Farmers attending a sheep information night organised by Wexford IFA on Wednesday night made their feelings known to Department representatives at the meeting that they not want to see the introduction of full EID tagging. The proposal to impose full electronic tagging on all animals leaving the holding of origin is one of a number of options that has arisen in a review of the current National Sheep Identification System or NSIS.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Martin Farrell, AIM Division Department of Agriculture and Food said that sheep movements and identification records are now treated in a central database with cattle, pigs and horses. As such, he said it is critical to ensure that any negative issue arising in any one species does not have a damaging reputational impact on any other species on the AIM system.

Martin Farrell said that the review of NSIS is essential with an EU FVO audit on animal identification, movement and registration is due to take place on cattle sheep and pigs in 2016. This has led to the development of a working group to examine the effectiveness of NSIS in its current form and discuss the possibility of extending EID.

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Farrell told farmers in attendance that the Department was open to all suggestions with their aim to simplify the traceability system and ensure better records are available at farm level and at slaughter plants. He presented three options at the meeting including;

1) Extend EID to all sheep without exception. This requires a full EID tag set for all sheep on identification.

2) Extend EID to all sheep with a single tag sufficing for lambs consigned directly for slaughter from the holding of origin.

3) Extend EID to all sheep except lambs consigned directly to slaughter from the holding of origin whereby these lambs could continue to be tagged with a conventional slaughter tag only.

Farrell pointed out to farmers in attendance that these were options put forward by the Department stating that they are open to examining other options received. Farmers were very clear in their questions and comments returning a strong message that they were not in any way agreeable to full EID tagging. The next step in the process is the submission of proposals from stakeholders including farm organisations IFA, ICSA and ICMSA, mart organisations ICOS and Associated Livestock Marts and Meat Industry Ireland. A full report including individual farmer comments will be detailed in next week’s sheep pages.