CCIA testing smart bolus technology

The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) is advancing identification and tracking technologies through its latest research project: The Smart Bolus System as a potential alternative to traditional livestock identification and reporting methods.

Livestock traceability is a cornerstone of animal health, food safety and supply chain integrity in Canada. Smart bolus systems—similar in size and weight to rumen magnets—are designed to remain in the animal’s reticulum for its lifetime, removed only during processing. These devices provide secure, lifetime identification while transmitting real-time data on an animal’s location, movement and health.

The ongoing CCIA study involves beef calves receiving boluses at four, eight or twelve weeks of age. Researchers are assessing retention, ease of application, animal health, automated data collection and real-time movement reporting. Smart boluses transmit encrypted data every 30 minutes to a reader located up to 70 metres away, capturing information on location, eating and drinking behaviour, and body temperature. Producers can access this information through a software application.

During conveyance testing, the system successfully tracked and reported cattle movements between locations without manual input. To date, all boluses in the trial have been retained, and the setup of low-cost, preconfigured gateways—small devices that send bolus data to the cloud for storage and analysis—proved straightforward. Early results suggest boluses are safe, well-tolerated and easily administered to calves as young as four weeks.

“Smart rumen bolus technology has the potential to provide a secure, lifetime identifier for cattle while automating the reporting of location and movements,” says Paul Laronde, Tag and Technology Manager at CCIA. “This innovation could reduce the impacts of tag loss, improve data sharing across the industry and ease the administrative load of complying with the pending traceability movement regulations.”

Beyond identification, the system could strengthen traceability, verify origin, and enhance animal health monitoring. With advanced software systems under review for efficient data collection and analysis, CCIA’s project is paving the way for a practical, safe and high-value solution to meet the sector’s evolving traceability needs.

For more information on traceability, visit www.canadaid.ca.