There are mounting concerns in ICBF about a drop in funding for 2017 under the new arrangements for the supply of cattle tags to farmers.

Management fears that farmer support for the 38c per tag set contribution could be as low as one in three, when tags are being ordered. However, no clear picture is yet available on what the rate of farmer support is for the contribution.

The ICBF is aware that overall funding collected on its behalf from tag sales so far is down on last year. But that is at least partly because ordering of tags by farmers is well behind previous years.

Mullinahone Co-op, the only supplier so far approved, has now asked its IT staff to adjust the co-op’s computer programmes to record the total of tag contributions every month to provide more timely information to ICBF.

In recent years, the contribution has brought in €850,000 of annual funding for the organisation, which it uses for beef and dairy genomic research.

However, the new tag-ordering arrangements make it easier for a farmer who wishes to opt out of paying the contribution.

Meanwhile, Mullinahone is still the only approved supplier of tags. The two other applicants, Cormac and Datamars, have got approval for their respective tags but are still working on the details of their supply arrangements with the Department of Agriculture.