There are two different identification fields on every animal head in Farmshare, and it's worth knowing what each one is and where it comes from.
Click Calendar > Job > Heads > Specific Animal
Tracking Number
The tracking number is automatically generated by Farmshare and assigned to every animal that comes through your facility. It follows a consistent format:
First letter = species (e.g., B for Beef, H for Hog, L for Lamb)
Second letter = inspection level (e.g., U for USDA, S for State, E for Exempt)
Number = a sequential count of every animal processed through your facility, starting at 1 and increasing by one with each head
So a USDA beef animal that is the 11th head processed through your facility would be B-U-11. This number is consistent, unique, and carries through the entire job from scheduling to invoicing.
Producer Identifier
The Producer Identifier is the ear tag number or other ID that arrives on the animal from the producer's farm. This field starts empty and is filled in manually by your team at drop-off or any time before processing.
This is the number most processors will recognize as the "farm tag" — it's what the producer used to identify that animal on their end.
Which One Shows on the Carcass Tag?
By default, the tracking number appears on the carcass tag. If you'd prefer the Producer Identifier (ear tag number) to appear instead, you can change this in Settings > Processor Settings > General > Document Settings and selecting Prefer Ear Tag.
For more detail on that setting, see the Carcass Tag Settings article.
Editing Either Field
Both fields can be edited from the individual head's detail page. Open the job, click the Heads tab, select the specific head, and click Edit Details. From there you can update the Producer Identifier and the Tracking Number as needed.
Note: While the tracking number is auto-generated, it can be manually overridden if needed — for example, to match an existing numbering system you were using before Farmshare.
Edit each in these fields
