A second company has got approval for its cattle tags and is preparing to enter the market with competitive prices for farmers. Galway company Cormac Tagging has announced that its full range of Caisley cattle tags have been approved by the Department of Agriculture, including conventional, tissue, electronic and replacement.
“We are now awaiting sign-off of our IT system by the Department of Agriculture,” spokesperson Ursula Kelly said. “It means we can then offer a choice of cattle tags and tag supplier to Irish herdowners.”
The firm will price its standard tag set of one conventional and one tissue tag at €2.68 including VAT and including the 38c contribution to the ICBF. It will give a free applicator with every order for 50 tags sets.
In addition, it will offer free replacement tags for the one-year duration of the Department of Agriculture contract. The company says its tissue tag has a loss rate of under 1% over the first year.
The firm is accepting enquiries and orders for tags but is not yet in a position to send out ordered tags.
Cormac Tagging said on Wednesday that a number of laboratories approved by the Department of Agriculture to BVD-test tissue samples from cattle tags are in the process of getting validation to test samples from its Caisley tags. It hopes the first lab will have validation next week. All approved labs are validated to test tissue samples from Mullinahone Co-op Allflex tags.
Meanwhile, there is no indication yet of approval for the third applicant for approval to sell cattle tags, which the Irish Farmers Journal understands is Celtic Diagnostics.
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