What are the  colored plastic number “earrings” are that you see in the ears of cattle? They’re called ear tags, and they’re more than a cows number. They are very important to cow-calf producers in monitoring their cattle. Here’s why they’re important.  

What is an ear tag?

If you had a cow, what would you name it? Buttercup? Rosie? How about using a specific number? That’s what today’s dairy farmers and beef cattle farmers do, and they identify individual animals with ear tags. 

So, what is an ear tag? At its most basic level, an ear tag is a small object made of plastic or metal that pierces the ear of livestock. The ear tag has a specific number on it and sometimes specific colors to help managing the cattle. In addition to beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep, goats, and pigs most often will have ear tags.

Ear tags have benefits for farmers visually and from a farm management perspectivie. Thanks to the visual aspect of a cow tag, cattle farmers and ranchers can more easily determine which cow is which. Then, from a farm management perspective, they help us keep accurate records and track an animal’s history and performance so that we know which animals are performing well. 

Types of ear tags

There are a variety of different types of ear tags. Plastic livestock identification ear tags are the most common because they’re high visibility and cost effective.  That’s what you see when you look at pictures of our cattle in their ears. Plastic ear tags come in different color — red tags, yellow tags, green tags, blue tags, white tags, pink tags, etc — and number letter combinations.  Each farmer has their own process on how they reliably track their livestock using letters, numbers and colors.  Some use paper records and others electronic records, but all cattle are tracked in some way. 

In addition to having an ear tag, the tag’s placement can help the farmer manage the cattle.  For instance, ID ear tags can help identify the sex of an animal from afar with greater efficiency; tags in the right ear for males, and in the left for females. This is very useful when we’re sorting animals in a pen or while animals are passing through a chute.

EID Tags

Althouth plastic livestock tags are the most common, there are many other types of tags. And some cattle have a secondary tag that help with herd management.  

Other types of ear tags include, but aren’t limited to, GPS ear tags; fly tags; and Electronic Identification tags (EID tags), which use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Many people use the terms RFID tags and Electronic tags interchangeably, but really, RFID is the technology being used in the tag. EID tags are small “button-like” tags that are placed in the ear. Each EID tag has a unique 15-digit number printed on it. The number can be read by scanning the tag with an EID reader. These official eartags are for the life of the animal. EID tags are one way the United States National Animal Idenfication System (NAIS) tracks livestock sold for profit or that are moved across state lines. 

What information is identified using ear tags?

You may be curious about the type of information we keep on all of our animals. 

For calves, our records include things like their gender, birth date, age, weight, and which cow is its mom. We keep these records electronically, but some farms keep paper records. 

Our records for the mama cows include additional information like when she had her last calf and how many calves she has had in her lifetime. We also want to know which calf belongs to each cow . 

When does a calf get an ear tag?

Since we’re a cow-calf producer and our calves are born on our farm, we give them ear tags as a newborn calf.  

We bring them into our barn, they go into a cattle chute, we do the ear tagging with a small applicator, and then they go back outside with their mom.  The entire process is similar to having your ears pierced. Just like earrings for people, it doesn’t hurt the calf at all. 

Here’s a video of Matt giving a new calf an ear tag.   

Join us!

Do you want more easy beef recipes? Sign-up for beef recipes to your inbox.

More Beef Tips and Recipes to Try:

• Do Cows Have Teeth?
• What do cattle eat? How grass provides nutrition for cows
• What everybody ought to know about beef cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Raise Our Grass Fed Beef
• Bonfire Burger
• Prime Rib Roast with Garlic Herb Butter
• Easy Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches