SO. ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digital Angel Corporation , an advanced technology company in the field of rapid and accurate identification, location tracking and condition monitoring of high value assets, announced today that it has been selected by the state of Minnesota as a technology partner and provider of RFID (radio frequency identification) systems for a pilot program designed to test the viability of a large scale food animal identification and tracking program.
The state of Minnesota has been allocated nearly $435,000 in federal funds, part of $18.8 million in nationwide emergency funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to launch the first phase of the pilot project, which will include working with a variety of animal industry partners to set up a system to identify farms, feed lots, auction markets and processing plants in the state, establish a database and to begin tagging the food animals, including beef and dairy cattle and pigs, among other animals. The program was prompted in a large part by the December 2003 case of Mad Cow Disease in the state of Washington which has caused many countries to ban the import of U.S. beef.
"Our goal is to implement one of the best and most reliable animal identification and tracking systems in the world," said Minnesota Board of Animal Health Executive Director and State Veterinarian Dr. Bill Hartmann. "Digital Angel is already working with several of Minnesota's key producers, which allows us to immediately access animal data available on important projects."
The pilot project will identify animals and track them throughout their lifecycle to demonstrate the feasibility of RFID. Digital Angel's RFID systems have been designed to meet the requirement of government's permanent identification needs and food animal producers' requirements for efficiency and economic return on investment.
Digital Angel, the pioneer in animal RFID projects, offers a full line of technologies in the field of tracking and identification, including RFID tags and implantable microchips, scanners and advanced herd management software which has proven it can be rolled out quickly in large quantities. The Company's systems have already proven themselves effective in tracking cattle, swine and fish, said Chief Executive Officer Kevin McGrath.
"Our proprietary microchip technology has proven to be an inexpensive and efficient basis for animal tracking and we look forward to working with the state of Minnesota to again prove its value on a large scale program," McGrath said. "We believe our RFID technology can be the basis of a truly national animal identification system that protects our nation's herds and the safety of our food supply."
About Digital Angel Corporation
Digital Angel Corporation develops and deploys sensor and communications technologies that enable rapid and accurate identification, location tracking, and condition monitoring of high-value assets. Applications for the Company's products include identification and monitoring of pets, fish and livestock through its patented implantable microchips; location tracking and message monitoring of vehicles and aircraft in remote locations through systems that integrate GPS and geosynchronous satellite communications; and monitoring of asset conditions such as temperature and movement, through advanced miniature sensors.
Digital Angel Corporation is majority-owned by Applied Digital . For more information about Digital Angel, please visit http://www.digitalangelcorp.com/
The statements in this press release that are not strictly historical, are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by these sections. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and the actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, that recent changes in the Company's senior management could have an adverse effect on the Company's financial results that the Company's stockholders will experience dilution if certain debt owned by the Company is converted into common stock; the risk of foreclosure on substantially all of the Company's assets; that the Company's majority stockholder, Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. is able to completely control the board of directors and may support actions that conflict with the interests of other stockholders; that the Company's earnings will decline if it writes off additional goodwill and other intangible assets; that exercises of the Company's options and warrants outstanding and available for issuance may adversely affect the market price of the Company's common stock, the Company's inability to generate income, the Company's ability to maintain patent and trade secret protection, domestic and foreign government regulation, the Company's sales to government contractors of animal identification products, dependence on a single production arrangement for its patented syringe-injectable microchips, dependence on principal customers, competition in the visual and electronic identification markets, foreign currency rate fluctuation, dependence on a small team of senior management and the Company's ability to develop, integrate, miniaturize and market the Digital Angel(TM) technology. A detailed statement of risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003. Investors and stockholders are urged to read this document carefully. The Company can offer no assurances that any projections, assumptions or forecasts made or discussed in this release will be met, and investors should understand the risks of investing solely due to such projections. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.
For further information, please contact: investors, Michael Lucarelli, +1-212-691-8087, m.lucarelli@allencaron.com, or media, Len Hall, +1-949-474-4300, len@allencaron.com, both of Allen & Caron Inc, for Digital Angel Corporation.
Digital Angel Corporation
The state of Minnesota has been allocated nearly $435,000 in federal funds, part of $18.8 million in nationwide emergency funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to launch the first phase of the pilot project, which will include working with a variety of animal industry partners to set up a system to identify farms, feed lots, auction markets and processing plants in the state, establish a database and to begin tagging the food animals, including beef and dairy cattle and pigs, among other animals. The program was prompted in a large part by the December 2003 case of Mad Cow Disease in the state of Washington which has caused many countries to ban the import of U.S. beef.
"Our goal is to implement one of the best and most reliable animal identification and tracking systems in the world," said Minnesota Board of Animal Health Executive Director and State Veterinarian Dr. Bill Hartmann. "Digital Angel is already working with several of Minnesota's key producers, which allows us to immediately access animal data available on important projects."
The pilot project will identify animals and track them throughout their lifecycle to demonstrate the feasibility of RFID. Digital Angel's RFID systems have been designed to meet the requirement of government's permanent identification needs and food animal producers' requirements for efficiency and economic return on investment.
Digital Angel, the pioneer in animal RFID projects, offers a full line of technologies in the field of tracking and identification, including RFID tags and implantable microchips, scanners and advanced herd management software which has proven it can be rolled out quickly in large quantities. The Company's systems have already proven themselves effective in tracking cattle, swine and fish, said Chief Executive Officer Kevin McGrath.
"Our proprietary microchip technology has proven to be an inexpensive and efficient basis for animal tracking and we look forward to working with the state of Minnesota to again prove its value on a large scale program," McGrath said. "We believe our RFID technology can be the basis of a truly national animal identification system that protects our nation's herds and the safety of our food supply."
About Digital Angel Corporation
Digital Angel Corporation develops and deploys sensor and communications technologies that enable rapid and accurate identification, location tracking, and condition monitoring of high-value assets. Applications for the Company's products include identification and monitoring of pets, fish and livestock through its patented implantable microchips; location tracking and message monitoring of vehicles and aircraft in remote locations through systems that integrate GPS and geosynchronous satellite communications; and monitoring of asset conditions such as temperature and movement, through advanced miniature sensors.
Digital Angel Corporation is majority-owned by Applied Digital . For more information about Digital Angel, please visit http://www.digitalangelcorp.com/
The statements in this press release that are not strictly historical, are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by these sections. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and the actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, that recent changes in the Company's senior management could have an adverse effect on the Company's financial results that the Company's stockholders will experience dilution if certain debt owned by the Company is converted into common stock; the risk of foreclosure on substantially all of the Company's assets; that the Company's majority stockholder, Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. is able to completely control the board of directors and may support actions that conflict with the interests of other stockholders; that the Company's earnings will decline if it writes off additional goodwill and other intangible assets; that exercises of the Company's options and warrants outstanding and available for issuance may adversely affect the market price of the Company's common stock, the Company's inability to generate income, the Company's ability to maintain patent and trade secret protection, domestic and foreign government regulation, the Company's sales to government contractors of animal identification products, dependence on a single production arrangement for its patented syringe-injectable microchips, dependence on principal customers, competition in the visual and electronic identification markets, foreign currency rate fluctuation, dependence on a small team of senior management and the Company's ability to develop, integrate, miniaturize and market the Digital Angel(TM) technology. A detailed statement of risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003. Investors and stockholders are urged to read this document carefully. The Company can offer no assurances that any projections, assumptions or forecasts made or discussed in this release will be met, and investors should understand the risks of investing solely due to such projections. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.
For further information, please contact: investors, Michael Lucarelli, +1-212-691-8087, m.lucarelli@allencaron.com, or media, Len Hall, +1-949-474-4300, len@allencaron.com, both of Allen & Caron Inc, for Digital Angel Corporation.
Digital Angel Corporation
