Forestry Service’s Cone Orchard

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Have you ever seen a tree tag and wondered what the information on it was used for? Well in this instance, our customer used our UV Stable Tree Tags to I.D. trees used to produce cone crops.

Greg M. Peters’ article “How the Forest Service Grows Millions of Seedlings Each Year” in the National Forests Magazine, by the National Forest Foundation, talks about his adventure going to visit the Plains Tree Improvement Area in Idaho. Also known as the Plains Tree Orchard, this facility, among others, produce seeds that the Forest Service uses to reforest millions of acres of National Forests across the United States.

forestry tree tags

In his article, Peters talks about how in the past, the Forest Service used to go out into the woods to gather cones, but today they use these orchards of trees to gather cones. This allows the forestry service to gather cones from trees with natural genetic resistance to disease, insect infestation, or that grow in a specific way or to a certain size.

Onsite at the orchard, cones are dried out and their seeds are used in controlled tests. These tests are carefully monitored so that only the best of the best seeds are planted in the orchard. As Peters calls them, these “Elite Tree” are then used for more field trials in the orchard or can be taken out into the wild to be planted. In the article, it talks about the white pine blister rust disease that destroyed many trees over 60 years ago, but with the Forest Service finding certain trees that were resistant to the disease, they were able to collect cones and create an orchard of blister-resistant pine trees.

Read more on Greg M. Peters’ article “How the Forest Service Grows Millions of Seedlings Each Year”, and learn more about how the Forest Service has created some of the most productive forests in the world by collecting cones that contain the genetic material from the best performing seedlings cultivated and tested over decades.

Are you a part of the forestry service in need of tree tags? Contact us for a free quote.

Vineyard Management Tags – I.D. Your Grapes and More

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Custom etched Vineyard Tags come in a variety of styles, sizes, and shapes, but for material, we recommend using our Black UV Stable Aluminum Tags, which are guaranteed to last outdoors for 20+ years. Here are a few examples from past customers of the ways they customized their tags, and how they use them around the vineyard.

Vine Information I.D. Tags

clone and rootstock vineyard row tag

Any information that you want to keep track of can be custom etched on your Vineyard Tag with text or barcodes. Above is an example with the grape variety, clone and rootstock information, and the year it was planted.

Listing the type of wine or grape variety on the tag is popular for vineyards that have a lot of tourists. Vineyards more interested in tracking rootstock (a plant with an established, healthy roost system) for grafting purposes that may need this information listed on the tag. Clones (a cutting of vine, a second plant that will be genetically identical to the first) can also be important to list on your tag so that specific traits from clones can be closely identified. This is all helps with management, research, and improving vine growth.

Row and Fence Post, Large Numbered Tags

numbered row tag

Row Tags go on the end of posts to identify each row. Large, bold numbers make it easy to read, even from a distance. Numbered vineyard rows can be helpful when trying to instruct employees or visitors where to go. For management purposes, numbered rows can make sure records are accurately kept about specific rows, with no confusion due to human error counting what number row they were in.

Block and Irrigation I.D. Tags

block tag

This customer uses different types of irrigation for different blocks. Drip Irrigation is popular among viticulturist because each vine has its own individual dripper, giving more control over how much water each grapevine receives, while overhead irrigation is more of a sprinkler system. Hole sizes can be customized in our tags in case you need to put the tag on a hose or machine.

Are you one of our Vineyard Tag Customers? Comment below on how you use your tags!

National Band & Tag’s 116th Anniversary

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Today, August 15, 2018, marks National Band & Tag’s 116th Anniversary!

anniversary plaque

National Band & Tag Company was founded in 1902. On August 15, Joseph Haas opened a small shop in an abandoned barn in Newport, KY. Haas intended to manufacture poultry leg and wing bands. He knew little about poultry farming but had been informed that breeders were improving their flocks and it was necessary to use some sort of marker to distinguish one fowl from another. Visualizing the possibilities of a new industry, Haas went to work designing a few patterns of bands, crude at first, but with recommendations from customers and experimental projects, he was able to come up with bands that worked. By 1914 the business had grown so much that Haas moved to a larger location and started adding more animal identification product lines.

In 1939 Haas invented perhaps the most unusual NB&T product, Chicken Sunglasses. These small glasses with red lenses were designed to be held on the chicken’s beak with a cotter pin through the nostrils of the bird. As a cannibalistic animal, chickens are provoked by the sight of blood and will peck at each other, eventually killing off much of the flock. These red lenses prevented chickens from seeing the red blood and calmed their behavior. These have not been manufactured for many years and are now considered a collector’s item.

chicken glasses

Now in our 4th and 5th generation of family members, we manufacturer hundreds of styles of tags for multiple identification purposes such as: poultry, cattle, lab animal research, dog and cat rabies vaccinations, wildlife conservation, and industrial applications. We sell our products worldwide to 100 different countries and are excited to continue growing our business for another 116 years.

According to a Harvard Business School study, “70% of family-owned businesses fail or are sold before the second generation gets a chance to take over. Just 10% remain active, privately held companies for the third generation to lead”. How has National Band & Tag lasted all these years? We stand behind our company values:

VALUES

We are a responsive and resourceful family manufacturer, earning trust as we faithfully continue our legacy of:
• Planning success for generations to come
• Delivering accuracy with every order
• Operating with honesty and integrity
• Adapting our products across multiple categories to provide the best solution

Power Pole Inspection and Treatment Tags

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Companies who inspect, test, and treat power poles are going to need power pole tags! View more on the different tags we offer and their uses below.

Pole Inspection Tags
Field inspection services will contribute to the accuracy of identifying poles that should be restored or replaced and those that should be treated. Once a pole has been inspected and approved, it is identified as inspected with a small, plain aluminum tag. The 1 ¼” inch round tag, Style 137, and 1” inch round tag, Style 85, are two popular sizes for this.

Pole Treatment Tags
The Style 89 pie-shaped tag usually has the type of treatment on it, and can be paired with the round tags.

POWER POLE TAGS

Wood pole test and treatment solutions can help extend the life of a wood pole. Some of our customers even focus on environmentally friendly remedial treatments, designed to protect the wood from decay, insects, and other wood destroyers.

Electric Public Utility and Electric Cooperative Tags
We manufacture pole asset tags for both public and cooperative utility companies. These type of tags are usually larger and more detailed with barcodes. The rectangle Style 14 is very popular. Below are power pole tags tested out by one of our customers who is a privately owned cooperative company in Georgia.

power pole tags

This electrical cooperative company uses our UV Stable Black Aluminum material for their Utility Pole Tags. They have been amazed at the longevity they’ve gotten out of their tags, especially since they are used outdoors. The photos here show one of their tags that was recently produced and one that they just took off a Utility Pole after 11 years. The barcode still scans, and the numbering is still very readable! This material is fantastic in the elements and is time-tested.