Early adopters jump onto sheep eID tag change

In Western Australia a rapid uptake is being driven by a pilot tag incentive scheme, where producers can access a 70 cents per tag discount if they buy before June 30.

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia chief veterinary officer Michelle Rodan said there has been a good uptake of the new discounted eID tags in WA.

"There's been a good uptake in Western Australia of the new discounted electronic identification (eID) tags for sheep and goats, helping protect our valuable livestock industries in the event of an emergency animal disease," she said.

"So far this year, about 360,000 sheep and goat eID devices have been purchased in WA compared with about 94,000 at this time last year."

Dr Rodan said any decision on the extension of the Tag Incentive Payment scheme or alternative programs would be considered in due course.

In Queensland sales for eIDs for sheep and goats between January 1 to April 26 more than doubled when compared with the same period in 2022.

Sales of sheep eID tags rose from 53,309 to 114,206, whilst sales of goat eID tags rose from 5282 to 10,566.

In South Australia during the 2022 calendar year, nearly 720,000 eIDs were purchased by sheep and goat producers, with uptake increasing further in 2023.

Nearly 200,000 eIDs were uploaded to the NLIS database for SA during the January-March period this year, approximately 75,000 more than for the same period in 2022.

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The NSW DPI didn't provide sales figures in time for publication but a spokeswoman said several tag manufacturers have indicated that eID tags currently represent around 20 per cent of their sales.

""This indicates a large number of producers have already incorporated eID technology within their businesses to source individual animal data on production, fertility and carcase traits, along with data on disease status, animal health treatment or processor carcase feedback," she said.

A Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania spokeswoman said they could not provide data on how many eID tags had been sold as currently the systems did not differentiate between electronic and visual tags.

While the national rollout is driving tag sales, factors such as increases in flock sizes following favourable seasonal conditions could also play a role.

Workshops about on-farm implementation of eIDs are being held by various providers nationally in the lead up to the change, with one such day held recently near Melrose, SA.

The day, hosted by the Upper North Farming Systems group, was attended by about 40 farmers.

Presenter Nathan Scott from Achieve Ag said eID tags were "precision ag for livestock" and were crucial for managing biosecurity.

"You can't improve what you can't measure," he said.

"It's not just another cost but an investment in our industry."