MOB based tracing of sheep is under threat as Victoria’s move to mandate electronic tags from next year puts pressure on the five million interstate sheep killed annually in the southern state’s abattoirs.
During a state tour this week to assist the sheep industry in its mandatory transition to electronic tags, Agriculture Victoria senior sheep veterinary officer Robert Suter made a pitch to producers which highlighted the national failings of the mob based system.
Victorian farmers will be required to have every lamb and goat, born from 1 January, with an electronic National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) tag and saleyards must be equipped to scan them by mid-year.
“I can foresee a time when Victorian processors will preferentially seek sheep with EID tags over sheep that are currently tagged with a mob based movement system,” Dr Suter said.
“Abattoirs have been actively pushing to have EID traceability work to satisfy those consumer demands both within Australia and overseas.
“… I would expect interstate producers will soon not be just watching but wanting to join.”
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences released a report in December 2014 on improving the NLIS for sheep and goats.
Dr Suter said the report suggested Victoria and Western Australia should adopt an EID system.
He said to improve the current mob based system, “with all its failings”, through increased inspection at saleyards would cost the industry $11 million - $5m of which the Victorian industry.
“I understand the arguments from interstate jurisdictions is they’d prefer to go down the enhanced inspection process… NSW and South Australia think they can make the current system work to 98pc traceability,” Dr Suter said.
The Victorian Government has thrown more than $17m at the industry’s transition which will see heavily subsidised tags cost 35 cents each for the first year of the transition.
A further $2.8m of subsidies has been offered to both abattoirs and saleyards to help implement the technology.
“… The current visual mob based system has weaknesses and is not capable of meeting our agreed national traceability standards,” Agriculture Victoria animal health and welfare regional manager Russell Hunter said.
“Earlier this year there was an exercise conducted and it took Victoria 14 days to trace 14 sheep, and at the end we had incomplete information.
“(In the other states) the time-frames were similar.”
Last year, Victoria undertook a survey which checked 15000 sheep tags and found only 56pc were traceable.
The electronic NLIS system has a target of 80pc accuracy in traceability by March 31 2018.
Even the most vocal critics were persuaded of the move by the end of the recent Pakenham session, held east of Melbourne.
“My greatest concern was having a system hoisted on the sheep industry when I was under the impression that the vendor declaration and tagging system was working,” Drouin South producer David Cole said.
“Now they’ve told me it doesn’t work and I’m still not convinced.
“I do accept the change will occur and I’m looking at how to make it work for me.”
Mr Cole remained concerned with the cost of the electronic tags once they were not subsidised from 2018.