On July 19, NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty announced $38 million in joint state-federal funding to support the sheep and farmed goat industry in the implementation of mandatory individual electronic identification (eID) across NSW.
From August 1, parts of the sheep and farmed goat supply chain will be able to access a NSW Sheep and Goat eID Infrastructure Rebate to assist impacted stakeholders in transitioning from the existing visual tag system to an eID one.
The rebate will first be rolled out to saleyards and processors, then producers and agents from October.
NSW Farmers Sheepmeat Committee chair Jenny Bradley said the funding was appreciated, but there had to be greater contribution from the Federal Government, and the details had to be closely examined.
“We expect that all producers who are required to invest in mandatory eID should be able to readily access this funding and receive a rebate so that no one misses out,” Mrs Bradley said.
“The government’s eID rollout is a significant issue for producers, and we welcome progress, however, there still remains a significant need to reduce the cost of eID NLIS devices to economically affordable levels.
“If some states have cheaper tags than others, producers will lose faith in the fairness of the system, and we won’t stand a chance of national harmonisation.”
The funding was not expected to reduce tag costs in NSW, and Mrs Bradley said this was a critical issue that needed to be addressed. She said there had to be funding from the Federal Government to bring down the cost of eID tags.
“NSW Farmers policy seeks eID tags for sheep cost no more than $1 per tag, and more affordable tags is a position broadly agreed to by all other state farming organisations at our meeting in Adelaide last week,” Mrs Bradley said.
“We know tags need to be more affordable and we need flexibility with the NLIS when much lower cost devices become available.
“But the clock is running on the rollout of mandatory eID — sheep and farmed goat producers can’t afford to keep waiting for solutions to this issue of tag costs.
“We call on the NSW and Australian Governments to initiate a national tag tender to support the reduction of NLIS eID device costs; we need prompt action to initiate a scheme.”
WORKING TOWARDS A COMMON GOAL
Leaders from the nation’s state farming organisations have agreed to work together on sweeping reforms to sheep and goat traceability announced by agriculture ministers last year.
The meeting, held at Adelaide Showground and online on July 13, was organised by NSW Farmers with the support of Livestock SA, and featured representatives from the VFF, AgForce Queensland, Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, WA Farmers and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA.
The implementation and transition to mandatory sheep and goat electronic identification was mandated by state agriculture ministers in 2022 following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Indonesia, with the move touted as strengthening Australia’s biosecurity preparedness.
However, each state was working within different frameworks and had varying levels of support from government, prompting the Adelaide meeting.
The meeting agreed:
- State and federal governments needed to invest increased funding to financially assist producers to transition to individual electronic identification to meet state government implementation requirements. Education for producers should be included in this funding.
- Continued efforts by industry and governments was needed to reduce producer costs associated with electronic identification infrastructure and devices.
- There was a need for the National Livestock Identification System database to have the required capability and capacity to handle increased data prior to states commencing mandatory electronic identification, and this includes to ensure that the user interface is accessible and usable by producers.
- To support Goat Industry Council of Australia recommendations for traceability.
The implementation date agreed by Australia’s agriculture ministers is January 1, 2025.
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