Adjusting to change is not always easy, especially when that change is forced upon you by outside forces. When I began in broadcasting, vinyl records and reel-to-reel magnetic tape were the tools of the trade. Today, the records and the reels are gone and computers rule the day. In addition, we radio guys not only have to broadcast but we also tweet, facebook, and post website reports.

The cattle industry has also been experiencing this kind of future shock. Economic and cultural forces are forcing changes in some of the industry’s most treasured traditions.

In December of 2003, the U.S. cattle industry got a rude awakening. A single cow was shown to possibly have BSE. “Mad Cow” headlines flashed around the world. Almost overnight, beef exports were cut in half; and consumer confidence in the beef supply was shaken.

The market had been asking for traceability long before this time, but it was only after the arrival of BSE that the federal government began an effort to identify and track livestock. The cattle industry has been less than welcoming to theses plans. They have viewed efforts to identify cattle locations and track the movement of individual animals with suspicion.

Proposals advanced by both Republican and Democratic administrations have been resisted and criticized. The push toward ear tagging instead of branding is the latest battleground.

The “Brand” is a cultural and economic mainstay of the cattle business. On the practical side, it is a quick and easy way to identify ownership of cattle. On the cultural side, the brand is as much a part of a rancher’s identity as his signature. As you might imagine, replacing a brand with a numbered ear tag is not going over well.

Yet the forces at work are unstoppable, and it likely that branding irons will soon become museum pieces. The “Brand” is a powerful western icon, but it no longer has a place in the modern world of global meat production.

Consumers of beef worldwide are demanding data on where their beef came from, how it was raised, what it was fed, and what route it traveled to reach their plate.

The technology exists to provide this kind of data, and the producer will eventually have to adopt this kind of system in order to survive. Fans of the television series Star Trek, the Next Generation will recognize the phrase, “resistance is futile.” Cattlemen will have to accept this fact, too.

Branding livestock is a great, time-honored tradition, but its time is quickly coming to an end.

The question is: how do we get to that point with the least amount of damage to producers and the industry?

One way is to be part of the process. I recently had a tour of the new offices of the Indiana Board of Animal Health. Here I saw how trained veterinarians were slowly building a system that securely tracked the location of livestock and how their sophisticated database used ear tags to keep records on individual animals.

This is a system that has been designed and administered by trained professionals who know the animals and know the producers. The system is working in Indiana because producers have been part of the process. This is a far more desirable situation than a system designed and enforced by bureaucrats and regulators. A pilot livestock ID program ended in failure in 2009 due, in part, to a heavy-handed USDA and lack of cooperation by many in the industry.

The new rules, currently being finalized, need to succeed. The public and Congress will not wait much longer for the industry to get it together.

The livestock industry has had to make many adjustments since 2003. Corn prices have doubled; feed regulations have changed; downer livestock are a thing of the past; Country of Origin labels now appear on meat packages; the age of an animal determines where you can sell it; and, soon, an ID number and traceability records will all be part of the modern livestock business.

Facilitating change rather than fighting it will serve the producer better now and in the future.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.