This is a subscriber-only article
A number of farmers contacted the Irish Farmers Journal about tag problems, following last week’s article on empty tags. A Cork farmer paid “a lot of money for tags that aren’t lasting” and has suffered a penalty from the Department. He is milking 250 cows, so there are over 400 cattle on the farm.
For his herd test in December 2016 all animals were tagged. Eight months later, last August, he had an inspection. Thirty animals were missing one tag, three missing both. He was penalised €2,500.
He ordered replacements – so in September 2017 all animals were again fully tagged. Three months later, in December, came the 2017 test. Seventy animals were missing one tag, five missing two. This time he ordered replacements from an alternative supplier.
“I appealed my 10% penalty to the Department, but I’d no luck. My problem now is that if I have another inspection and am again missing multiple tags then the penalty multiplies to €7,500. I am contemplating replacing the tags on all my other animals. It would cost me about half of what another penalty would be.”
A Galway suckler farmer received the suckler eligibility report last week from ICBF. She learned that a genomic test was not done on four out of 10 cows sampled in 2015.
“The tags didn’t contain enough tissue – even though we followed the exact protocol. We received notification now, two years later.”
She has sent off samples for another test.
“The cost will be deducted from our BDGP payment.”
A Clare dairy farmer last year waited three weeks for his tags, so this year he switched supplier.
“I ordered 170 tags – but now I find that I’m having to use two or three tags per calf. The tissue tag is flimsy and breaking. It’s an animal welfare issue when I’m having to tag a calf’s ear two or three times.”
He used 30 of the 170 tags, but has now given up on them.
“The company are sending me a different type of tag today, but it’s not up to me to be doing trials for them.”
He has ordered new tags from the original supplier. He’s milking 200 cows.
“I haven’t time for all this,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.
His heifers’ tags will now be out of number sequence when they come into the herd. Another nuisance, he said.
SHARING OPTIONS: