The Co Offaly cattle farmer who helped introduce farmer tagging of their own calves at birth has retired after 20 years with Mullinahone Co-op. Liam Egan has now gone back home to finish Charolais and Limousin cross cattle on his farm near Birr.

Before today’s system was introduced, cattle were tagged with brass tags by the farmer’s vet at time of herd test.

In the early 1990s, the Department of Agriculture decided to bring our tagging into line with the latest EU standardised system.

Farmers would tag their own calves using plastic tags which they would eventually start paying for themselves.

The better traceability would help sell Irish beef and dairy products, and live cattle, to premium markets in the EU and elsewhere.

We debated how we should progress the new system, whether it should be two plastic tags or one brass and one plastic

In 1995, Mullinahone won the tender to supply the new tags to farmers. It had been selling Allflex tags since 1972. That company was – and remains – one of the biggest animal identification companies in the world.

Liam got to know the people in Mullinahone Co-op through his roles in IFA. He was on the IFA animal health committee, its chair from 1996 to 1999. It dealt with animal identification.

“We debated how we should progress the new system, whether it should be two plastic tags or one brass and one plastic.”

In 1999, Mullinahone approached Liam and asked would he be interested in doing some part-time work in its tags section. He stood down from his then role on IFA’s national council and began working one day per week with the Co Tipperary co-op, liaising with farmers, the farm organisations and the Department of Agriculture on various tag issues.

He was then offered the full-time position of manager of the co-op’s Euro tags division. He even joined the co-op board.

Sheep tagging came in 2001 and that was a challenge in itself as we needed more production capacity

“Farmers began tagging their own calves from 1995. Soon there was a mix of older cows wearing brass tags and younger stock with plastic visual tags. In 2002, all remaining cows with brass tags were retagged with plastic tags.”

There were more changes. “Sheep tagging came in 2001 and that was a challenge in itself as we needed more production capacity. We were already doing two million cattle tags per year and now added some two million sheep tags per year.”

“But they fitted in well. Farmers start ordering cattle tags from 1 November. The season for sheep tags runs from March to September.”

Electronic tagging

“Electronic identification of sheep came in 2010. That was the first attempt at official electronic tagging in Ireland. At the end of 2012, tissue tagging of cattle for BVD started. That was a huge change. I was very surprised at how well it went. We distributed two million tissue tags and farmers adapted very well. There were some difficulties and challenges but overall it went well.”

He said: “I must compliment the people who work in the administration and veterinary side of the department. First and foremost, their priority has been the integrity of the identification and traceability system of cattle and sheep.”

It has never closed its doors since opening and it will continue to serve farmers

Mullinahone became a big part of Liam’s life. “It’s a small village in rural Ireland in the shadow of Sliaibh na mBan. I felt at home there. The co-op was formed in 1893. It is the oldest continuously working co-op in the country. It has never closed its doors since opening and it will continue to serve farmers.”

Egan had other involvements. He presented a live one-hour farming programme on Midlands Radio 3 for seven years from a studio in Tullamore.

That arose after he went on a farmers’ march in 1999 and was heard giving an interview to Gay Byrne on RTÉ.

Education

For 10 years, he chaired the board of management for the Offaly School for Special Education in Tullamore for disabled children.

“We built a new school in my time, which is something I was very happy to be involved with.” And of course he continued finishing cattle.

Yet farmers are close to eradicating BVD. Farmers should look at that with pride

“As a farmer, I’d say the health standards of cattle has improved tremendously and the BVD eradication programme has played a part in that. A TB eradication scheme has been ongoing in Ireland since 1954 and the disease is not eradicated.

“Yet farmers are close to eradicating BVD. Farmers should look at that with pride. There are fewer cattle with runny noses now in the last number of years and the number of animals needing subsequent veterinary attention has fallen.”

DNA identification

Looking ahead, he sees a drive towards cattle identification from DNA.

“That could be the Rolls Royce of traceability. ICBF are very interested in it. Farmers have experience in tissue-sampling so maybe it’s not huge a step to take.”

“I also see more electronic tagging. Cattle farmers now purchase up to 300,000 EID sets each year. We will go to full electronic tagging in the next four to five years – although not this side of a general election.”