JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — In the category of “you can find almost anything on the Internet,” the Missouri Department of Agriculture has created an online directory of more than 6,400 unique brands used to mark livestock in the state.

The new electronic version of the Missouri Brand Book is intended to make it easier for law enforcement officials and livestock professionals to look up brands by an owner’s name or location. But it can be accessed by anyone.

The online directory also allows people to look up an animal’s brand based on its numbers and letters or the location of its placement, such as the animal’s hip, shoulder or ribs.

The Agriculture Department has been registering livestock brands since 1971, when a law shifted the duties away from counties.

RESOURCE: Missouri Agriculture Department, http://www.news-leader.com/viewart/20121116/NEWS11/311160055/Missouri-agriculture-department-puts-livestock-brands-online?, November 16, 2012