Livestock Manifests Go Digital

Electronic manifests are now available in Alberta to make tracking animals more efficient.

In the event of an emergent disease situation, the ability to trace animal movement is paramount. It supports disease preparedness, protects market access, and maintains consumer confidence.

When considering the potential for an emergent disease situation, Shawn McLean, General Manager of Livestock Identification Services Ltd. (LIS), says: “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

While printed carbon copy manifests aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, eManifest is now available to make tracking animal movement safer and more efficient, from farm to feedlot and anywhere in between.

Developed by LIS, the eManifest is a new website and smartphone app (for Android and iOS) that allows users to complete an official Alberta Livestock Manifest electronically. It documents the movement of livestock between locations, details who is moving them for what purpose, initiates a sale transaction, and supports inspection.

“The eManifest fulfills all requirements for the federal and provincial movement of animals, documenting transfer of care and providing animal transfer records,” says McLean. “Everything is on there, in one place.”

To use eManifest, the owner or dealer starts the manifest online, prints copies (as required by current regulations), and hands those off to the transporter, who fills in their sections, then hands those off to the receiver or market, who then enters the information into their system. “The data input to the eManifest is safely stored on our LIS server, where it is accessible, by the authorized parties, anytime by logging in,” McLean says.

While this way of producing a manifest is new, the look is not. “It looks exactly like the one in the book. But having the ability to copy it electronically means users don’t have to re-enter the data every time,” says McLean.

Using the eManifests offers a variety of advantages.

“It’s instant and data is stored permanently only if LIS inspects the livestock. Producers don’t have to worry about the paper copy floating around in the truck and getting lost—there is always an electronic backup,” says McLean. Nevertheless, eManifest “Terms of Use” do not require LIS to be a producer’s record keeper.

There is significant cost savings, since paper manifests (though free for producers) are expensive to print and require carbon, which isn’t good for the environment. Digitally produced manifests are easier on the eyes, using clear and consistently legible type. eManifest can also store RFID tag numbers to simplify animal tracking through the Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS), with the ability to populate CCIA Move In template.

“It’s faster and more efficient in the long term. Once it has been entered into the eManifest system, all an inspector needs for data entry is to enter the eManifest number, and the data loads directly from our secure server. It will save time for our staff, for the auction marts, and for receivers—once they get comfortable using it,” says McLean.

LIS expects the process will be further streamlined if the government updates regulations to accept digital manifests in place of the four printed copies currently required. “The request has been made to update that regulation,” says McLean.

The eManifest system has been in development since 2010, and came about because the industry was asking for it. There have been some challenges in its development, and adjustments continue, such as simplifying the inspector interface.

“In some ways, eManifest is an app built more for the future than for the present. Our hope is that more producers start using it soon. Those who are using it like it,” concludes McLean.

This was first published in Volume 6 Issue 2 of ABP Magazine (June 2026). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily.