Brazilian firm claims nation's first home-grown IC

From birth through slaughter
According to Ceitec, Chip de Boi RFID devices enable electronic tracking and collection of data on a cattle herd, eliminating human error. The chip monitors cattle from birth through slaughter, including vaccinations and health records, the company said.

Though other RFID devices for tracking cattle exist, ranchers seeking to track their animals previously had two options, according to Ceitec, an optical earring with numbers, or bar codes. Both systems are more difficult and less reliable than RFID tags, the company said.

"Our chip can be read with the cattle moving, and the information goes directly to the farm computer using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or cable," Weichselbaumer said.

In the Minas Gerais trials, Chip de Boi RFID devices were applied to 500 cattle on an experimental farm run by a state agency, Ceitec said. The company said it plans to test 10,000 RFID products on other farms in various regions of Brazil.

Efforts are also underway to expand the technology into other areas of livestock tracking and to other industries that require tracking, Ceitec said.

The RFID tags will eventually be sold in global markets, Ceitec said. The company claims that a high degree of reliability means meat traced electronically with the De Boi chip has a higher value in the market and is better able to meet strict health regulations such as those in the European Union.