As of Dec. 26, eight states have registered at least 50% of their total livestock premises under the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Wisconsin leads the way with a complete signup, followed by Idaho with 95.5%, Indiana with 70.2%, Utah with 64.8%, Pennsylvania with 62.1%, North Dakota with 56%, Michigan 55.7%, and New York at 51.8%.

States with the lowest percentage of registered premises were Connecticut at 0.6%, Rhode Island at 1%, New Hampshire at 1.6%, Montana at 3.8%, and Mississippi at 4.1%. View the rankings at: http://beef-mag.com/images/NAISReport.pdf

Based on census data, USDA estimates there are 1,433,582 livestock premises in the U.S. USDA revised the figure last fall from 2.1 million after removing duplications of operations with more than one livestock species. New census data will be available this year.

Animal owners can register premises at: http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/premises_id/register.shtml, or by phone or mail, with their state, tribe or territorial animal-health authority.