Digital Angel (NASDAQ:DIGA), an advanced technology company in the field of animal identification and emergency identification solutions, announced today that its Destron Fearing unit’s rTag™ Dynamic system has been successfully demonstrated by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) to a group of leading Canadian livestock producers. As an agency of the Alberta provincial government, AARD’s stated mission is to promote prosperity for Alberta through a strong, competitive, sustainable agriculture and food industry.
The demonstration took place on Monday, March 16th at producer Kolk Farms Ltd., located in Iron Springs, Alberta. The system demonstrated an effective means of:
- Recording animal behavior at water and feed bunks
- Reading animal tag numbers with antennas mounted on moving feed trucks
- Reading animals undergoing veterinary treatment by adjusting read range
- Writing veterinary treatment data to the tags
- Reading a semitrailer-load of animals as it passes a truck reader
Bradley K. Smith, AARD Livestock Technology Specialist commented, “We have been very impressed with the rTag system, which delivered more in service and capability than we first expected. The rTags can be read all at once in a feedlot pen or individually. Also, the capability of recording animal movement adds a whole new dimension to livestock management and provides opportunities to do research and development on animal behavior.”
Joseph J. Grillo, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Angel, added, “We are pleased to participate with the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development team in the demonstration of this innovative system. They have done an exemplary job of testing the system’s capabilities in the challenging environment of livestock production operations.”
The rTag Dynamic system is a flexible and robust system that allows the automatic collection of animal events at specific sites. The system is designed to track animal behavior and provide details of how often an animal is feeding, and drinking. Through the use of long-range (150 feet) solar powered readers, the animal’s identification number can be associated with a particular activity or location. Proximity sensors are able to provide a location within a few feet, thereby providing information when the animal is at the water trough or at the feed bunk. Data is communicated wirelessly through the internet or directly to a PC, making the system suitable for the rugged environment usually associated with livestock operations.
Additionally, the rTag Dynamic has the capacity to read multiple animals at the same time, providing real-time data for all the animals in range. It can also identify all individual animals in a full truckload of cattle from as far away as 100 feet, in 5 seconds or less, allowing for easy tracking of the transport of animals in and out of a location. Solar-powered proximity sensors keep both cost and ease of installation to a minimum. With a battery life of over two years, the rTag is expected to be equivalent in price to existing short-range RFID eartags in use today.
The rTag Dynamic is ideal for auction markets, feedlots, calf ranches or any operation that has a need to track large herds of animals. The system can be readily incorporated into any current software or database management system, providing efficiencies in the monitoring and tracking of animals throughout the operation. The system is also complementary with RFID animal standards ISO11784 and ISO117785.
About Digital Angel
Digital Angel (www.digitalangel.com) is an advanced technology company in the field of animal identification and emergency identification solutions. Digital Angel's products are utilized around the world in such applications as pet identification using its patented, FDA-approved implantable microchip; livestock identification and tracking using visual and radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tags; and global positioning systems (GPS) search and rescue beacons for use on aircraft, ships and boats, and by adventure enthusiasts.
This press release contains certain “forward-looking” statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Forward-looking statements included in this press release include, without limitation, those concerning expectations regarding the expected benefits of the technology. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Additional information about these and other factors that could affect the Company's businesses is set forth in the Company's Form 10-K under the caption "Risk Factors" filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 17, 2008, and subsequent filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this statement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Digital Angel
Jay McKeage, 651-554-1564
jmckeage@digitalangel.com
OR
Destron
Fearing
Dan Ellsworth, 913-558 4378
dellsworth@destronfearing.com
