Tyson Foods, the world’s second largest meat processor after JBS, has become the first US processor to join Cattle Trace, a cattle traceability programme being developed in the US by beef producers across a number of states.

The US does not have a national cattle traceability system and Cattle Trace was established as a pilot project in the state of Kansas in 2018 with Kansas university, USDA and a livestock association participating.

The purpose of the project is to monitor and manage disease in the cattle herd and it has been developed to be embraced by cattlemen’s associations across a number of states.

Getting Tyson on board is a breakthrough as it is the first processor to get involved. It has the capacity to process 155,000 cattle per week and is the largest beef exporter in the US and had a turnover of $42.4bn (€35.2bn) in 2019.