not the owner of the female at the time she was bred or embryos collected.
Livestock must be identified with an official Got To Be NC tag purchased by the producer before they are sold.
To participate in this program, complete the membership application below.
After ordering your tags, receiving your tags, and tagging your animals, complete and return the producer tag record below.
Click on the links below for more information:
3. Producer Tag Report-return to NCDA after tagging
Video: How to Tag Correctly
More benefits to utilizing this program:
Transportation:
These are official USDA recognized identification that assist producers in meeting interstate transportation regulations.
Cattle: If currently using 840 EID tags, these will be required to match "Got To Be NC" tags on your completed report returned to NCDA. Not currently using 840 EID tags, producers will be sold a set of tags that will need to be put in the animal's ear (visual and EID).
Sheep & Goats: All producers will be required to maintain USDA scrapie approved forms of identification matched with the "Got To Be NC" combination tag.
Swine: All swine will be required to have an 840 EID combination tag (one tag). If applicable, ear notches will be matched with the "Got To Be NC" tag.
North Carolina State Fair Recognition
This program replaces the NC Born & Bred Program in all species shows.
Exhibitors must exhibit an animal that was tagged by the producer that bred and kidded/lambed/calved/farrowed that animal on their operation.