FARM GROUPS CALL FOR SHEEP eID ROLLOUT DELAY

IMAGE: NSW DPRID

By Jessica Dempster

NSW Farmers and WoolProducers Australia are calling on the New South Wales Government to delay full mandatory electronic identification for sheep and goats until the national traceability system is ready.

Both organisations support livestock traceability but say outstanding concerns about system readiness, costs and compliance need to be addressed before the rollout proceeds.

NSW Farmers Wool Committee chair Craig Mitchell says producers should not have to electronically retag older animals that already carry compliant visual identification tags.

He says duplicate tagging would add costs, labour and livestock handling without a clearly demonstrated improvement in traceability.

WoolProducers Australia chief executive Jo Hall says delays to the national database upgrade and inconsistent scanning and reporting practices raise further concerns about whether the system is ready.

The organisations are now calling on the state government to retain transitional arrangements to prevent double tagging and ensure the system is practical and affordable before introducing further obligations for producers.